Why was the canonicity of the book of Hebrews questioned by some?

The canonicity of the book of Hebrews was in doubt in the early church because of the uncertainty of its authorship. Some thought Paul wrote it which would automatically make it canonical. Others did not think Paul wrote it, attributing it to Barnabas or Clement or someone else, and that uncertainly made its canonicity questionable. From the internet: the western church did not accept Paul as the author of Hebrews until the fourth century. In fact, most modern scholars now believe the author is unknown. 

Here are some reasons why the church has rejected Paul as the author of Hebrews:

Separation from eyewitnesses: In Hebrews 2:3, the author separates himself from the original eyewitnesses, which is different from Paul’s emphasis on his authority as an apostle.  

Style: The style of Hebrews is different from Paul’s letters.  

Name: Paul identifies himself by name in his 13 letters, but Hebrews does not name the author.  

But, whoever wrote it, it was inspired by the Holy Spirit! 

• But there is no doubt that it is from an inspired author! It was written in the early 60’ and its predictions of the things about to happen (mello), of the 2nd coming in a very little while that would not be delayed, of the replacement of the old covenant with the new, etc. are all inspired exegesis of what the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD meant in God’s plan to give the new covenant. 

Why I don’t think that Paul wrote Hebrews. 

1) Hebrews 1:3. How does the author say that the words of Jesus were confirmed to him? _______________________________________________  

• I am not sure of the author but I don’t think it was Paul b/c Paul would never have said in Heb 1:3 that the word spoken by Jesus was confirmed to us (including himself) by those that heard him (the apostles). 
• Paul argued in Galatians 1 that he received his gospel directly from Jesus and not from the apostles, so he would never have said that. 

Why I think the book is canonical and inspired: key eschatological passages in Hebrews. 

2) Heb 8:13 What does the author say about the old covenant? ___________

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• The old covenant “is ready (eggus: Near, close, at hand) to disappear (aphanismos: Disappearance, destruction, ruin) ”. This doesn’t mention the 2nd coming, but it is an important eschatological passage. 
• “Near” is eggizó: To draw near, to approach, to come near. The word is used 43 times in the NT.
• Matthew 3:2: “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
• Matthew 4:17: “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
• Matthew 10:7: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
• Matthew 15:8: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth”
• Matthew 21:1: “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to”
• Matthew 21:34: “time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to”
• Matthew 26:45: “behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man”
• Matthew 26:46: “Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.”
• Mark 1:15: “the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the”
• Mark 11:1: “And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and”
• Mark 14:42: “lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.”
• Luke 7:12: “Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city,”
• Luke 10:9: “unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”
• Luke 10:11: “the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”
• Luke 12:33: “heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth”
• Luke 15:1: “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and”
• Luke 15:25: “and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music”
• Luke 18:35: “And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man”
• Luke 18:40: “him: and when he was come near, he asked him,”
• Luke 19:29: “And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany,”
• Luke 19:37: “And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the”
• Luke 19:41: “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over”
• Luke 21:8: “Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after”
• Luke 21:20: “the desolation thereof is nigh.”
• Luke 21:28: “for your redemption draweth nigh.”
• Luke 22:1: “the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.”
• Luke 22:47: “went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him.”
• Luke 24:15: “Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.”
• Luke 24:28: “And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and”
• Acts 7:17: “time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham,”
• Acts 9:3: “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about”
• Acts 10:9: “as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up”
• Acts 21:33: “Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded”
• Acts 22:6: “that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly”
• Acts 23:15: “and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill”
• Romans 13:12: “the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works”
• Philippians 2:30: “the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life,”
• Hebrews 7:19: “of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.”
• Hebrews 10:25: “as ye see the day approaching.”
• James 4:8: ” Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners;”
• James 4:8: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners;”
• James 5:8: “for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”
• Some say the old covenant disappeared, ended, at the cross. 
• Certainly, the cross and death of Jesus was the basis for a new covenant since the first covenant could not save anyone, but 8:13 clearly shows that the 1st covenant did not disappear or end until 70 AD when the temple and Jerusalem were destroyed. The old covenant could only condemn, not save, and its power to condemn ceased at the cross for those who would be saved by grace through faith in Jesus and the new covenant.

Jewish Christians continued to keep the Law until 70 AD but they understood that it was the new covenant that saved them, not the old.  

• Acts 21:17-26 What did James the Lord’s brother tell Paul that thousands of Jewish Christians were doing? 
• James asked Paul to join 4 men in keeping a Jewish vow to show that he was not telling Jewish converts to quit keeping the Law (he did tell Gentile converts that they did not need to keep the Law, but that was not in James’ discussion). 
• So what did Paul do? Did he tell James that the Jewish converts were not required to keep the Law since the Law died at the cross? 
• Nope. He kept the Jewish vow with the 4 men to show that he was not teaching Jewish concerts to quit keeping the Law. 
• Some have said that Paul was just “becoming all things to all men” in keeping this vow, but Paul would never have done that on such a critical issue. 

3) Heb 9:8 What does the author say about the way into the new Holy of Holies of the new covenant? 

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• 9:8 “The way into the new Holy of Holies (in heaven) has not yet been disclosed as long as the first or outer tabernacle “is” still standing”. 
• This shows that, while the 2nd covenant began in Acts 2, the 2nd covenant would not be fully disclosed and confirmed until the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. The present tense of the verb “is” shows that. This verse also shows that the temple was still standing and the priests still ministering at the time of writing of Hebrews, so it was definitely written before 70 AD.
• The NIV has the verb “was” but that is not the correct Gk verb tense. 

4) Heb 9:28 What does the author say is the purpose of Jesus’ 2nd coming?

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• 9:28 “Christ was offered once for all time in his 1st coming, but he would appear a 2nd time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly and confidently waiting for him.” 
• His 2nd coming would bring physical salvation for the Jewish Christian remnant who escaped the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD as well as put an end to non Christian Jews persecuting Jewish Christians (1 Thess 2:14-16; 2 Thess 1). 
• His 2nd coming at the end of the age would also bring spiritual salvation, destroying death (1 Cor 15) and bring immortality to believers in 70 AD. 

5) Heb 10:27 What did the author say about a coming judgment of Jewish Christians  if they lose their faith in Jesus and start trusting in the Law?

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• There is about to be (mello) a judgment on the Jews and that would include any Jewish Christians who forsake faith in Christ and return to the Law for salvation (which was the purpose of writing Hebrews, to convince them not to do that). 
• That imminent judgement was 70 AD.

A passage that refutes the “delayed 2nd coming” theory of many.

6) Heb 10:37 What does the author say about Jesus’ coming? __________

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• That imminent, “about to be” (mello) judgment in 10:27 is tied to the 2nd coming in 10:37. “Yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.” The work mello is always used in the NT of something that is “about to happen”.
• USE OF “MELLO” TO WARN OF IMMINENT ACTIONS OR EVENTS.
• That Greek word “mello” appears 110 times in various forms in the NT. Here are more examples: 
• MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
• Matt 2:13 – Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to [Gk: μέλλει : mellei : is about to] search for the child, to destroy him.”
• Matt 20:22 – Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am [Gk: μέλλω : mello : I am about to] to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 
• MARK’S GOSPEL
• Mark 10:32 – And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was [Gk: μέλλοντα : mellonta : about to] to happen to him 
• LUKE’S GOSPEL
• Luke 7:2 – Now a centurion had a servant1 who was sick and at the point of death [Gk: ἤμελλεν : emellen : was about to], who was highly valued by him.
• Luke 9:31 – who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to [Gk: ἤμελλεν : emellen : was about to] accomplish at Jerusalem.
• Luke 9:44 – “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to [Gk: μέλλει : mellei : is about to] be delivered into the hands of men.”
• Zacchaeus ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, for he was about to (Gk:ἤμελλεν) pass that way …Luke 19:4
• – CC Image courtesy of Good News Productions International and College Press Publishing … FreeBibleimages.org
• Luke 10:1 – After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to [Gk: ἤμελλεν : emellen : was about to] go.
• Luke 19:4 – So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to [Gk: ἤμελλεν : emellen : was about to] pass that way.
• Luke 22:23 – And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to [Gk: μέλλων : mellon : was about to] do this. 
• JOHN’S GOSPEL
• John 4:47 – When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death [Gk: ἤμελλεν : emellen : was about to].
• We can clearly see from the passages above that certain events were “ABOUT TO” happen… IMMEDIATELY or very SOON after.
• Matthew 2 – King Herod soon searched for the infant Jesus, just as predicted.
• Matthew 20, Mark 10, Luke 9 – The suffering and crucifixion of Jesus did occur within a short time, just as predicted.
• Luke 19 – Jesus did in fact pass the sycamore tree, soon after Zacchaeus climbed up to see him, just as predicted.
• “Mello” means that something is IMMINENT and “ABOUT TO HAPPEN”. It never means “MANY YEARS FROM NOW” or “SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE” or “2000 YEARS FROM NOW”! Yet that is what some Bible translators want us to believe, whenever “mello” is used in a passage about the parousia (Second Coming) of Christ.
• “Mello” means that something is IMMINENT and “ABOUT TO HAPPEN”. It never means “MANY YEARS FROM NOW” or “SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE” or “2000 YEARS FROM NOW”! Yet that is what some Bible translators want us to believe, whenever “mello” is used in a passage about the parousia (Second Coming) of Christ. It is never used to simply mean “certianly will happen” which is the way it is translated in most translations. Why would the translators not translate correctly as “about to happen”? They might translate it “about to happen” in passages that are not eschatological ones, but they would have problems translating the 2nd coming as “about to happen” b/c of almost 2,00 years of church dogma that said that the 2nd coming had not happened yet. A few translations like Young’s Literal Translation translate mello as “about to happen” correctly even in the eschatological passages we have discussed.
• As stated earlier, this is a critical passage to destroy the idea that Jesus delayed his predicted imminent 2nd coming. 
• Again, people say that b/c they expected him to establish a physical kingdom and he did not do that in 70 AD. 
• They say he delayed his 2nd coming and will one day (going on 2000 years and counting) come back and set up his earthly kingdom.
• He never intended to set up an earthly kingdom (John 18:36 my kingdom is not of this world). 
• He had preached that the “kingdom (of Daniel 2:44) is at hand (eggizó: To draw near, to approach, to come near)”.
• He had said that some would still be alive to see him coming in his kingdom (Mt 16:27). He said that he was mello about to come.
• He would be a false prophet if the kingdom was not established soon after these predictions. 
• It was established soon after in the church, a spiritual kingdom. 
• Jesus equated the kingdom and the church in Mt 16:16-19. ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell^[c] shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”He said Peter would have the keys to open the door for entrance into the church kingdom. 
• Peter used those keys in Acts 2 as he preached the first gospel sermon with 3,000 being saved and entering that new church kingdom.
• Paul said that Christians had been translated into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13, so the kingdom of Jesus was already established as Paul was writing). But in Luke 21:³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. He was predicting the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD which had to occur within that generation (genea, always used of a 40 year period or the people living in a 40 year period, just was we speak of the baby boomers generation, the Z generation, etc.). He even said in Luke 21:³⁶ But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are (mellow, about to) take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” So all the predictions in Luke 21 were “about to happen” (mello). So back to 21:31. In what sense was the “kingdom of God is near (eggus: Near, close, at hand)”. If the kingdom of God was the church, and Col 1:13 says that Christians had already been translated into the kingdom of Jesus at the time of writing (62 AD), then how could Luke’s prediction of Lk 21:31 that the kingdom of God is near when the events in 70 AD occur.
• I use our election of presidents to explain that. We elected a new president on Nov 5, 2024. The inauguration is Jan 20, 2025. So officially we have a “president elect” and a new government that only officially begins to rule on Jan 20, 2025. In the meantime, the new president elect is appointing his new cabinet and beginning to remove the old cabinet. But all that only becomes official in 2025. It is the same with the kingdom of God that was near. Acts 2 the day of Pentecost in 30 AD was the Nov 5 of our elections. It was the establishment of the church (Acts 2:37). The official rule of the new church kingdom would be in 70 AD after Jesus had defeated all his enemies (the last enemy was spiritual death 1 Cor 15) and removed the old covenant (Heb 8:13 that old covenant was removed in 70 AD). So we might say that Trump is the new president during the interim of Novv 5,2024 to Jan 20, 2025 but he only officially becomes the president on Jan 20, 2025. Paul could say that those living in the transition period from AD 30 to AD 70 were indeed in the kingdom but teachnically the kingdom would not be fully operative till 70 AD.
• Many use the phrase “already, not yet” to describe this transition period. The Christians were “alrready in the kingdom Col 1:13” but “not yet” in the final phase of the kingdom in 70 AD.
• Acts 14:²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Paul said this to those he had just converted. According to Paul in Col 1:13, they were already in the church kingdom. And yet he says they will enter a future kingdom, which would refer to 70 AD.
• 2 Peter 1:¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Again, the Christians Peter was writing to were already in the church kingdom, but there was another phase of the kingdom for them to enter in their future, which would be 70 AD.
• Of course, premillineals say that this future kingdom is a physical kingdom set up by Jesus when he returns in our future. 3 problems with that. 1) Jesus’ 2nd coming was in 70 AD (see blog articles 2nd Coming of Jesus (part 1 and 2). 2) Jesus’ kingdom he set us was a spiritual kingdom. John 18:36 my kingdom is not of this world. 3) Jesus said that some would still be alive to see him coming in his kingdom Mt 16:27,28 (and that coming was mello about to happen).
• I was raised in a church that said that this everlasting phase of the kingdom in 2 Peter 1:11 was heaven, but that would contradict Lk 21:31 who said that the future phase of the kingdom would be near in 70 AD. Of course my church said that the 2nd coming is in our future which is not true either.
• Jesus did not delay his 2nd coming. He came in 70 AD just as he predicted. The only reason anyone would say that Jesus did indeed predict an imminent 2nd coming but that he delayed it is that they expect Jesus to set up a physical kingdom when he comes back. They are making the same mistake that the unbelieving Jews made. Those Jews expected a physical kingdom of political power like that of the kingdom of David and a king who would defeat the Romans (like David defeated the enemies of Israel).

7) Heb 12:25-29 What did the author say that God was going to shake?

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• After saying that the believers had come to the heavenly Jerusalem (i.e. the new Jerusalem the church) and to the new covenant, the writer said that God was going to once more shake not only the earth but also the heavens, removing the things that can be shaken (the old Jewish heavens and earth, the old Jewish system, a physical system that could be destroyed and was destroyed in 70 AD). 
• A new spiritual system the new heavens and earth, the new Messianic system, would remain that cannot be shaken b/c it cannot be destroyed (Mt 16:18). 
• BTW, doesn’t this sound a lot like 2 Peter 3 and the replacing of the old heavens and earth with a new heavens and earth? 

Some more “mello” (about to happen) passages in Hebrews:

Heb 2:5; 6:6 

2:5 The world about to come (mello). 6:6 the age about to come (mello).

• These passages are predicting the Messianic Age that began in Acts 2 in 30 AD and would be finalized and confirmed in 70 AD. Technically the new Messianic Age began in 70 AD after the old age (called the “present age in the NT) ended.

Heb 13:14 

Seeking the city which is about to come (mello). 

• What city was about to come when Hebrews was written? 
• This could only be the new Jerusalem, the church, which began in Acts 2 in 30 AD, but was only finalized in 70 AD. 
• Rev 21:1 pictures that new Jerusalem coming down to earth and says that city is the bride or Christ, i.e. the church. 

So do you see why I say that the author of Hebrews was inspired by the Holy Spirit. The book predicts accurately so many things about the 2nd coming in 70 AD. The book gives an inspired discussion of the difference of the two covenants. Whoever wrote it was inspired. 

The next lesson will look at what the apostle Paul said about the 2nd coming and the resurrection.