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Bible Dictionaries
Lots
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or Were often cast by the Jews, as well as other ancient nations, with the expectation, when God was appealed to, that he would so control them as to give a right direction in doubtful cases, Psalm 22:18 16:11 18:18 . They were often used by the divine appointment. The portions of the twelve tribes were thus assigned to them; and hence each tribe's portion was called "the lot of its inheritance," Numbers 26:55,56 Psalm 125:3 Acts 8:21 . The scapegoat was to be selected, and the other of the priests' service determined by lot, Leviticus 16:8 1 Chronicles 24:5 25:8 . By the same means Achan, Jonathan, and Jonah were discovered, Joshua 7:14 1 Samuel 14:41,42 Jonah 1:7; and thus Matthias was designated by Christ to be an apostle in the place of Judas, Acts 1:26 . A common mode of casting lots was by the use of pebbles, one or more of them being marked, and all of them being shaken together in some fold of a garment, an urn, or a helmet, before drawing, Proverbs 16:33 John 19:24 . As the use of lots by one who believes in the particular providence of God involves a solemn appeal to the Disposer of all events, they should never be used on trivial occasions; and in this day, a case can hardly occur when such an appeal would be warranted. See PURIM .
These files are public domain and are a derivative of the topics are from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary published in 1859.
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Lots'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/l/lots.html. 1859.
