casting lots for guidance...

[_Steve]

This thread was originally begun by a man who has since wished to have his identity (even his username) expunged from the forum. I am obliging him,removing his posts and all references to his name in any responses. However, I could not simply delete the whole threads that he started, since there was discussion by other members that became part of thse threads, which responses I wished to retain here. Therefore, I have editid all the threads where his name is mentioned, and replaced his name with "anonymous." He started this thread with the following post:

Q1) What can we learn (and apply to our lives) from the apostle's casting lots?

Acts 1:26 "And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthi'as; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles. "

It would seem by the examples in the OT, and also in the NT , that it was a CUSTOM to allocate ownership/duties/responsiblilities by casting lots

Luke 1:9 "according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. "

Q2) Did God ever INSTRUCT the use of lots? OR express approval of there use?

Hi Anonymous,

I have been traveling most of the time since you wrote and have had limited time on the internet. Sorry to keep you waiting.

The casting of lots for guidance is an interesting concept. I know of very few Christian teachers that would feel comfortable recommending it, though the Bible never says anything disparaging about the practice. Some groups, like the Moravians (I think), and older anabaptist groups, have used the casting of lots in connection with choosing leaders, as the apostles did in Acts, but most Christian groups, I think, would feel uncomfortable leaving very much to what appears to be a "chance" process.

Nonetheless, the Bible makes it clear that casting of lots has often been a legitimate means of divine guidance.

It was through the casting of lots that the sailors correctly identified Jonah as the one who had brought their woes upon them. The narrative gives every indication that they viewed the practice as a reliable means of learning information that they would not have naturally known--and seems to indicate that they were not mistaken in this assumption (Jonah 1:7). The same method was used to discover that it was Jonathan's violation that caused God not to speak with Saul (1 Sam.14:37-42), and it may very well have been the means by which Achan was discovered to be the one who had brought defeat upon Israel's armies by his sin (Josh.7:16-18).

Also, as you have pointed out, this method was used in choosing a replacement for Judas. While some feel that Matthias, upon whom the lot fell, was not really God's choice to replace Judas, the narrative indicates that Luke (and, therefore, Paul) seems to have accepted Matthias in that role (Acts 1:26).

Proverbs 16:33 says that "the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." This may tempt us to resort to this means of guidance (since it is one of the few means that would invariably yield unmistakable results) for every matter in which we desire the Lord's guidance. Proverbs 18:18 says, "Casting lots causes contentions to cease" (that is, settles the matter authoritatively).

However, the casting of lots does not seem to have been used all of the time and in every situation where clear guidance would have been helpful. There were times when the guidance of the Lord in Paul's life seems to have been ambiguous (Acts 16:6-10; 21:4, 10-13), and where casting of lots might have given a clear answer, but where he apparently did not use this method to clear things up. It is possible that casting of lots was used only in a limited number of types of circumstances.

Joshua was instructed to divide the land of Canaan to the twelve tribes through the casting of lots (Num.26:55/Josh.13:6; 14:2; etc.; Acts 13:19). Presumably, this was to determine that each tribe would actually get the land allotment that God wished for them to have (though it might have only been to leave the matter to "chance" so as to preclude any favoritism on Joshua's part--or suspicion of the same-- in his giving the best lands to certain families). The same considerations apply to the casting of lots to choose which animal would become the scapegoat in the Yom Kippur ritual (Lev.16:8-10).

It seems to me that, in some instances, casting of lots may have been used simply to keep a choice random (as with the selection of the scapegoat), without any suggestion that God was guiding the process, or that He would have any particular interest in the outcome. But there are definitely cases in which the proceedure was intended to discover God's particular will in a situation, and in which it apparently worked!

I would think it would take a lot of faith in the sovereign intervention of God to allow such a seeming "chance" proceedure to determine anything of importance, but "according to your faith be it unto you." The temptation, I think, would be very great, when using this method of guidance, to try for "two out of three" when the first cast did not yield a desired answer. This temptation would also probably result in times where the answer really was from the Lord, but where the dissatisfied inquirer would walk away and convince himself that it had not been providential, and that chance alone had given the unwanted result.

I think I would have such temptations, and that is the main reason that I have not used this method of guidance or recommended it. But that doesn't mean that it is not legitimate.

[Guest]

Hi Steve and Anonymous,

I suppose that flipping the Bible open to a random verse in order to find guidance falls into this category? I have heard preachers tell of stories where people found the appropriate guidance or encouragement they needed from this method, although many times strangely prefaced with the advice that we should read and study the Bible systematically.

[_Steve]

Hi Ben,

I have, on occasion, gotten very appropriate guidance by opening my Bible at random and having my eye fall immediately upon the timely word that was needed for me to know the will of God for a specific decision. Preachers tend to make fun of this method, but many people that I have known have found God to speak to them in this way.

God providentially guided Ahasuerus to just the right portion of his kingdom's annals, seemingly at random, at a time when the information there would provide timely direction (Esther 6:1-3). If God can do this using pagan chronicles, He certainly can do the same with His own word. This may have happened when Daniel found the timely passage in the Book of Jeremiah (Dan.9:2), but he also may have simply been reading through the book in a normal fashion when he came across the important passage.

I would have to say, however, that the times this happened with me were not times when I was looking to find a word from the Lord in this manner or was deliberately playing "Bible roulette." The times I remember receiving guidance this way were times when I was not expecting it! I have had many times when I would open my Bible, either at random, or to the last place I had left-off reading previously, and found that the very verses before me spoke precisely to a matter for which I was seeking guidance or needing correction.

On occasions when I actually decided to try to get guidance this way, it has seldom presented relevant texts. I suppose that it is not unlike other forms of guidance, in that you can't manipulate a word from God whenever you want one, or dictate how He must speak to you. But when He does, through whatever means, it is obvious or discernible that it is He who is speaking.