Contemplative Bible Reading

Joshua 18:3-7 (New International Version 2011)

³ So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you? ⁴ Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me. ⁵ You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory on the south and the tribes of Joseph in their territory on the north. ⁶ After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the LORD our God. ⁷ The Levites, however, do not get a portion among you, because the priestly service of the LORD is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan. Moses the servant of the LORD gave it to them.”

Joshua has led God’s people into the promised land. Some of the tribes have occupied the territory designated for them, but others have not. In the verses above, Joshua instructs these remaining tribes how they will be given land. The process is:

1. survey the land
2. write a description of the land
3. divide the land into seven parts
4. I will cast lots to see who has which piece of land

This all makes sense until we reach step 4 (given in verse 6):

I will cast lots for you in the presence of the LORD our God

Cast lots? Roll the dice? This is a pretty important thing they are doing here. They are dividing the land among the tribes. Land – for eternity. No trading land later as this is it. Roll the dice? (I almost titled this post “Casting Lots for Lots,” but that was too cute, even for me.)

This does not make any sense to Christians in the 21st century. Gambling is wrong, right? Relying on fortune is wrong, right? We are to rely on the LORD.

Casting lots is something God’s people did for centuries and they did it even in the New Testament. Why don’t we do it today? One time I found an explanation that seemed to make sense. Casting lots before God was what God’s people did. Over the centuries, people used this practice for many other things. With time, people distorted the practice in games of chance. With more time, people shaved the dice a bit here and there to sway the chance in their favor, i.e., they cheated other people. Cheating often leads to disagreements, one thing leads to another, and pretty soon you have a fist fight, a knife fight, a gun fight, and Christians will no longer have anything to do with casting lots.

I believe it is wrong that we allow the world and the worldly to take from  us practices that God had His people use. Should we cast lots today? Why not? We have been shown how to do it in a manner that pleases the LORD.