I fear I have become too reliant on the chapter breaks in the Bible. I know these are not inspired and that they do not always produce the optimal portions of Scripture to study. But they are so convenient!
Also, sometimes the chapter breaks are helpful markers. I’ve been studying Ezra and Nehemiah in my small group over the past year, and the chapter breaks in Ezra are great. They occur at logical transitions in the text, and we moved a chapter at a time through Ezra without any issues.
The same has not been true in Nehemiah.
Nehemiah in Jerusalem
There is rarely a single “right” way to divide a book of the Bible into sections for small group study. We might choose to take larger or smaller pieces at a time, and when these divisions resonate with the structure of the book, everything is smooth. When we choose a section that doesn’t match the author’s logical argument, we’re cutting the wood against the grain.
My group studied the first chapter of Nehemiah during one meeting and the second chapter during the next. When I was preparing the third chapter for the following meeting, I realized I’d made a mistake.
Nehemiah 2:1–20 describes how Nehemiah asked the king of Persia for permission to go rebuild Jerusalem. The king granted his request, and this was evidence of God’s work (Neh 2:8).
Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem and inspected the damaged walls and gates by night. He formed a plan and spoke persuasively to the Israelites in the city.
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. (Neh 2:17, 18)
Biting Off Less Than We Should Chew
Nehemiah 3:1–32 is a list of the successful efforts to rebuild the walls and gates of city. We read of specific people, specific locations, and specific work. It is impressive.
However, at the end of the day, it is undeniably … a list. Lists are challenging to study. It is hard to find the author’s main point in a list.
It became clear to me that our group should have studied chapter 3 with chapter 2. After all, the work in chapter 3 is recorded as evidence to support Nehemiah 2:18 — “And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.”
It’s not that there is nothing fruitful to gain from studying Nehemiah 3. But the purpose of chapter 3 is to illustrate the work of God in chapter 2, so putting a dividing line between the two was not the wisest choice. In fact, I suspect the main point of chapter 2 would have landed with more force had we studied the two sections together.
Lessons Learned
This was another reminder to me of the importance of each book’s structure in the Bible. In preparing for my small group, I want to refer back to my book overview and an outline of the book when selecting the next portion of Scripture to study. This will help align my group’s focus with the logical units in which the original author of the book wrote.
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