The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty. (Prov. 18:18)

The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD. (Prov. 16:33)

The Old Testament speaks frequently of the casting of lots, but what does it mean?  The Hebrew word for “lot” is גּוֹרָל (pronounced go-rawl’) and it means essentially “to be rough.”  We learn from this that the lot was a sort of dice made of stone that had not been modified but was still in its original unaltered created condition.  Unlike modern dice, the lot version of the Old Testament had not been machined or shaped.  It was the way God made it.

            Old Testament folk were often found casting lots to determine God’s will.  They believed what Solomon said, that the lot causeth contentions to cease (Prov. 18:18a).  The casting of lots was done to certify a decision.  This would have been done if the decision being made was not a black or white decision.  This would have been done if the Old Testament Scriptures were not specific in certain rulings, making the casting of lots necessary to decide a case.  Again, Solomon said, “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.” (Prov. 16:33)  God revealed His divine will occasionally through the casting of lots in the Old Testament.

            There were certain things that the Old Testament saints did not have that caused their reliance on the casting of lots.  First, they had an incomplete Bible.  Most of the Old Testament saints were only trained in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), and most of them had memorized portions of the Pentateuch through recitation from teachers – they never held an actual copy in their own hands.  Not having the complete Bible was a huge disadvantage in knowing God’s will with certainty.  Second, they only had the tentative ministry of the Holy Spirit.  The experience of Old Testament saints was a pneumatology wherein the Holy Spirit came and went from them depending on their obedience or disobedience.  Samson is a great example of this Old Testament pneumatology – Samson was spiritual one day and carnal the next.  After King David’s scarlet sin, he pleaded with the Lord, “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” (Psa. 51:11)  Third was the very unreliable teachings of priests and prophets who sometimes taught things exactly wrong.  Old Testament prophets and priests were notorious for altering the interpretation of God’s Word for profit or gain.  This all means that God’s will in the Old Testament was often unclear at best.  When the will of God was uncertain, the lot was used for determination.  So how did it work?

The Lot Fell On Jonah

            One version of the Old Testament casting of lots was very much like our modern rolling of the dice.  After a prayer, unmodified stones would be cast upon a surface with the understanding that the reading of the landing or the faces of the stones was final.  This was the method used to determine that the Prophet Jonah was the reason the ship was sinking, and all hands were in danger.  Ponder the story in Jonah 1:4-7:

But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

               As the sea tossed their ship to and fro, and their ship threatened to sink from under them, the passengers headed for Tarshish needed an answer and they needed an answer fast.  The nature of the storm had already convinced them that some rebel had provoked the anger of his god, but they didn’t know which passenger was guilty.  Strangely, Jonah was completely at rest – sleeping in the bottom of the ship.  How could you sleep under such circumstances?  Jonah did.  The mariners awakened him, and he was forced to attend the casting of lots somewhere on the ship.  The five most frightening words Jonah ever heard came next: the lot fell upon Jonah.  They tried to row to safety, but it was pointless.  That was it.  There is no debate.  They had their man, and the casting of the lots certified it.  They threw Jonah overboard and the storm immediately ceased (Jonah 1:15).

Zacharias’ Lot

               There was another version of the casting of lots in the Old Testament and that was to determine God’s will in which priest was to serve inside of the Tabernacle/Temple, and what role each priest was to have.  Priestly responsibilities were as follows:

• Tending to the fire and wood that consumed the offering on the Brazen Altar in the Outer Court
• Tending to the water that needed to be changed out in the basin of the Brazen Laver
• Tending to the twelve fresh loaves of shewbread on the Table of Shewbread inside the Holy Place
• Tending to the oil and the wicks at the Golden Candlestick in the Holy Place
• Tending to the coals and incense at the Altar of Incense inside the Holy Place

Other responsibilities were for only the High Priest to do inside the Holy of Holies where lesser Levites were never allowed to go.  The process of casting lots to decide who got each of these jobs was a little more complicated than rolling dice.  Each morning every qualified priest gathered at the entrance of the Tabernacle/Temple fully dressed in their priestly uniforms.  They formed a circle, and the lead priest would remove his headgear, signifying the beginning of the count.  He would then instruct the present encircled priests to raise their hand with a number of their choosing represented on their fingers (i.e. 1 through 5).  The lead priest would then reveal the number he was keeping secret and he would begin to add the numbers of fingers raised.  Imagine the lead priest determined the number to be 23.  If the first priest beside him held up four fingers, then the next priest held of five, then the next priest held up two, then the next held up five, then the next held up three, then the next held up four, the lot had fallen on priest number six.  That priest would leave the circle and attend to the tasks of the Brazen Altar.  The exact same process was repeated to determine who would tend to the water in the Brazen Laver.  This process was repeated until every responsibility had been filled.  Every attending priest secretly wanted for the lot to fall on him to tend to the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place because they believed that was the closest you could get to the presence of God in the Holy of Holies without going in.  The priest who was blessed to minister at the Altar of Incense would often take the opportunity to whisper a personal prayer request while he was in the Holy Place, hoping that being that close to the presence of the Lord would grant an answer.  As each round of lots were cast, the attending priests grew increasingly excited about their chance of ministering at the Altar of Incense.

The Bible tells us that Zacharias was a priest of the course of Abia (cf. Luke 1:5).  The Bible also tells us that he and his wife Elisabeth were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless (Luke 1:6).  Two more details about Zacharias and Elisabeth: (Luke 1:7) And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.  They were old and barren.

Because the Levites inherited priesthood from their tribal ancestors, bearing children was a necessity for the survival of the priesthood.  Priests who had no children were considered disqualified and were ridiculed as the decades came and went with no children.  Elisabeth and Zacharias felt the pressure of this pending disqualification as they aged.  Zacharias’ age had made him a liability in the minds of the other priests.  In their opinion, it was time for this old man to retire.  However, God had another plan.

And it came to pass, that while he [Zacharias] executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:8-17)

Zacharias’ heart must have skipped a beat or two as the counting around the circle of priests drew closer and closer to him.  When the lot fell on him to minister at the Altar of Incense he knows this was likely his last chance to plead with the Lord for a child.  Into the Temple he marched with his coals and incense; first things first, he does his job.  Then a little prayer crosses his elderly lips.  Shockingly, an angel appears and tells Zacharias, “. . . thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.”  Zacharias’ age and Elisabeth’s barrenness make this nearly unbelievable.  There is so much more than can be discussed about this amazing episode, but the point of this chapter is how the lot determined God’s will in the Old Testament.  It was clear that Gid chose Zacharias and Elisabeth to bear the forerunner of Messiah.

Honorable Mentions

               Aaron casts lots over two sacrificial goats to determine which goat was to be the sacrifice and which became the scapegoat (Lev. 16:8).  When Joshua led the Children of Israel into the Promised Land, lots were cast to determine which tribes inherited which lands (Num. 26:55; Josh. 14-22; 23:4).  David boasted that God supervised his lot in Psalm 16:5, “The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.”  In the confusing days when there was no record of who was of the Tribe of Levi, Nehemiah and his administration cast lots to determine who should minister (Neh. 10:34).  They also cast lots in the days of Nehemiah to determine who would live in the City of Jerusalem and who would live in the suburbs (Neh. 11:1).  The Old Testament prophesied that lots would be cast to determine the ownership of the purple robe that God’s Son would wear during His trials and crucifixion (Psa. 22:18).

Why No More Lots?

So, if the casting of lots was such a reliable method of determining the will of God in the Old Testament, why don’t we continue the practice today?  The answer is twofold: (1) we have a complete Bible and (2) we have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  God’s will is no longer a mystery to us since these two resources are at our disposal.  In fact, casting lots is frowned upon today.  It is seen as bypassing the resources of the Bible and the Holy Spirit and minimizing their input.

Dr. Brad Bailey is a husband, dad, granddad, pastor, college president & radio host in Brandon, FL