CASTING LOTS / WHO IS IN CONTROL?

Pastor Jerry Rockwell

 

CASTING LOTS/WHO IS IN CONTROL?

 

Joshua 13-14

Introduction: What controls you? Sometimes we become puppets on a string because of the pressure we or others place on us. We want to address the subject of control. When we come to Joshua 13 we find the interesting statement that Joshua was “old and stricken in years” (Joshua 13:1). Thus, we have somewhat of a “time lapse” of several years. Then we encounter the statement, “…and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.” We want to dispense with the subject of Joshua 13, which primarily concerns the distribution of the land to the various tribes, including the two and a half tribes of Israel that remained on the East side of the Jordan River. Today, we want to discuss the inheritance of the people of Israel who entered the land. The Main subject of Joshua 14 gives us some insight into the subject. Before that, we want to read a couple of verses that will introduce us to the subject at hand. Proverbs 16:33 (KJV) The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 18:18 (KJV) The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty. We often wonder what this means. We want to deal with this subject that we seldom, if ever, address. It is found in Joshua 14:1-5. What did God have in mind when He placed this story in the Bible? What is going on here? Look at Joshua 14:2 (KJV) By lot was their inheritance, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe. [Emphasis added.] For the most part, the war of defeating the enemy in the land is over, and the land is now going to be divided among the people. Thus, they cast lots. It might be a little like the practice we used to have called “drawing straws.” Have you ever done that? I have, and it is a method for deciding something that might otherwise spark controversy. We usually did it to see who would be first in an order of participation. Here in Joshua 14, they cast lots to determine who got what in the land. 

Our subject today is something to demonstrate that we cannot control some things. Every day you get up out of bed and start your day, you face situations and circumstances. Some of these we can control, and some we cannot. Being able to handle these matters is something we need to master to finish the race strong. That is why we want to deal with the little matter of “lots.” 

Most of us have grown up using different methods of deciding the order of things or who is first, second, third, and so on. One method was to draw straws or draw cards, yet we have to ask, “Isn’t that just chance? Doesn’t that just depend upon luck?” This causes us to ask what this system of “lots” involves. We encounter this several times in the Bible. They are primarily in the Old Testament. What is interesting to the Bible reader is that there is no information in the Bible about how the system of lots works. People of this day often used a system like the lot to decide matters that could not be decided in any other manner. Some suggest this is similar to how we use dice. That is not a clear or perfect analogy, but we do know from Proverbs 16:33 that the lot was cast into the lap. The Bible indicates that men often wore robes as outer garments and would cast lots to determine matters of importance. 

Casting of lots first appears in the book of Leviticus. We are familiar with this passage because it deals with the “Day of Atonement,” when Israel dealt with its sin. It is found in Leviticus 16. On that day, they would select two goats for the sacrifice of atonement. Then the High Priest would cast lots to determine which one would be killed as the sacrifice, and the other would be the “scapegoat,” which was turned loose in the wilderness. This was done after the sins of the people had been confessed and the High Priest had put his hands on the head of the goat chosen as the “scapegoat.” The lot was cast to determine the role of the two goats. 

In Numbers 26, God told Israel that when they came into the land, they would divide the land by “lot” (Num. 26:55). Notwithstanding, the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers, they shall inherit. Remember the passage in Proverbs 18:18 we are told that the lot “causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.” When the land was divided among the people of Israel it was not done according to the mightiest or the strongest. God said, “I will determine that and guide you in the process.” This was done through a system called “lots.” 

In 1Chronicles 24-25 there became so many priests that they could not all serve every day as prescribed. They were given responsibility on a particular day and this was determined by a system of lots. The matter of lots became a significant part of the life of Israel.

In Psalm 22, over 1,000 years before Jesus Christ was born we find a prophecy about His crucifixion and that the soldiers would “cast lots” for his garments in Psalms 22:18 (KJV) They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. The Gospels tell us that this prophecy came to pass as it was predicted. 

In Ezekiel 45-48 we find a prediction of things still in the future we find that lots will again be used to determine the land grants for Israel. This is yet to come. When Jesus Christ comes to set up his millennial reign on the earth lots will be used again. We cannot be sure about all of this and all that we need to know about lots. 

Let’s look at an issue. Isn’t that a little like divinely sanctioned gambling? Some of you may plan to go to the casino after this. Let’s make something clear about this. This is not gambling. That is when someone takes something which formerly belonged to someone else. In other words gambling is taking something from someone else. There is a large difference between the casting of lots and gambling. What we find here is that God is using something to determine the outcome that could not be otherwise decided. Everything belongs to God. In the matter of gambling we need to understand we will be held accountable for our actions and how we use the resources God has given us. There are things we can control and we will be held accountable for those things we have the ability to determine the outcome. We need to be a responsible follower of Jesus Christ and make wise decisions about what God has provided us. When God gives me resources I need to use them responsibly. Look at Galatians 5:22-24 (KJV) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Here is what will happen when you allow God to have control of your life. The word “temperance” means to control. When we are led by the Holy Spirit of God we will be able to control our desires and make responsible decisions. When we are controlled by the Spirit of God you will begin to manifest these things in your life. This matter of “casting lots” is not an issue of gambling. We must learn to live responsibility. We can squander our resources in many ways and gambling is one of them. We can spend a large amount of money on a Jet Ski as well. We can spend a great deal of money on other things. But this is not the matter of casting lots. We need to learn to act responsibly. 

Casting of lots is a divinely appointed system. Proverbs 16:33 (KJV) The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. What God is saying in this matter of casting lots is that He is not going to allow you and me to have any control of the outcome. It is all to be of God. This is the issue. There are certain things in life that you have no control over. You will have to trust God. We don’t have to learn the system of casting lots to understand these matters. We must learn that God’s revelation is progressive. The Old Testament believer did not have the same understanding you and I have of the revelation of God. In the OT people were led by various things such as dreams, visions, prophets, casting of lots, etc. God to Hebrews 1:1-2 (KJV) 1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Jesus is the living word. We have the written word. We have the “mind of Christ.” We have a book that tells us everything we need to know about the past, the present and the future. We don’t need to cast lots to find the mind of Christ. 

There were things that Israel could control and there were things they could not control. 

  1. Learning the things they could control.
  1. They could choose to obey God. An entire generation died in the wilderness because there was the decision to not obey God and go into the land. They accepted the consequences of that. God did not make them decide to disobey Him, they made it. A new generation came up and they stood at the banks of the Jordan River and they too had a choice to make. They could control that decision. Do they trust God and follow Joshua or do we go back and wander in the wilderness for another 40 years? They chose to cross over and enter into the fullness of the blessing of God. They made an adult responsible decision.
  2. They could choose to face the enemy and conquer the land. We have seen this many times in the first 12 chapters of Joshua. They had to choose whether they would obey and follow Joshua and conquer the enemy or not. God had already promised to give them the land and the victory. They just had to enter into the land and receive the land and the victory. 
  1. Living under the things they could not control. Though the land was already theirs as an inheritance, they could not decide which part of the land was theirs. God would control that. Here is the principle of Proverbs 18:18 (KJV) The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty. It was not a matter of who fought the hardest or who fought the longest. It was not a matter of who had the most men in the battle or who had the least number of men in the battle. God said He had given them an inheritance but the decision was left to God what portion each tribe received. THE LESSON: There are things you and I can control and there are things we cannot control. This is how we apply the lesson to ourselves. 
  2. The lesson. 
  1. Accept the things we cannot control. We have no control over certain circumstances of life. Think of this for a moment of things we cannot control. Weather such as hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, etc. We do not control those things. The economy! We have no ability (individually) to control the price of gasoline or groceries. You and I have no power to wake up in the morning and have gasoline down to $1.00 per gallon. Certain types of illnesses we cannot control. We may get sick because we don’t take care of ourselves but there are illnesses hat just happen. Marilyn and I have a daughter who developed epilepsy. We had no ability to control that. People who develop cancer have no ability to control whether they get cancer or not. There are things in old age that we cannot control. Wouldn’t it be great to control whether you have the ability to remember things? Wouldn’t it be great to control whether you keep your strength or not? We have to learn to accept the things we cannot control. 
  2. Functioning in the things we cannot control. 

Spiritual Gifts. We have no control over the nature of “spiritual gifts” for example. This may be the close parallel we are talking about in casting lots. God said He would give Israel an inheritance but He would decide who got what and how much. Look at 1 Corinthians 12:7 (KJV) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. The context here is “spiritual gifts.” The Bible is saying that every follower of Jesus Christ has been given spiritual gifts. As you read further in 1Corinthians 12: 8ff you find various gifts given to the believer. Look at 1 Corinthians 12:11 (KJV) But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. The “he” in this verse is talking about God. In other words God divides/gives to each believer as He determines who gets what. That is exactly what happened in Joshua 14. God said He would give them an inheritance but God would decide what each tribe received. In 1Corinthians 12 God is saying the same thing. He has given each of us spiritual gifts. We do not determine what we have. Our responsibility is to learn the gift, receive it and function as good stewards of what God has given to us. We need to learn to accept the things we cannot control but leverage the things we can control. 

  1. Functioning under things we can control.
  1. Our Consecration. Only you can decide whether to apply Romans 12:1-2 (KJV) 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God, to your life. God puts this out here for us but only you and I can determine if we function in this area of consecration. You can live for God or you can live for yourself. Remember Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10 (KJV) For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia? You can turn your back on God and walk away if you so choose. You can receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour and believe in Him. Once you do that the results of salvation and eternal life/security is out of your control. That is up to God because He said I will “keep you from that moment on.” 

Did you know you can get mad at me, this church,

someone in the church. You can walk out of here and never again in this life use what God has given to you. That is your choice. No one makes you do that although some would like to force our children to do certain things. 

  1. Our walk in the Spirit is something we can control. According to Romans 8:9 (KJV) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. You have the Spirit of God living in you. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (KJV) 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. It is up to you whether you walk in the Spirit. You can quench the Spirit, you can grieve the Holy Spirit of God, it is up to you. It is up to you. You are no different than those people of Israel who stood in Kadesh and refused to go in to the land an take the inheritance promised by God. They spent the next 40 years in the wilderness. You can do the same thing. Your decision to continue on where every victory of possession is yours. 

 

We have something going on in this country that is 

 

disturbing. People want to blame everyone else for things they don’t want to do. We can go through life blaming the church because we don’t grow in the Lord. That is your responsibility. You can come to the conclusion that you are so disconnected and no one likes me and I don’t know what to do. No one in the church cares for me. You can come to that conclusion but do not blame the church or the people of the church. That is your responsibility. You can say, “I don’t care if anyone likes me or tells me what I should do, I am going to live for God and follow Him. I have the Spirit of God living in me and if that is all I have that is enough and I am going live for Him and grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. No one controls that except you. Joshua and Israel believed God for something better. You can believe God for something better. 

 

Conclusion: Think back on your life this past week. Most of the things we become concerned with is things we cannot control. Your life will be better if you will take the things you cannot control and leave them to God. That makes no difference if that is a hurricane, $4.00 per gallon gasoline, an illness, a tragedy or whatever it may be. LEAVE IT TO GOD! Then worry about what you can control. You can decide to take the next step. You can decide if you are going to live for God no matter what anyone else does. You have all you need to thrive in this life. You cannot control where you were born, you cannot control who your parents were/are, you cannot control what sex you are, you cannot control the circumstances of life. You cannot control the price of groceries. But you can trust God and work on those things you can control. You can control how you respond to the truth Jesus Christ.