Some decisions are too big to be left to chance. There are some decisions that are so huge, you wouldn’t dare flip a coin on them.

• What career you want to have.
• Who to marry.
• Which house to buy.
• Whether to challenge your grandma to a Mario Kart rematch after how she destroyed you the last time.

These are weighty matters to consider. And yet, you would actually see people in the Bible casting lots to make some of these big types of decisions. Decisions like going into battle, distributing permanent land ownership, figuring out who was guilty of a crime- even matters of life and death.

Is it weird that ancient people would use games of chance to make major life decisions? Not necessarily. Ancient peoples used all kinds of pagan and superstitious divination methodologies to arrive at big decisions- see belomancy, consulting the teraphim, or hepatoscopy.

So it’s not necessarily weird that people in the Bible also made consequential decisions in such erratic ways. The weird thing about it is that it worked.

Throughout the Scriptures, God worked through people casting lots- literally playing games of chance- to reveal His will will to them and guide them to the correct choice.

If God revealed His will like that to them, would God reveal His will like that to us? Let’s explore that question.

What is Casting Lots?

Let’s start by defining what it means to cast lots. We aren’t exactly sure what this practice looked like, but it’s not so much pagan as it is playing a game of chance, similar to gambling. For example, the Roman soldiers cast lots over Jesus’ garments while He hung on the cross (John 19:23). Here is how GotQuestions.org describes casting lots:

The practice of casting lots is mentioned seventy times in the Old Testament and seven times in the New Testament. In spite of the many references to casting lots in the Old Testament, nothing is known about the actual lots themselves. They could have been sticks of various lengths, flat stones like coins, or some kind of dice; but their exact nature is unknown. The closest modern practice to casting lots is likely flipping a coin.

This doesn’t sound like the most spiritual way to make your decisions or ascertain God’s intentions. And yet, God throughout the Bible respected it and used it to reveal His divine will several times.

Jonah and the Sailors cast lots

For example, when Jonah was hiding from God and running away to Tarshish to avoid God’s call on His life, there arose a great storm on the waters. The sailors on the ship were trying to figure out who had made “the gods” so mad that their ship was about to be overturned in the storm. It says this in:

Jonah 1:7 (ESV) – And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 

Their practice of casting lots- supposedly something just left up to chance- directed them to identifying Jonah as the source of their trouble. Perhaps they split the sailors up into groups, and they cast a lot to determine which group the culprit was in. After it revealed Jonah’s group, they narrowed the scope to just that group and cast lots again (similar to the process of elimination in the game Clue). They kept narrowing it down further through the practice of casting lots until finally, yep, it was Jonah.

Perhaps Jonah could have said, “Guys, surely you don’t think I’m guilty just because someone flipped a coin a few times and it landed on me.” But he didn’t; he immediately admitted his guilt: “Yep, it’s my fault the storm is happening- becuase I’m trying to run from God.” Casting lots worked.

Joshua and Achan casting lots

Perhaps you say: but those men were pagans. Maybe God needed to communicate with pagans that way, but that’s not how he’d talk to His own people.

But that would be wrong. There’s another account in Joshua 7 where someone sinned by stealing some of the items in the wreckage of Jericho when God had specifically told them not to do that. This brought a curse on Israel’s army and caused them to lose the following battle against Ai.

But among the thousands of Israelites, how could they possibly know who it was that stole from the wreckage? This is what God said to Joshua.

Joshua 7:14 – In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man.

The next morning, this is exactly what happens. Joshua 16-18 tell us that- through casting lots- the offendor was identified first by his tribe, then clan, then family, and then by name: Achan the son of Carmi.

And just like Jonah, Achan immediately owned up to it.

We could go through numerous other examples as well, like: Joshua 18, I Chronicles 24-26, or Nehemiah 11. Casting lots was used so often and so reliably, it caused Solomon to write in:

Proverbs 16:33 – The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

Was casting lots just an Old Testament practice?

Now perhaps you’re thinking: OK, maybe God communicated in this way in the Old Testament times, but surely God didn’t do that anymore in the New Testament.

And again, that would be incorrect.

In fact, it comes up again when the 11 disciples- now called apostles- are trying to find a twelfth member for their team. This is after the cross, after Jesus died and rose again, after He had ascended into heaven, and after Judas had hung himself- creating an open spot on the apostleship roster.

And the twelfth position comes down to two guys: Justus and Matthias. Here’s what it says:

Acts 1:26 – And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

This is a pretty significant moment. They’re picking a new official apostle, and they cast lots to do it. This is carrying out the Great Commission. This is taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This is building the church. This is after Jesus. Revelation says the names of the 12 apostles are written on the foundations of heaven. And they pick the twelfth guy by playing eeny-meeny-miney-Matthias.

Was it right for the apostles to pick the tweflth member in this way? Was it wrong? In their defense, they had a lot of biblical precedent for it. And the big question for us is this:

Can I cast lots for big decisions as well?

While the Bible does not specifically say we can’t, there is great significance when you keep reading the book of Acts and observe what happens immediately after this event.

The verse we read above, Acts 1:26, is the last verse of Acts 1. The very next verse after this describes what happens when the Holy Spirit came down in Acts 2- and in Acts 2, everything changes.

Acts 2:1-4 – When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

In Acts 2, everything changes. The church is officially inaugurated. The Holy Spirit falls upon and takes residence within believers. And making decisions by casting lots is never mentioned again in the rest of the Bible.

The Holy Spirit changed everything

Daniel Kidner’s commentary, speaking on Proverbs 16:33, says this about the practice of casting lots today:

Everything changed when the Holy Spirit fell. Now, He is supposed to be our guide (John 16:13-15). If it doesn’t feel right to cast lots or flip a coin to decide if you should move or who to vote for or where to go on your next family vacation, good; it doesn’t feel right because it’s not right. That’s not what God intends for us to do today. He intends for us to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:3-6, 14).

The Guidance of the Spirit

Throughout the rest of the Book of Acts after the Day of Pentecost, you won’t see casting lots. However, you will see this:

Acts 8:29 – …the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 

Acts 16:6-7 – And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

Acts 13:2 – ...the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 15:28 – ...it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…

Acts 20:22-23 – And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

The Spirit speaks. The Spirit forbids. The Spirit constrains. The Spirit testifies.

It’s extremely beneficial for you in your Christian walk to learn to rely on the leading of the Spirit. Of course, always remember that the Holy Spirit will never contradict what God says in His Word.

For more information about how to identify when the Spirit is speaking, check out this previous newsletter post. It includes three guidelines for being led by the Spirit.

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