The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Was Matthias God’s Choice?

There are no examples of casting lots after Pentecost. This method of choosing among choices, whether it was land, individuals, etc., was done regularly in the OT, e.g., cf. Lev 16:8; Jos 18:6,8,10; 1Sam 14:42; 1Chr 24:31; 25:8; 26:13-14; Neh 10:34; 11:1; Ps 22:18; Joel 3:3; Obed 1:11; Jonah 1:7; Nah 3:10. It must be remembered that when Matthias and Barnabas were considered, the Church was in its infancy and during the transitional period between the old and new covenant administrations. So, for the Apostles or the 120 who were involved in those proceedings, casting lots was a legitimate method of discerning God's will. The final choice was still God's and not man's.

Once the Epistles began to be distributed in which the regulations for ecclesiastical polity were written down, the casting of lots was no longer acceptable. The qualifications for Elder and Deacon were very explicit and thus those who met those qualifications were to be considered as the Holy Spirit worked in the minds and hearts of those who would make the actual choices. In short, as the Church matured those things which were practiced in the old covenant administration were no longer valid.

These are my initial thoughts. I'm sure there are more reasons why the casting of lots was abandoned after Pentecost. The more salient issue remains whether the choosing of Matthias or anyone, for that matter, was a mistake forced by men or if it was a choice ordained and acceptable to God. Many of the reasons given for supporting that it was a mistake are without much weight, IMHO, e.g., no further mention of Matthias. The same can be said about the majority of the other twelve, but I'm sure they wouldn't be considered a mistake. Secondly, if it was contrary to the will of God, I would expect that the process would have been stopped by God and a rebuke given. We do have examples of this very thing in the life of Peter where he made choices which were wrong and he was corrected. (cf. Acts 10:9ff; Gal 2:11ff)

In His grace,