This verse speaks of the sovereignty of God in the outcome of events. God determines the outcome of casting of lots because He is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. In the hands of man, lot casting is subjected to the law of mathematical probability which expresses the uncertainty in the outcome. If we toss a coin, we can objectively say that the outcome is 50% heads or 50% tails. Yet, in the Bible there are many accounts in which the casting of lots was used to discover the one who had sinned or disobeyed a command (Josh 7:11 , Jon 1:7 ), to appoint officers (1 Chron 24:5 ), or to determine land allocation (Neh 11:1 ). In these accounts are the evidence to the truth of this statement in Prov 16:33 that when the lot is cast into the lap (i.e. urn), the whole disposing is of the Lord. When the disposing is of the Lord, the outcome in these accounts is one of perfect accuracy and certainty, defying logic and human reasoning. A skeptic may resort to mere chance or coincidence to explain it. To predict an outcome with perfect accuracy and certainty is impossible with men; “but with God all things are possible” (Matt 19:26 ).
Two accounts of the casting of lots recorded in the Bible are given to show that the whole disposing of the lot is of the Lord.
The first account is recorded in Jonah 1 . Jonah was called of the Lord to preach the message of salvation to the wicked inhabitants in the city of Nineveh. Disobeying the word of the Lord, Jonah embarked on the sea journey to Tarshish. A great storm sent by the Lord caused every heathen mariner to pray to their gods. But Jonah was fast asleep and was wakened by the shipmaster to pray to his God. To determine who was the culprit that had brought about the foul weather, the mariners decided to cast lots. The lot fell upon Jonah (Jonah 1:7 ). Was it sheer coincidence that the lot fell upon Jonah? Reluctant to cast Jonah overboard, the mariners were finally persuaded that was the only option before them having tried their level best to row the ship to land in the midst the storm. When they finally cast Jonah into the raging waters, Jonah 1:15 records “the sea ceased from her raging”, testifying that indeed the disposing of the lot that fell upon Jonah was of the Lord.
The second account is recorded in Joshua 7 . It records the setback in the military campaign of Joshua in which the Israelites suffered a terrible defeat against the armies of the city of Ai (Josh 7:5 ). Joshua was told by the Lord that the defeat was due to trespass of the accursed thing committed by the children of Israel. The Lord gave clear instructions on the manner by which the culprit was to be discovered in Joshua 7:14 “In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come man by man.” The lot was progressively cast to determine first the tribe, and then the family followed by household in the family until the man in the household was identified. In a census taken before entering the land of Canaan, Numbers 1:17 records “Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.” Judah was by far the largest tribe of the twelve. What was the probability that the lot cast in the manner described would turn out to be a perfect lot? As recorded in Joshua 7:16-18 , when the lot was progressively cast, the man taken was Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah. That Achan was indeed the culprit was recorded in Joshua 7:20 “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done.” Once again the account in Joshua 7 showed that the disposal of the lot is of the Lord.
Chance is man’s way of explaining the outcome of lot casting. There is no element of chance as far as the sovereign God is concern. He knows the end from the beginning. What is chance to man is the appointment of God. God knows everything about each one of us. To a believer, nothing happens by chance. Let us trust the sovereign God to direct our ways (Prov 3:5 , 6 ). When we are wayward and have sinned, let us confess for he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (1 Jn 1:9 ). Indeed, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16 ).