The Twelve

Jesus could have founded His church on anyone. He chose fishermen and a tax collector, a radical and a doubter, a betrayer and men so obscure that some never speak a recorded word. Yet He named these Twelve - and Revelation says their names are written into the twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem itself.

The Twelve is a seminary-level study that takes a fresh, twenty-first-century look at the apostles: who they were and where they came from, every scripture in which they appear, every verse in which they actually speak, and the awe with which they must have remembered Him. Moving one by one through Peter the Rock, the Sons of Thunder, Andrew who brings others, doubting Thomas, Matthew the taxman, the silent apostles history nearly forgot, Judas the betrayer, and Matthias the twelfth seat, it traces a great arc the church has too often missed - twelve tribes, twelve apostles, twelve thrones, twelve foundations - the Israel of God refounded around the Lamb.

Here are their strengths and their failures, the Greek words that carry their story, the women who served alongside them, and the Old Testament roots that point to them. Each chapter opens the biblical text with care, presses its claim on the modern disciple, and follows the long road every believer walks - from disciple to apostle, from follower to sent one.

Above all, here is the wonder that ordinary men were made the foundations of a city whose light is the Lamb - and the summons to find your own name written there.

Whether you are a pastor preparing to preach, a teacher leading a class, a student of Scripture, or a believer longing to follow more closely, this book is written for the whole church - for the pulpit and the pew alike.

Rev. Dr. Billy J. Hill is a Baptist minister, U.S. Army veteran, and the prolific author of more than forty books.