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The casting of lots during the O.T. times and at the beginning of the New was the
Divinely appointed means of discovering the Lord's will. Two Hebrew words are
employed in the Old Testament, namely goral, which occurs seventy-seven times and
always translated "lot", and chebel, which occurs sixty times, and is translated "lot"
thrice, a figurative use of the word which primarily meant "a cord, a line, a rope", and
then a coast, a country, a portion or a region so measured off. In the New Testament we
have kleros occurring thirteen times, being translated "lots" or "lot" eight times,
"inheritance" and "heritage" once each, and "part" twice". Here again, the pebble, by a
figure of speech becomes the portion which the falling of the pebble indicated.
Langchano occurs four times, twice it is translated "obtain", once "be one's lot", and
once "cast lots". From Esther 3: 7 and 9: 24 we learn that the Persians also used the
lot which they called "pur", and apparently continued casting the lot from day to day until
they discovered the day propitious to their desire, which turned out to be the 13th of the
12th month, Adar.
The first use of the lot according to the Scriptures, was for ascertaining which of the
two goats on the day of atonement, was for the Lord, and which for the scapegoat
(Lev. 16: 8, 9, 10). The seven occurrences in Numbers and the twenty-six in Joshua
relate to the apportionment of the land of Canaan among the twelve tribes. We find the
lot used in apportioning special service in Neh. 10: 34 and 11: 1, and after that, the
casting of lots is used in the Psalms, Proverbs and the Prophets in secondary and
figurative senses. One passage from the Psalms calls for attention:
"The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: Thou (emphatic)
maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; Yea, I have a goodly
heritage" (Psa. 16: 5, 6).
The subject matter is distributed thus:
A |
Inheritance.
B
| Lot.
B
| Line.
A |
Heritage.
A similar combination of lot and line is found in Isa. 34: 17:
"And He hath cast the lot for them, and His hand hath divided it unto them by line."
And yet another in verse eleven where we read of "the line of confusion, and the
stones of emptiness", an inheritance of wrath, not of blessing. A passage in Micah that
bears upon the quotation of Psalm 16:, given above, reads:
"He hath changed the portion of my people: how hath He removed it from me:
turning away He hath divided our fields. Therefore thou shalt have none that shalt cast a
cord by lot in the congregation of the Lord" (Micah 2: 4, 5).
To understand the Psalmist's reference to the lot and the line, we must go back to his
times, to a village where the inhabitants are gathered in a house for a most important
decision. Surrounding the village was a tract of land which belonged to the village and