It is unfortunate that a lot of christian writers ignore a topic like this. Perhaps, they don’t want to be criticized and labeled as a diviner — someone who practices divination.
Truth be told, divination is forbidden by God (Leviticus 19:26 "You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying."). However, God doesn’t forbid casting of lot. In fact, all his Priests were dressed in priestly robes which contain instruments — Urim and Thummin — for casting lot.
The act spun from the time of Moses and Aaron to the time of the early apostles. It was not just an old testament practice but part of the new testament practice.
God answers yes or no questions by lot. With the answer from lot casting, one is guaranteed of safety and good result from its outcome.
So, casting of lot is not bad. Great people of God — David, Saul and the 11 apostles (Judas was not part of them) — in the Bible used it to make crucial decisions.
When King Saul suffered defeat, he earnestly sought the face of God as to what led to the defeat. He didn’t consult God through the ministration of Prophet, neither did he pray nor sought other means except by lot casting.
According to 1 Samuel 14:41-42...
"Therefore Saul said to the Lord God of Israel, 'Give a perfect lot.' So Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people escaped.
And Saul said, 'Cast lots between my son Jonathan and me.' So Jonathan was taken."
after the lot was casted, it fell on Jonathan, his son. As rightly revealed by the lot, he was the one who caused the defeat as he tasted honey against the word of his father — Saul had pronounced a curse on anyone who taste anything until he defeated his enemy.
Some Christians thought the practice should be abolished as it was only relevant during the old testament era. Surprisingly, the apostles of Jesus Christ casted lot to appoint another apostle who replaced Judas Iscariot.
“And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias… and they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”
Acts 1:23-26.
The early apostles wouldn't use lot if it was a forbidden as many pointed out. Their words, practices and lifestyles became the doctrine of the nowadays churches. Any mistake made by them would rubbish the church.
Glory be to God as they didn’t make any costly mistake. All their actions were rightly guided by the Holy Spirit. In fact, the book of act, which recorded all their deeds, revealed how the Holy Spirit worked through them.
They didn’t take any step outside the instructions of the Holy Spirit. In addition, they didn’t carry out any task until they were filled with the spirit of God as instructed by their master, Jesus.
Take note, the apostles never casted lot until they had prayed. If you need a yes or no answer to make a crucial decision, you can do likewise by using two flat objects with two sides respectively. Pray for God to give you a perfect answer through the objects (label the first flat object 'yes' and the second one 'no'). Then, cast the lot.
If you ask God to reveal a yes or no answer to your question on anything — for instance, a choice between two people you want to do business with, you will cast the lot for the two names. Any name that shows yes is the right person God has chosen for you.
Mind you, God can decide not to answer an individual if he or she has sinned. The best way of knowing when God doesn’t want to give an answer is by checking the outcome of the lot. If the two objects show up the sides that have nothing written on them, it means God is withholding his answer.
He did likewise for King Saul. He decided not to answer him by all the available means, including casting of lot, that was why he consulted a necromancer (1 Samuel 28:6... "And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets."). Due to his ungodly action, he died and lost his kingdom to David.
In conclusion, God answers prayers when we are without sin. Prayer, prophecy and lot casting will be useless when one has sinned. The prayer of a sinner is an abomination to God.
Live a life free from sin, and you will enjoy the enormous blessing of answers to all your prayers.
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