Question: Is it ever appropriate to "cast lots" to make a decision? (Chapter 15)

Answer: It may surprise some readers that my answer to this question is a qualified yes. Again, we need to look at the biblical material. But first a brief definition. The Bible speaks of casting lots when a impartial random means is used to decide something. Our culture would flip a coin, toss dice or draw straws. They would indicate a yes or no answer.

The biblical examples of casting lots fall into two categories. The first is the use of lots to make an impartial choice when more than one candidate was qualified. Lots were cast to select those who would supply wood (Nehemiah 10:34), to identify those who would populate Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11:1), to divide up the land (Joshua 14:2), and to determine who would offer the incense when there were more than enough priests (Luke 1:9). Even when the lot method was used for fairness, God was sovereignly in control of the outcome (Proverbs 16:33). But this was never taken to mean that God was indicating that only one choice was right. Lots were used because multiple options were equally valid (Proverbs 18:18) and an impartial choice needed to be made.

The second category is the use of lots to obtain supernatural guidance. The lot tossed by the pagan sailors fell upon Jonah identifying him as the guilty one (Jonah 1:7). The lot exposed Achan as the one who violated the ban on Jericho, and the stolen booty was found in his tent (Josh. 7:14-26). The lot fell on Jonathan, and through him Saul's foolish oath was cancelled (1 Samuel 14:41-42). The lot selected Saul to be king (1 Samuel 10:20-21)-a choice confirmed by God's direct word to find him hiding in the baggage (10:22-24).

In the New Testament, the apostles cast lots to ascertain the Lord's choice between two candidates deemed qualified to replace Judas the defector (Acts 1:24-26). For a variety of reasons, I believe that God approved this action and that Matthias served as a legitimate apostle alongside the other eleven. But I also agree with those scholars who claim this was the last valid use of lots to obtain special guidance from God.

The inappropriateness of this practice is well illustrated by author George Eliot's hapless weaver, Silas Marner. When his church drew lots to determine the thief of the congregation's funds, his guilt was wrongly substantiated, with disastrous consequences: he was excommunicated from the group and he renounced his faith.

One summer while teaching at Singapore Bible College, I found myself kneeling in a busy street with a young boy and his missionary father. We were about to enter the pagan temple of Kuan Yin, and the father wanted to emphasize that we were about to enter enemy territory. This so-called goddess claims to give divine answers to worshipers' questions. Inside we saw people bow down and secretly ask Kuan Yin a question. After prayer they took a canister filled with foot-long thin sticks. They rocked the canister and lowered its opening until one stick worked its way out. Then a block of wood with a yes and no side was flipped. If it landed on yes they had the right stick. No miracle, no voice, nothing but a stick with a number on it. The stick was taken to a booth and exchanged for a numbered message, and supposedly Kuan Yin had answered their question. The indecisive inquirer now knew exactly what to do!

Biblical lots were never like this. They had miraculous confirmation. Without such corroboration one is deciding by chance. There is no reason to try to read divine messages into providential happenings.

To return to the question, then, the first category of using lots remains valid. If you are looking for an impartial way to choose between two equal options or to avoid dispute, flipping a coin still seems appropriate wisdom (Proverbs 18:18). But there is no evidence that we can use lots today to discern supernatural guidance. There are no examples or instruction advocating this practice after Pentecost, nor are lots confirmed by supernatural evidence as they were in the Old Testament episodes.

I knew a couple who could not agree on whether to have another child. They were both firm in their differing views of what God wanted. They decided to cast a lot (actually flip a coin) and take the result as God's answer for what He wanted them to do. "Heads, we add to the quiver. Tails, we have had our last child." They flipped. It was tails-no baby.

Uncertain of the validity of this leading from God, they asked me what I thought. (They were not substituting me for the Almighty, but I had written a book on the subject.) Did their coin flip convey God's answer for them? I ruined their tranquility. My answer was a definite maybe. I think it is valid to settle a difference by flipping a coin and sticking with the result. I also think God is sovereign over coin tosses (Proverbs 16:33) and will work things together for good. On the other hand, if they thought God had made His divine moral desire known through the backside of a coin, I disagreed. God was not saying another child was "against His will" by the way the coin landed. Nor does a coin have any inherent wisdom by the way it lands. Such methods should be used only to help settle differences in an impartial manner where truth and wisdom show that the choices are equal.