Saturday, October 8th, 2011.
Chapter headings and verse numbers are not inspired.
The system of chapters and verses in our Bibles was not widely
adopted until the 16th century.
The chapters and verses help us considerably when talking and
studying about the Bible.
However, if you are reading the Bible thinking that the chapter
headings are God’s division of the material, you may be selling
yourself short.
Sometimes the thoughts of the previous chapter carry over into
the next. Often a single verse does not equal a single sentence
or thought.
The chapter and verse numbers are necessary, but respect the
text by reading the chapter before and after to get the context.
It may be that answers to troubling passages are found in the
very next verse separated only by an uninspired chapter number.
Don’t let the numbers hinder your study.
For his glory,
Justin Curtis Johnson