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SUBJECT: Casting of Lots
QUESTIONS: What is the casting of lots? Is it a form of
gambling?
ANSWER:
No, it is not.
Notice this from two Bible dictionaries:
LOTS, CASTING BY
Early used to decide an issue; so in choosing each of the
two goats on the day of atonement (two inscribed tablets of
boxwood were the lots used according to Joma 3:9), Lev 16:8,
and in assigning the inheritances in Canaan (Num 26:55;
34:13), in selecting men for an expedition (Judg 1:1;
20:10), in electing a king (1 Sam 10:20), in detecting the
guilty (14:41-42), in selecting an apostle (Acts 1:26), as
formerly priests' offices among the 16 of Eleazar's family
and the eight of Ithamar (1 Chron 24:3,5,19; Luke 1:9), in
apportioning spoil (Obad 11; Joel 3:3), in dividing Jesus'
garments (Matt 27:35; Ps 22:18). In Prov 16:33, "the lot is
cast into the lap," i.e. into an urn or cap in the judge's
lap; "but the whole disposing (Hebrew: judgment) thereof is
of the Lord." Only in weighty cases resort was had to
judgment by lot; it was entered on with solemnity, as God is
arbiter. Sanctification of the people preceded in Josh
7:13-18. from Fausset's Bible Dictionary
LOTS, CASTING OF
A way of making decisions in Bible times, similar to drawing
straws or casting a pair of dice to determine what course or
direction to follow. The word lots occurs 70 times in the
Old Testament and seven in the New Testament. Most of the
occurrences were in the early period when little of the
Bible was available and when God apparently approved of this
means for determining His will.
For example, the high priest separated the SCAPEGOAT from
the one he sacrificed by casting the lot (Lev 16:8-10). The
practice occurs most often in connection with the division
of the land under Joshua (Josh 14-21), a procedure that God
directed several times in the Book of Numbers (Num 26:55;
33:54; 34:13; 36:2).
Various offices and functions in the Temple were also
determined by lot (1 Chron 24:5,31; 25:8-9; 26:13-14). The
sailors on Jonah's ship (Jonah 1:7) also cast lots to
determine who had brought God's wrath upon their ship. Only
once in the New Testament did the casting of lots happen
with God's approval. This occurred in the selection of
Matthias to fill the spot vacated by Judas among the
apostles (Acts 1:26).
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. ~from
Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary
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