A Lot About Lots
Acts 1:21-26
When we get into a spot of needing to make a decision and there is some risk involved, should we cast lots?
Introduction
21 "It is therefore necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us-- 22 beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that He was taken up from us-- one of these should become a witness with us of His resurrection. " 23 And they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. 24 And they prayed, and said, "Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two Thou hast chosen 25 to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place. " 26 And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. -- Acts 1:21-26
I received a note awhile ago from a member of a discussion group I moderate. It posed an interesting question. Let me read it to you…
It occurred to me that some of us might have been puzzled about this issue at some point or, perhaps we’ve been asked by someone else and hadn’t known what to say. There were some good responses from members of this discussion group and it is a combination of some of those things and my own thoughts that will make up this lesson.
I pose then, a question: When we get into a spot of needing to make a decision and there is some risk involved, should we cast lots?
1. The Subject Defined
In the Bible, the casting of lots was a way of making decisions, similar to drawing straws or rolling a pair of dice in order to determine what course or direction to follow. In some cases it was a clear way to ascertain the Lord’s will. Yet before we adopt it as a standard for our practice, we should look carefully at all the Bible has to say about it.
2. Casting Lots in the Bible
In Leviticus 16:1-22, on the Day of Atonement, it appears that casting a lot was commanded by God for choosing the scapegoat that was to be sent into the wilderness. On that day, two goats were to be brought before the Lord. Aaron was to cast lots for the two goats, one for the scapegoat and one for the Lord. Aaron was to kill and offer the goat whose lot fell for the Lord. The other lot went to the scapegoat. Aaron was to present this goat alive before the Lord, lay his hands on its head, and confess all of the sins of the nation of Israel. They he was to send the goat out into the wilderness. So here was a case where the casting of the lot was commanded by God.
In Joshua 18:1-10, the casting of lots was used by Joshua to divide up some of the land in Canaan that still had not yet been possessed by some of the tribes. This was as God had commanded it in Numbers 26:52-56. Joshua took three men from each tribe that had not received their inheritance. He had them go out, pass through the land, and bring back a description it. Then he cast lots to divide it up. Again, a case where the casting of the lot was commanded by God.
At one point in 1 Samuel 14, King Saul issued a rash decree that anyone who tasted food before the Philistines were defeated was to be put to death. However, his son, Jonathan, had not heard the decree. In ignorance, he found and ate some honey in the field. The people were shocked at this, knowing that Jonathan must now die. Saul got word that someone had eaten, but didn’t know who it was. He began an interrogation to find the culprit by casting two lots, one for himself and one for Jonathan. The lot came up for Jonathan. Saul announced that he would kill his son and was intent on doing so, wishing to save his pride. However, the people intervened to rescue Jonathan and would not let the king kill him. In this case, God had not commanded the casting of the lot. It appears that Saul was moving under his own direction in doing so.
God directed the casting of lots in several places in Numbers, including Numbers 26:55; 33:54; 34:13; 36:2.
Various offices and functions in the temple were divided up by lot in 1 Chronicles 24:5,31; 25:8-9; 26:13-14.
Proverbs 16:33 indicates the presence of casting lots among the people of Israel. It
says, "The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the Lord."
Again, Proverbs 18:18 says, "The lot puts an end to contentions,
And decides between the mighty."
The Gentile sailors on Jonah’s ship bound for Tarshish cast lots to determine who had brought God’s wrath upon them and their vessel. You’ll find that in Jonah 1:7.
The lot was used in Nehemiah’s day (10:34) to divide up the fire wood, some of which was to be used in the burn offerings of the Temple and to decide who would move their homes to inside the city of Jerusalem (11:1).
Of course it was prophesied in Psalm 22:18 that the soldiers would cast lots for Jesus’ garments while He was on the cross. This was fulfilled in Matthew 27:35.
In Joel 3, the captors of Israel during the 70 years of captivity are said to have "cast lots for my people, and traded a boy for a harlot and sold a girl for wine they may drink."
There are some other references to casting lots in the Old Testament, some used and commanded by God, some used by rebellious leaders of Israel (case of Saul above) and some even used by pagans. I would have to say that the practice of lot casting has a checkered past!
There is only one example of casting lots among God’s people in the books of the New Testament. (The casting of lots by the soldiers who crucified Jesus was not done by God’s people.) That is the case of the choosing of Matthias in Acts 1:26. Some have questioned whether this choice or the method used to arrive at it, were approved by God, but I find no reason to believe that God didn’t approve of Matthias as His choice for Judas’ replacement. Any suggestion otherwise seems to be based wholly upon conjecture.
There is no mention of the practice after this time. In fact it seems that though there were many critical decisions that needed to be made among the leaders of the church in the first century, there is not a single case of casting lots beyond that case with the replacement of Judas.
One of the most critical decisions made by the early church was to decide how the Jewish Christians were to accept the Gentiles who also became Christians. One full chapter in Acts is devoted to describing the occasion and the decision that was made. Yet there is no mention of the practice of casting lots.
Other decisions that could also have lent themselves to the practice have no mention of the casting of lots. In the choice of the seven deacons in Acts 7, the congregation decided without the help of lots. In Paul’s instruction of the choice and appointment of elders in Timothy and Titus, again, no reference is made to the practice of casting lots, though it might have been nice to have more specific guidance than scriptural qualifications and human judgment. Other examples of decisions made without the casting of lots can probably be cited.
Even in that one situation with regard to the choice of Matthias to replace Judas, it seems like they used a majority of revealed wisdom and human judgment.
Acts 1:21-26: "It is therefore necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us-- 22 beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that He was taken up from us-- one of these should become a witness with us of His resurrection." 23 And they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. 24 And they prayed, and said, "Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two Thou hast chosen 25 to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place. " 26 And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
It looks to me that by the time they decided to cast lots, they already had two qualified men, either of which would probably have done the job well, especially when inspired by the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. This was not a choice between good and bad but between two goods. It is likely that the choice would have worked out with either candidate. (A friend of min remarked in our discussion group that it may have worked quite well for them. "See how short their church business meeting was?")
One response in our discussion group was worth noting. This was from a seasoned preacher in his 70s.
"I know of a church that cast lots to make a decision about their future. Two congregations had both run out of room in their buildings. In the process of finding new quarters, one located a building half way between the two but did not have enough money to purchase it. They told the other congregation but they were also limited in resources to purchase. So, it was proposed that the two congregations merge. The leaders of both congregations wanted to do it but some in one congregation did not like the idea and wanted to move the congregation to the north end of the city to where they lived. So, someone came up with the idea to cast lots and let God decide.
"They set a day and made three lots--one to merge, one to move north, and a third to stay where they were. On the day appointed they gathered and the lots were cast. The result was a disaster. The lot that came up was that they were to stay where they were. It was an impossible choice. They had tried everything to find a building and they simply did not have enough to purchase one. They were locked into a very inadequate building. Everyone was confused. Those who wanted to move north did not get what they wanted. The merger potential fell apart. The preacher resigned and left the area.
In the end, another preacher was called who ignored the lot decision and found a building in the north of the city and the congregation thrived. What was needed was firm decisive leadership--not uninspired indecisive abdication of responsibility."
3. Shall We Cast Lots?
It is my conclusion from considering these things that the practice of casting lots was used in Bible times (before the New Testament revelation) when much less was known of the will of God than we know today. The practice was also misused in those days as well (case of Saul wanting to kill Jonathan) so one should not consider the act valid in and of itself. It could be misused. The sudden way in which the practice ceased after the day of Pentecost, even though many tough decisions remained to be made for the church, leads me to believe that God would have us use spiritual wisdom (see 1 Corinthians 6:5) and the guidance of the Scriptures (See Acts 15:15-19) to make decisions today.
The casting of lots was for another day when God had not revealed so much of His truth to us.
Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.
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