Why Christians Don't Draw Straws...

As a church, we are in the middle of a sermon series, entitled restart. During this series, we have been looking at some timeless principles on how to deal with the frustration, the tension and the trouble that we can experience when we try to restart our lives that are found in a letter in our Bibles called the Book of Joshua. And as the story of the Jewish nation's attempts to restart their lives moved forward, we discover that the Jewish people needed to do more than simply conquer and control the nations that inhabited the Promised Land in order to restart their lives. We see the additional task that was before the Jewish people revealed for us in Joshua 13:1. Let’s look at it together:

Now Joshua was old and advanced in years when the LORD said to him, "You are old and advanced in years, and very much of the land remains to be possessed.

As we enter back into this story, we are told that Joshua was now old and advanced in years. Most scholars believe that, at this point in the story, Joshua was around 100 years old. And just in case he didn’t necessarily feel old, the Lord reminded Joshua that he was old by stating “you are old and advanced in years”. Now the reason that the Lord reminded Joshua of his age was that very much of the land remains to be possessed. You see, while the Jewish nation had conquered the nations and cultures that had inhabited the Promised Land, they had not moved in to take possession and live throughout the Promised Land. They were still staying at their headquarters, which was located at a town called Gilgal. While the Jewish nation militarily controlled the Promised Land, they had not yet begun to occupy and settle most of the Promised Land. A little further in this story, we see Joshua continues to follow God’s command and plan to occupy and settle the Promised Land that was to be inherited by the remaining 9 ½ tribes in Joshua 14:1:

Now these are the territories which the sons of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel apportioned to them for an inheritance, by the lot of their inheritance, as the LORD commanded through Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan;

In these verses, we see Joshua and his leadership team charged with the responsibility to give the Jewish people the land that had been conquered in order that it could be occupied and settled. Joshua and his leadership team was responsible to divide the Promised Land into 9 ½ sections that would be given to the Jewish people who would occupy and settle in the land that was west of the Jordan River. We are told that Joshua and his leadership divided and gave the land to the tribes by lot. Now a natural question that arises here is what is the lot and why would the Jewish people use the lot in order to divide the land?

Casting lots was a process that would be similar to picking names out of a hat. A representative would pick from two urns. One urn had the name of the tribe, while a second urn had the land that was to be given to that tribe to possess. These lots were drawn simultaneously drawn and would determine which land each tribe would be given to occupy and settle. It is important to understand, however, that this process was not simply a random act of chance. You see, as we see in verse 2, this process was commanded by God and was directed by God in order to determine the general size and area of the division of the Promised Land to the twelve tribes.

But why draw lots? Isn’t that like gambling? And why don’t we use lots today to determine God’s will as followers of Jesus? Unlike followers of Jesus today, the Jewish people did not have two incredible blessings from God. First, unlike today, the Jewish people did not have the presence of the Holy Spirit. At this point in God’s story, the Holy Spirit was only given to a few people, like prophets, and special priests and kings that God used in powerful and supernatural ways. Second, while most Jewish people knew the stories of the Bible, the vast majority of Jewish people did not have a Bible to consult. The Jewish People of Joshua’s day would have longed to live with the blessings that followers of Jesus have today.

So, without the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence and the Bibles guidance, casting lots was a way that God used to guide and direct the decisions of the Jewish people. And as the Jewish people prepare to divide the land, we see another interesting detail about this process revealed for us in verses 3:

but he did not give an inheritance to the Levites among them. For the sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they did not give a portion to the Levites in the land, except cities to live in, with their pasture lands for their livestock and for their property. Thus the sons of Israel did just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they divided the land.

The Levites, while one of the twelve sons of Jacob who formed the Jewish people, were not given a portion of the Promised Land to occupy and settle in because of their unique role as priests dedicated to the service of the Lord. Instead, the Levites were given cities in which to live in throughout the Promised Land, in order to enable them to be able to love, serve, and minister to the Jewish people. In addition, instead of giving a portion of the land to Joseph, who was one of the twelve sons of Jacob, they gave a portion of the land to each of Joseph’s two sons, who were named Ephraim and Manasseh.

And as Joshua and his leadership team began the process to divide the land, we see a member of the Jewish nation come to the forefront with a special request of Joshua. And it is in this request and it is through this life that we are introduced to another timeless principle that is necessary when it comes to restarting our lives. We will look that timeless principle tomorrow.