"What was the practice of casting lots?"
Answer: The practice of casting lots is mentioned 70 times in the Old Testament and seven times in the New Testament.
In spite of the many references to casting lots in the Old Testament, nothing is known about the actual lots themselves.
They could have been sticks of various lengths, flat stones like coins, or some kind of dice; but their exact nature is unknown.
The closest modern practice to casting lots is likely flipping a coin.
Cleromancy is a form of sortation, casting of lots, in which an outcome is determined by means that normally would be considered random, such as the rolling of dice, but are sometimes believed to reveal the will of God, or other supernatural entities.
The practice of casting lots occurs most often in connection with the division of the land under Joshua (Joshua chapters 14-21), a procedure that God instructed the Israelites on several times in the book of Numbers.
Numbers 26:55: But the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit;
Numbers 33:54: You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit.
Numbers 34:13: Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe.
Numbers 36:2: They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophe had our brother to his daughters.)
Casting of lots occurs relatively frequently in the Bible, and many biblical scholars think that the Urim and Thummim served this purpose.
Urim and Thummim essentially means cursed or faultless and used to answer the question innocent or guilty.
God allowed the Israelites to cast lots in order to determine His will for a given situation Joshua 18:6-106 And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. 7 The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage. And Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”
8 So the men arose and went, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description and return to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” 9 So the men went and passed up and down in the land and wrote in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions. Then they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh, 10 and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. And there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, to each his portion.
1 Chronicles 24:5 They divided them by lot, all alike, for there were sacred officers and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar.
Various offices and functions in the temple were also determined by lot 1 Chronicles 24:5They divided them by lot, all alike, for there were sacred officers and officers of God among both the sons of Eleazar and the sons of Ithamar.
1 Chronicles 31These also, the head of each father’s house and his younger brother alike, cast lots, just as their brothers the sons of Aaron, in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites.
1 Chronicles 25:8-9 And they cast lots for their duties, small and great, teacher and pupil alike. 9 The first lot fell for Asaph to Joseph; the second to Gedaliah, to him and his brothers and his sons, twelve;
1 Chronicles 26:13-14 And they cast lots by fathers’ houses, small and great alike, for their gates. 14 The lot for the east fell to Shelemiah. They cast lots also for his son Zechariah, a shrewd counselor, and his lot came out for the north.
The sailors on Jonah's ship (Jonah 1:7And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.) also cast lots to determine who had brought God's wrath upon their ship.
The eleven apostles cast lots to determine who would replace Judas (Acts 1:26And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.).
Casting lots eventually became a game people played and made wagers on. This is seen in the Roman soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ garments (Matthew 27:35And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.).
The New Testament nowhere instructs Christians to use a method similar to casting lots to help with decision-making.
Now that we have the completed Word of God, as well as the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us, there is no reason to be using games of chance to make decisions.
The Word, the Spirit, and prayer are sufficient for discerning God’s will today—not casting lots, rolling dice, or flipping a coin.
The Hebrew Bible contains several examples of the casting of lots as a means of determining God's will:
In the Book of Leviticus 16:8, God commanded Moses, "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat."
According to Numbers 26:55, Moses allocated territory to the tribes of Israel according to each tribe's male population and by lot.
In Joshua 7:14, a guilty party is probably found by lot.
In the Book of Joshua 18:6, Joshua says, "Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God."
The Hebrews took this action in order to know God's will as to the dividing of land between the seven tribes of Israel who had not yet "received their inheritance". (Joshua 18:2).
In the First Book of Samuel 14:42, lots are used to determine that it was Jonathan, Saul's son, who broke the oath that Saul made, "Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies." (1 Samuel 14:24).
In the Book of Jonah 1:7, the desperate sailors cast lots to see whose god was responsible for creating the storm: "Then the sailors said to each other, 'Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.' They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah."
Other places in the Bible relevant to divination include:
Book of Proverbs 16:33: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from GOD and 18:18: The lot settles disputes, and keeps strong ones apart."
Book of Leviticus 19:26 KJV "... neither shall you practice enchantment, nor observe times." The original Hebrew word for enchantment is pronounced naw-khash'.
The translation given by Strong's is "to practice divination, divine, observe signs, learn by experience, diligently observe, practice fortunetelling, take as an omen";
1. to practice divination
2. to observe the signs or omens
Times in the original Hebrew is pronounced aw-nan'.
Its translation in Strong's is "to make appear, produce, bring (clouds), to practice soothsaying, conjure;
1. to observe times, practice soothsaying or Spiritism or magic or augury or witchcraft
2. Soothsayer, enchanter, sorceress, diviner, fortuneteller, barbarian....
Deuteronomy 18:10 "let no one be found among you who [qasam qesem], performs [onan], [nahash], or [kashaph]". qasam qesem literally means distributes distributions, and may possibly refer to cleromancy. Kashaph seems to mean mutter, although the Septuagint renders the same phrase as pharmakia (poison), so it may refer to magic potions.
In the Book of Esther, Haman casts lots to decide the date on which to exterminate the Jews of Shushan;
the Jewish festival of Purim commemorates the subsequent chain of events.
In I Chronicles 26:13 guard duties are assigned by lot.
To Christian doctrine perhaps the most significant ancient Hebrew mention of lots occurs in the Book of Psalms, 22:18 "They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots."
This came to be regarded as a prophecy connecting that psalm and the one that follows to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, since all four gospels (for example, John 19:24) tell of the Roman soldiers at Jesus's crucifixion casting lots to see who would take possession of his clothing. (That final act of profanation became the central theme of The Robe, a 1953 film starring Richard Burton.)
A notable example in the New Testament occurs in the Acts of the Apostles 1:23–26 where the eleven remaining apostles cast lots to determine whether to select Matthias or Barsabbas (surnamed Justus) to replace Judas.
The Reasons: After reading some important passages about the casting of lots in the Bible, it seems that the reasons for the practice were to make a decision, find out God’s will on a particular subject/topic, to gamble, and to fairly close a matter between two or more parties.
Although there is much about the casting of lots that modern readers may never know, readers can gain some insight into the practice and reasons for it in the passages it is mentioned in.
Additionally, the practice is no longer necessary due to having God’s completed Word and the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.
Conclusion: When a difficult topic or passage appears in the Bible, it is important to continue reading and trying hard to come to the best understanding possible.
Sometimes, this will mean searching the Scriptures for other places it is mentioned, and other times it will mean searching historical data that helps shed some light on the passage(s).
The casting of lots falls under such a category. It can be difficult to fully grasp, but when more bible passages are read and other data is given, a better understanding of the practice and reasons for it come to