“And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.

And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron -shall cast lots- upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.”

-Le 16:6–10 (KJV)

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him. Notwithstanding the land -shall be divided by lot-: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.’”

- Num 26:52–56) (KJV)

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BIBLICAL LIVING 101 – Fun (Games of chance, board games)
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Our opening text this week is from the Law of Moses, and particularly, the solemn ordinances governing the Day of Atonement, a high holy day for all Israel.

This was the one day the high priest (Aaron) could enter the holy of holies and with blood, atone for himself, wipe away the uncleanness the sanctuary and its articles took on by being in the midst of the people, and finally, make atonement for the sins of the people themselves.

It does not have anything to do with fun at all – or does it? Casting Lots seems to be (look at our second text also) an APPROVED mechanism of God to make His will public. Surely Albert Einstein could not have been ignorant of these verses when he famously said – “God does not play dice!”

Now before you are affronted by what seems to be an attempt to suggest that gambling has divine sanction…  … it will help us to dive a little deeper into this matter of knowing God’s will, and the role of the lot in that scenario. That will help us better understand what kinds of games are ok for us to play, and ones to particularly avoid, and, most practically, what we are to do in this day and age to discern the will of God.

Here some statements that will help ground our discussion.

1. Asking anyone other than God, about the future, is
(a) foolishness – because no one can know the future apart from God Himself
(b) it opens you up to deception and bondage – hence all such arts are forbidden.

2. Asking God about the future is wholly permissible. The OT is rife with references where the office of a prophet or priest, was to “inquire of the Lord”.

3. There are different mechanisms to know God’s will.

Before the Mosaic Law, this was done via direct revelation of the Lord Himself to his servants (in waking visions, sleeping dreams, etc.).

Post Sinai, the Urim & Thummim (two stones that were kept in a pouch on the high priests chest) were used to choose between two alternatives. Commentators speculate that the High Priest would reach into the pocket, and the stone that came out would indicate the Lords decision. Gideon used a different mechanism (a fleece). The Apostles cast lots to find Judas' replacement.

Lastly lots were used for practical purposes – deciding order of service in Jerusalem, order of worship etc.

4. It was a custom of pagan people as well.

In the story of Jonah, the sailors cast lots to find out who was bringing this misfortune on them – and the Word tells us, Jonah was correctly identified!).

“For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.” - Eze 21:21 This talks about using arrows, consulting images and inspecting animal entrails.

Stars (Wise men at the birth of Jesus), and the flight of birds/sky were also means by which people attempted to discern the future (earning the scorn of our Lord - “When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? “- Mat 16:2-3)

Lastly, there were mediums and enchanters of various persuasions who made it their business to tell people ‘their future’, by means of images and cards (origin of our playing cards).

So, is there something special about casting the lot to ask a question of the lord?

Proverbs 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap; But the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.”
Proverbs 18:18 “The lot causeth contentions to cease, And parteth between the mighty.”

There is something good about asking the Lord to arbitrate in some matters.

Even in today’s modern environment, amongst long held and bitter sporting rivalries, BOTH TEAMS are equally at peace with letting a coin toss decide who kicks off, has first possession etc!

There are deeper physical principles involving probability, and the impact the observer and environment have on the outcome of any coin toss (we are not going there today), but the Word clearly tells us – if you are asking God for something – He is going to tell you.

Don’t go trying this in your personal life however, for God HAS WRITTEN DOWN, and through His Son, CLEARLY COMMUNICATED both His Will for our lives, as well as the foreseeable future.

--There is no more that needs to be said, as we are finding out, in this series on practical living. The answers are all there!!!!!---

So what has this to do with board games and games of chance?

Well, it should be clear from the principles we have so far established in this series.

A. Temperance. Gambling is a vice and destroys homes. The fault is not with the dice.

The first issue is that all games of chance in a casino are mathematically designed to benefit the house – so you are willingly playing a game where the odds are against you.
The second issue is, if you are substituting gambling income from that obtained by honest work. No – that doesn’t work at all. If you cheat, you are going to jail or are going to lose your life.

If your motive is to lose a few dollars and have fun doing it – there shouldn’t be a problem. By the same measure, playing poker, monopoly, backgammon or other games where it is a combination of skill and chance that affords us entertainment and give us family bragging rights– should not be an issue, because you are not using these instruments to divine the future!

Just like strong drink is prescribed as a pain killer, and occasional use for rejoicing even suggested but drunkenness and rioting universally condemned – the same is true for games of chance. The are not good or evil by themselves, but by how they are used.

B. Ouija boards, Tarot cards, Horoscopes, Liver entrails, Tea leaf readings, palm readings… ABSOLUTELY NOT.

This is an attempt to go to a different window to ask about the future, is strictly forbidden, and will get you into deep spiritual trouble with our God. Stay away!

C. Stay away from any and all forms of inquiring about the future, unless it is to study the Word of God!

When we talked about money in this series, we were surprised to see it first mentioned in the Abrahamic Covenant. “He that is born in thy house, and he that is -bought with thy money-, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.” - Ge 17:13).

The Lot is similarly first mentioned when we see the Atonement – in the Lord’s sovereign choosing of which goat must die, and which goat must bear away the sins of the people. They are BOTH offerings for sin – so there is no distinction between them other than the fact that one dies, and one does not. Nothing is left to chance, all is as per His will.

The intent was for all Israel to watch as the goat was led away out of the camp, bearing their sins away, “as far as the East is from the West”, and be reminded annually of the Redeemer to come, who would do the same. He would be crucified outside the camp, just as the ashes of all these animals were carried outside, and He would purify – not the earthly objects, which are copies – but the very heavenly originals themselves, entering in to them by offering up Himself!

Hallelujah!