Acts 1:21-26 (ESV)
So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Verses 15 through 20 are regarding Peter standing up and talking about Judas and although they were all so upset about what he did, it also needed to be a fulfilling of scripture through the Holy Spirit to David in Psalms (The ones quoted in verse 20 are Psalms 69:25 & 109:8).
Then Peter talks about the requirements of a successor -> 1) They needed to have had participated in Jesus’ earthly ministry; from His baptism by John until His resurrection. 2) He had to have seen the resurrected Christ. Two names were put forward – Joseph (called Barsabbas and also called Justus), and Matthias. The disciples prayed saying “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostle ship from which Judas has turned aside to go to his own place.
The next thing they did after prayer was to “cast lots”.
Casting lots was an ancient method of making decisions by what we would today call a form of drawing lots, something similar to rolling dice, pulling marked stones, or drawing straws. In the Bible, it was often used to determine God’s will in situations where people believed the Lord was sovereignly directing the outcome.
The Bible doesn’t give an exact description of the method. Scholars believe it may have involved:
- Marked stones or pebbles placed in a pouch and drawn out.
- Sticks or pieces of wood with markings.
- Something similar to dice.
The key idea wasn’t gambling or chance, but the belief that God controlled the result…and that is exactly what Peter and the disciples did here to see what God’s choice was in terms of either Barsabbas or Matthias. A key verse in the bible pointing to this is Proverbs 16:1&33 “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. The lot is cast into the lap, but its very decision is from the Lord.”
As we know from reading, God chose Matthias to replace Judas.
APPLICATION
I don’t see this much different that using a method of ‘lots’ to choose between two indiscernible outcomes or situations where partiality may come into play. That is what I think the case was here with Barsabbas and Matthias. The disciples did not vote, because there might have been human partiality that would have resulted in an earthly outcome versus the Lord’s intended outcome. This is equally as hard to believe because the Lord’s plans will always be accomplished. Thank you Lord for helping me to see the truth and understanding of this practice.