When setting out to write an article about the old and new covenants that are the subject of the Book of Hebrews (the one better than the other, the former waxing old and ready to pass away—Hebrews 8:13), it would be instructive first to set out something about the order of the New Testament books, in that it is no accident that we have received them in the order they are currently given in all modern printings of the Word of God.

The New Testament of the Bible begins with four narratives regarding the coming of Jesus to the earth. The four gospels, as they are called, depict Christ Jesus from four different aspects; the King of the coming kingdom of God, the Lion of Judah, descended from Abraham (Matthew 1:1-17), the servant of mankind come to bear the sin and burden of death for all men (a servant having no genealogy as in the Gospel of Mark), thirdly as a genuine human being whose genealogy extends beyond Abraham to Adam (Luke 3:23-38), and finally, the Word that came to earth from Heaven who was and is God (John 1). 

Following the four accounts of the ministry and the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, we find an account of the work of the Holy Spirit in creating and planting the church following the ascension of the Lord Jesus into Heaven in the Book of Acts. What follows the Book of Acts is interesting. After the book of Acts there are 13 letters (or epistles in Biblical language) written by Paul, the 13th apostle. Included in these letters are letters to 7 churches (just as Jesus sends letters to seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3). These churches are:

1. The church in Rome
2. The church in Corinth (two letters)
3. The churches in Galatia
4. The church in Ephesus
5. The church in Colosse
6. The church in Phillipi
7. The church in Thessalonica (two letters)

There is little overlap between the seven churches that Paul addresses and the seven churches Jesus writes to in Revelation 2 and 3. The one point of overlap is that both Paul and Jesus write to the church in Ephesus, which is the first church Jesus addresses, and Paul’s letter to the Ephesians also addresses the church in Laodicea, which is the last church on Jesus’ list. So, the first and last churches that Jesus speaks to in Revelation are both mentioned by Paul. 

Following the letters to the (seven) churches, letters to three individuals appear; two letters to Timothy, one letter to Titus, and finally one very short letter to someone named Philemon. We are familiar with both Timothy and Titus as they are coworkers with Paul in his mission to convert Gentiles (the uncircumcised) to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 1:1; Hebrews 13:23; Galatians 2:1-3). We have no other references to a person named Philemon outside of the letter addressed to this individual, making the inclusion of this brief letter, more of a memo really, extremely interesting, as we will see.

A consideration of the prophetic timeline of the New Testament church, if the New Testament church goes directly into the prophesied Tribulation and then into the Messianic 1,000 year Kingdom, would end with Paul’s last epistle to a church and then proceed straight to the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. But it does not. Instead, we find this interesting insertion of a letter concerning a disobedient, runaway slave. This servant departed for a season but is now returning with a renewed purpose in his position in the master’s household and now wants to prove himself worthy of service. It is only after this suggestion of a once unprofitable servant now being restored to his previous station that we come upon a book titled “Hebrews.” And this book of “Hebrews” appears in the so-called New Testament. And not in the middle of the New Testament, but toward the end of the New Testament, following all of the “church age” epistles, or letters to “the church.” 

According to Chuck Baldwin and other preterist anti-Zionists, God was finished dealing with Israel and the Jews, or Hebrews, back at the end of the book of Matthew, and definitely with the advent of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. Hyper-dispensationalists place the casting off of Israel in Acts 28. At any rate, there should be no more place for God to be addressing the Hebrew race regarding a new covenant because that covenant is expressly made with the church, the Gentile believers.

But there it is.

Even more interesting is the fact that, following the book of Hebrews, there are seven more epistles, written not by Paul but by the apostles to the circumcision (Galatians 2:9); namely, James, Cephas (Peter), and John, in that order. So, to recap, the order of the Books of the New Testament are as follows:

The Gospels

1. Matthew
2. Mark
3. Luke
4. John

The birth and expansion of the Church

Letters to Seven Churches written by Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles

1. Romans
2. I and II Corinthians
3. Galatians
4. Ephesians
5. Colossians
6. Philippians
7. I and II Thessalonians

Letters to Paul’s coworkers

1. I and II Timothy
2. Titus

A letter of transition restoring a former servant to the service of his master

1. Philemon

A letter of transition restoring the Hebrew nation to the service of God

1. Hebrews

Seven epistles written by the apostles to the Jews

1. James
2. I and II Peter
3. I, II, and III John
4. Jude

The Conclusion of All Things

1. The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ 

That is the premillennial outline of the books of the New Testament. It is worth pointing out that although the letters to the church in Thessalonica were some of the earliest epistles of Paul, they appear in the final position in the list. And it is to this church that the Apostle reveals the Rapture of the Church (I Thessalonians 13-18) prior to the Great Tribulation that will last seven years—thus seven “Jewish” epistles following the book of Hebrews, one for each year of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7).