Does the Bible Condemn Casting Lots?
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You have probably asked yourself many times, “Lord what do I do in this situation?” Questions like these have been asked for centuries, and in ancient times one of the ways people sought to find answers was by casting lots. What seems today like a random, even unspiritual way to seek answers was a lot more common than you might think in Bible times. In fact, as you will soon see, the Bible does not condemn casting lots and this practice was a part of the everyday culture.
What Does Casting Lots Mean?
Casting lots was a practice that was used in the ancient world to attempt to decipher what was the divine will in a particular matter. Because the outcome produced by casting lots was random, the result was seen as the divine answer to whatever question or situation they were considering. This practice was used within the nation of Israel, but also in other nations as well, and was a common part of the society. Even though the Bible mentions casting lots, we don’t know specifically how it was done because it does not give a specific description of how to cast lots. Here is a description of how casting lots was most likely done.
“Ancients commonly used small stones labeled to reflect the possible outcomes of the decision” (Lindblom, “Lot-casting,” 168). The Bible contains no description of the specific procedure for casting lots, undoubtedly due to the commonplace nature of the practice. Based on etymology, Kitz suggests the Israelites likely placed marked stones into a container, which was then shaken in such a way as to “cast” out a deciding stone (Kitz, “Terminology,” 207–14).
Is Casting Lots the Same as Modern Gambling?
It might be easy to conclude that casting lots is similar to modern day gambling, but it is not. The only similarity to modern day gambling is the random nature of the activity. The major difference, as you can see, is that the ancient practice of casting lots was used to attempt to seek divine direction in a particular matter. This is not the motivation of gambling, which is to win money. The only divine direction sought in gambling is the prayer to pick the right numbers or get the right roll of the dice (and yes, I am being a little facetious here).
What Does the Bible Say about Casting Lots?
You might wonder if the Bible condemns casting lots. Surprisingly the Bible does not actually condemn casting lots – if anything, in the Old Testament we could at best say the Bible is okay with it.
Now before you go marking your stones and casting them, I think it is important to note that this practice was an ancient practice, and after the day of Pentecost there is no mention of casting lots in the Bible as a way of trying to find divine direction. I will address why we don’t need to do this anymore a little bit later.
Where Do We See People Cast Lots in Scripture?
There are multiple places we see casting lots mentioned in Scripture. In the Old Testament the main Hebrew word for lots is “goral” which means small stones cast to produce a decision. Here are some examples of how casting lots was used in the Bible.
Old Testament
1. Casting lots for inheritance
“As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, ‘Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord.’ So the men left and went through the land. They wrote its description on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions” (Joshua 18:8-10).
2. Casting lots to reveal sin
“Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.’
Then the sailors said to each other, ‘Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.’ They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah” (Jonah 1:4-7).
3. Casting lots for strategy in war
“All the men rose up together as one, saying, ‘None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots” (Judges 20:8-9).
New Testament
1. Casting lots for priestly duty
“Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense” (Luke 1:8-9).
2. Casting lots for Jesus’ garments
“’Let’s not tear it,’ they said to one another. ‘Let’s decide by lot who will get it.’
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
‘They divided my clothes among them, and cast lots for my garment.’
So this is what the soldiers did” (John 19:24).
3. Casting lots to choose Judas’ replacement
“So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.’ Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:23-26).
As you can see from these examples, the Bible does not condemn casting lots, but it was a common practice and used to help decipher what God would want them to do. As we have seen by the Jonah verses, this practice was not just limited to the people of Israel. This was very common and the outcomes that resulted by casting lots were seen as divine outcomes.
Why Did the Disciples Cast Lots to Choose Judas' Replacement?
When you come to this instance of casting lots in the New Testament, I believe you are witnessing a transition from the Old Testament way of making decisions and deciphering God’s will to the way we make decisions today.
There is a clear distinction between the decision making before Pentecost and after Pentecost. The difference is after Pentecost believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, which meant they no longer had to rely upon an outward witness to decipher what God’s will was in a particular situation. They now had an inward witness, mainly God the Holy Spirit who would now lead and direct them. This is what Jesus promised in John 16:13, that the Holy Spirit would guide us in all truth. At the time they were choosing Matthias, the Holy Spirit had not been given to them yet, so the disciples relied on the ancient custom of casting lots because this is what they were used to.
Casting lots was the attempt to figure out God’s direction, which is why the Bible does not condemn casting lots. What we must remember today is we don’t have to cast lots anymore, it is simply not necessary. We don’t have to wonder what direction God wants us to take because he will guide us by his Holy Spirit. Our job now is to make sure we are in tune with the Holy Spirit, because when we are we will know what God wants us to do, and most importantly we will have the ability to do it.
Source
The Lexham Bible Dictionary
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/diego_cervo
