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Judas, one of the Twelve, betrayed Jesus and subsequently committed suicide. Matthias was selected by drawing lots to replace him, but the book of Acts never mentions him again. However, an apostolic mission to the Gentiles is given to Paul, yet he occasionally disagreed with Peter, who was the Apostle to the Jews. Galatians 2:8.

The qualifications to be considered one of the twelve, as found in choosing Matthias in Acts 1, is: "men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection." Verses 21,22. Perhaps the choosing of the twelve had some relation to the twelve tribes of Israel, yet, the office of apostleship (not apostolic succession) went on in Paul, Barnabas, Titus, and undoubtedly many others. The word "apostle" means messenger, or envoy. The word "missionary" indicates an envoy or messenger to establish faith in others.

In Ephesians 4:11,12, we find that God provided leadership for the church, in that "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." The work of the church is advanced in each of these offices.

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Q: Why were there no longer twelve Apostles?
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