Chapter Division- A Boon Or A Bane???

*Chapter Division a boon or a bane?*

Dear Ones' in the Lord,

While the exercise of Chapter Division by Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton in the 13th Century was ostensibly done with good intentions of enabling Bible readers to more conveniently navigate through the Scriptures, has it ever occured to us that

a) Chapter Division has been done inadvertently in some places of the Bible (eg...Isaiah 53 is a heart-touching Jewish Poetry actually starting from Isa 52:13 onwards but illogically a part of that paramount, prophetical Poetry has been placed in closing section of Isaiah 52 and the balance portion in Isaiah 53) whereby certain truths do not come across with a punch, as it were to us, as originally desired by the Inspired Writers.

b) While referencing the Scripture portions has become easy Post Chapter and Verse Division of The Bible, we Christians have stopped trying to memorise the Scriptures like the Psalmist who did and affirms the said fact in Psa 119:11.

It would surprise some of us, when we reflect on the fact that Apostle Paul references the OT Scripture portions in his Epistle to Romans not less than 58 times by mere prefixing of the words 'It is Written"!!! Why? Because, he knew that the Readers ( Early Christians) were quite well-versed with the Scriptures he was referring to and they in all probabability had memorised the same.

In this Message, Yours Truly aims to bring out some Scriptural truths hitherto hidden on account of inadvertent Chapter Division exercise (thankfully pertaining to some Chapters only) of Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Accomplishment...

This matter of Issac's actual age in Genesis 22 had been gleaned by Yours Truly after his interaction with the Jewish Rabbis' would make us further appreciate the comparison between Issac (symbolising Christ) and Jesus. Both their births were miracles... In both their lives, selection of brides (Rebecca for Issac and Church for Christ ) was Providential!!!

Going by the description of Issac as a “Lad” in Genesis 22:5, one (read all Christians’) would normally assume that Issac was perhaps a young boy or at best a teenager but never a 37 year old typifying Jesus who too in his thirties carried the wooden cross to same place where 137 year old Father Abraham (portending the Heavenly Father) had led “his beloved son” to, about 2000 years earlier to be “sacrificed”. Hey…Issac too figuratively “rose again” (Heb 11:19 TLB), so would the Son of God!!!

Oh yes coming to the right age of Issac…all of 37 years. The Hebrew word “Naar” used to describe Issac as a “Lad” (Gen 22:5) is a relative term used to address someone who is very much younger to you though the latter by himself/herself may be an adult then. Mind you, Issac was younger to his Father by a good hundred years (Gen 21:5)! In yet another melodramatic Scripture portion as Gen 22 (Note:The good Lord always places two witnesses to underscore His point- Deu 17:6) *we see a frantic elder brother Judah addressing his “held for ransom” younger brother Benjamin (born in Patriarch Jacob’s old age- Gen 44:20 -as such, much junior to Judah) as "Naar" not once but seven times (Gen 44:30-34) _at a time Benjamin himself was a father of ten sons (Gen 46:21)_!!!*

Thanks to Archbishop Stephen Langton dedicated efforts, The Bible was divided into Chapters in the 13th Century AD facilitating better navigation through the Scriptures and its subsequent teaching thereof but sometimes incomprehensible division style which Langton adopted would sometimes have us believe that there is a considerable time gap between two consecutive Chapters like the one between Chapters 22 and 23 of Genesis which was not the case, all the time. We see at the very beginning of Chapter 23, Sarah who had given birth to Issac at the age of 90 dying at the age of 127 in Hebron (presumably taking care of one of many cattle-breeding farms of the family therein) and Abraham *“coming over there”* to mourn for her, as evidently he had been at “a different place”. Incidentally from one of the Cattle-breeding farms at well-watered Beersheba Abraham had gone to Mount Moriah and had returned there (Gen 22:19) after passing his “fiery test of faith”. Thus the Jewish Sages teach that Issac was not a little kid but all of 37 years at that defining testing time in his life (fully aware of what was happening around him when Father Abraham put him on the Altar, just as Jesus fully aware of the consequences going to Jerusalem for the Last time- Matt 16:21) acceptance of which would make the Christians’ better appreciate the comparison between Issac and Jesus who too in his thirties carried the _“wood voluntarily on his shoulders”_ in full obedience to His Father’s instructions (Gen 22:6/ John 6:38/ John 19:17).