Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Chronicles 26:13 (New Living Translation)

13 They were assigned by families for guard duty at the various gates, without regard to age or training, for it was all decided by means of sacred lots.

This writing is about how people were assigned guard duty at the various gates of the city. Without regard to age or training, people were given their assignments.

Whoa. Without regard to age or training? Guard duty? Do you sleep well at night knowing the guard may be 13 or 73 years old and not know how to hold a spear let alone us it? Huh? Of course not. This is foolhardy.

But wait—these were chosen by lot. Casting a die, drawing straws, pulling a name out of a hat. Whoa. That is even worse. Really? Just by some chance or something.

But wait—let’s include the adjective and have sacred lot. “Sacred” meant that this was from God and dedicated to God. It wasn’t a normal casting of lots; it was dedicated to God and approved by God. This was holy in all the most serious sense.

The sacred lot was used in several places in the Bible and the history of the people and even later in the history of the church. Pull a name out of a hat? Yes, after prayer and great contemplation about which names went into the hat. God chose David over all his older more handsome and bigger older brothers. God chose Moses, a guy cast off from society, his family, and was stuck watching someone else’s sheep. We go on and on.

God showed people what God wanted via godly lots. But I’m smarter than that, huh? Nope. Please God, help me in my unbelief.