Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus
Acts 1:26 And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
(NKJ)
Jesus appeared to his apostles for forty days after his resurrection. During this time, Jesus spoke many things to them pertaining to the Kingdom of God. He also left instructions; do not leave Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit.
The apostles had witnessed many things with Jesus, including Him being taken up into a cloud.
One of the things the apostles wanted to do was to fill the position Judas left, the apostle that betrayed Jesus and later hung himself. Now there were eleven apostles, and not the twelve that Jesus originally appointed.
The men got together and Acts 1:23 says that they proposed two men for the job: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
They did what was customary in that time, they cast lots. The lot fell unto Matthias, and he was appointed as apostle.
Something I would like to point out is that the Bible says ¨they proposed¨ a new Apostle.
When Jesus appointed the twelve apostles, the Bible says that he spent the entire evening in prayer asking the Father whom to appoint.
Luke 6:12-13 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:(NKJ)
So who became the newest apostle? I would like to say that it was Saul of Tarsus, not Matthias. Man cannot choose who should be the next apostle, that is up to the Lord. We never hear from Matthias again.
When someone is called into apostleship, they will receive a direct call from Jesus. We have the example of the original twelve, and the example of Saul of Tarsus
Acts 9:4-5 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”(NKJ)
Have you ever tried to help God out with something, then find out later you just messed it up or made it worse?
Perhaps there is a void in your life, or maybe something was removed and you feel you need to fill it. If that´s the case, let God fill it. Pray to the Father as Jesus did. Receive His instruction, and try not to cast any lots into your life.
May you be richly blessed.
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Try not to “cast lots”. Good tip. I’ll keep it in mind.
Thank you for this post Yvette, it really ministered to me and means a lot to me. Blessings to you
Have you ever tried to help God out with something, then find out later you just messed it up or made it worse?… uh, yes!
I was trying to “help” and created an Ishmael, and everything DID get messed up! Excellent message!
“try not to cast any lots into your life.” Experience is a great teacher. God bless!
Wow!
In the Old Testament casting lots to determine divine destiny was acceptable. Notice the 11 Apostles cast lots before the Day of Pentecost. The New Testament reality had not yet come.
Today search for divine direction through the Holy Spirit within.
Thanks Yvette, you are such as a blessing.
Thanks Yvette
This is just one example of how our approach to Godly matters have changed from the Old Testament into the New Testament.
If we stick to OT methods such as casting lots and the alike, we will always get it wrong.
Remain blessed.