The Hebrews Epistle

September 8th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 1:1-3 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…

The opening paragraph of the Epistle to the Hebrews has an extremely high view of the Lord Jesus Christ. First, there is the mention of “God” (Gr. theos), not just of His existence but of God speaking, for “He spoke long ago.” The writer thus not only believes in God but in the God of Israel communicating with His people, namely “the fathers” of the Israelite nation. This would include men like Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David to whom and through whom God spoke.

From there, the writer goes deeper, referencing God as speaking directly through His Son. Though the Son is not revealed as Jesus Christ explicitly here, the writer makes it very clear that Jesus Christ (3:1) is “the Lord” (2:3), the Son of God through whom God speaks in these “last days” throughout his epistle. Jews typically believed that the coming of their Messiah would be an indicator of the “last days” (cf. Num. 24:14; Jer. 33:14-16; Mic. 5:1, 2; Zech. 9:9, 16).

Hebrews speaks of Jesus in magnanimous ways: “appointed heir of all things” (2a); “made the world” (2b); “the radiance of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature” (3a); “upholds all things by the word of His power (3b); “made purification of sins” (3c); “He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (3d) after having died on the cross. His final words were “it is finished” (John 19:30). Hebrews thus gives a magnanimous view of Christ!

So, who was this great author of the Epistle to the Hebrews? Sadly, no one knows, for the epistle neither opens nor closes with the customary identification of the author. Some early Church fathers credited Paul as the author based upon some similarities in vocabulary, style, and imagery. Also, theologically Paul and Hebrews speak of Christ as the He through whom all things were made (Heb. 1:1-4; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 4:4), who suffered a shameful death but was exalted to God’s right hand (Heb. 2:9; Rom. 8:3, 34; Phil. 2:5-11), and who now intercedes for His people (Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:34). Also, through His death and exaltation, Jesus abolished the old Mosaic order and inaugurated a new covenant (Heb. 7:19; 8:6-13; 2 Cor. 3:18). Moreover, Paul was a close associate of Timothy, mentioned in 13:23. And the suggestion that Paul wrote Hebrews while in prison in Rome might account for his request for prayer and the claim of a clear conscience (13:18-19), as well as the mention of Timothy’s release, the comment that the author was not free to visit his friends, and the greetings from Italy (13:23-24).

But a closer look at Hebrews reveals that Paul was unlikely the author. First, Paul identified himself in his 13 known NT epistles. Second, one wonders why Paul would identify himself as one who heard the gospel, not from Jesus Himself, but from “those who heard” (2:3) when in fact Paul heard it firsthand from Jesus (Acts 9:3-6; Gal. 1:11-12). Third, the vocabulary of Hebrews differs from Paul’s epistles. Even the layout of Hebrews differs from Paul’s typical doctrine-first, application-second (cf. Ephesians and Romans). Finally, there are different theological emphases between Hebrews and Paul’s epistles. Though they clearly have many common features, the high priesthood of Christ is of major emphasis in Hebrews but is absent from Paul’s writings. Also, several emphases common in Paul’s letters are absent from Hebrews: union with Christ (being “in Christ”), justification by faith alone apart from works, the contrast between grace and works, and the Pauline tension between flesh and spirit. The resurrection of Christ, being so prominent in Paul’s writings, is mentioned only in Hebrews 13:20, perhaps because it has given way to the repeated emphasis on Christ’s exaltation to God’s right hand.

Food For Thought
So who wrote Hebrews? Speculation is broad, but ultimately God did not reveal the writer’s identity. But whoever the writer was, he had an extremely high view of God and His Son Jesus Christ. It was therefore included in the canon of Scripture—not because the early Church voted unanimously that it should be in the canon but because it was evident it was holy writ, inspired by God Himself. It would therefore behoove everyone to delve into the Epistle to the Hebrews and be filled with the Spirit Himself through studying the magnanimous words of Jesus Christ.