Acts #3 — The Decision to Replace Judas
Acts 1:15-26
Last week, we completed our 70-week study of Jesus’ ministry. We will continue the Bible’s story with the Book of Acts, Luke’s second volume. We have already covered the ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts chapters 1 and 2. There is one other story in Acts 1 that we will cover today, and it happens just before Pentecost.
One thing I don’t want you to miss as we study the book of Acts is that the coming of the Holy Spirit is a turning point in the Bible and the history of the world. Part of what we will concentrate on is the significant difference the Holy Spirit makes in God’s people. The Holy Spirit is essential to living the abundant life Jesus discussed. After that Pentecost, God’s Spirit is now not just in one person, Jesus, but in over 3000 people who are scattering throughout the known world. And the number of people carrying God’s Holy Spirit continues to multiply today.
Jesus said:
John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
You are going to hear this verse a lot. It confuses many people because they first wonder how anyone could do anything greater than Jesus did. Secondly, they don’t see how Jesus going to the Father has anything to do with his disciples doing greater works. But remember our discussion of Jesus’ ascension. Jesus performs the duties of our high priest. He enters the holy place and offers the sacrifice for our sins to the Father, and then he gives the blessing from the Father – God’s very presence in the form of the Holy Spirit. Greater works than these will be done because God’s presence in our world has been multiplied. This is the difference the Holy Spirit makes.
Before this, in the time of history after the fall and before Jesus, the manifestation of God’s presence to His people was very limited. He appeared to Noah. He appeared to Abraham and his descendants at times. He appeared to all of Israel at Mount Sinai and on several occasions. The Old Testament contains the stories of how God occasionally clothed people with the Holy Spirit. But these visitations of God’s presence were very few, with at times hundreds of years between.
Moses expressed the desire that all people have God’s Holy Spirit.
Numbers 11:29 Would that all the Yehovah’s people were prophets, that Yehovah would put his Spirit on them!
And then Jesus came, God in flesh. And Jesus appeared to many thousands at one time on several occasions. But think throughout history, how many people living in the world never had the opportunity to witness firsthand a specific manifestation of God. Jesus came to change that. Because the Holy Spirit was sent in Jesus’ name, all who believe and follow Jesus will have an encounter with God personally. And now God’s power is available to work in every follower. This is the difference the Holy Spirit in us makes.
But just before the Holy Spirit comes, we have this story in Acts 1:
Acts 1:15, 21-26 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas…
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.
Why must there be a replacement for Judas? Are eleven apostles not enough? Jesus chose twelve disciples and told them:
Matthew 19:28 “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Twelve thrones must be filled. In his complete rebellion, Judas has disqualified himself. So, a replacement must be chosen. Note that later, when James, the son of Zebedee, is martyred by Herod Agrippa in Acts 12, there is no need to replace him. We will see James on that throne later. But they must replace Judas.
So this is a monumental decision. And how do they choose the person to take this position? First, they discussed the qualifications. They must have been there for the entire ministry of Jesus, from his baptism in the Jordan to his resurrection. They wanted an eyewitness. So they narrowed it down to two individuals, and they “cast lots.” Did they draw straws, flip a coin, or roll the dice? We don’t know, but it was something along those lines. Does it bother you that the decision of who will sit on a throne of judgment in Heaven was left to something like a coin toss?
Let’s say that one day you decide to hire a financial investor to help you handle your money. You interview several people and you ask them about their investment strategies. How will you choose where to invest my money? One of them says, “When deciding how to invest other people’s money, I usually just flip a coin to choose which investment to take. Sometimes I roll the dice and sometimes just close my eyes and point.” I am going to guess that this guy would not be your first choice. After all, no reasonable person would ever make a major life decision by flipping a coin or rolling the dice. That is ridiculous… isn’t it?
Yet in Acts 1, the disciples choose someone to sit on a throne and be a judge in the New World by casting lots. Casting lots to make big decisions was standard practice in many of the cultures seen in the Old Testament. When Jonah was running from God and the ship was in a storm, the pagan sailors cast lots to see whose God was angry at whom.
Jonah 1:7 “And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.”
This was standard practice for many religions in the day. But it wasn’t just in the pagan cultures. In Israel, when they decided to divide the promised land and determine which tribe got which property, they did it by casting lots.1 On the Day of Atonement each year, the High Priest would cast lots to see which of the two goats would become the scapegoat and which would be sacrificed. The Book of Exodus gives instructions for two stones, named the Urim and Thumim, to be worn in a pouch in the High Priest’s breastplate. They were often used to cast lots as a way to determine God’s will.
Once, in Samuel, the Israelites were at war with the Philistines, and Saul determined to attack them. The people followed his decision, but the High Priest said they should ask God. This was a life-or-death decision. So they asked God, but He did not answer. They reasoned that God refused to answer because someone in the camp had sinned. To determine who had sinned, they again consulted the Urim and the Thumin, the High Priest’s “holy dice.”
Here is the story:
1 Samuel 14:36-42 Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day. And Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today. For as the LORD lives who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.
Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” Therefore Saul said, “O LORD God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O LORD, God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was taken.”
So God answered them through the holy dice, the Urim and the Thumim, and revealed that Jonathan sinned by breaking their fast. Again, it may seem strange to you that these life or death situations are left to the roll of two stones. You might want to stop Saul and say, “But rolling the dice is random! That is no way to decide!” And everyone there would think you were the heretic. Casting lots is only odd if you think the result of tossing the stones is left to chance. And no one in Israel thought the answer was left to chance. God would control the result to give His answer. This is stated very clearly in Proverbs:
Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
This proverb says the dice are rolled in your lap, but the result is not random. God intervenes and controls the result. We still use this idea when we say “your lot in life.” And perhaps you’ve heard of the “lottery.” But our view is that the lottery is just random, a one-in-a-million chance to win. But this is different.
The writer of this proverb and all those who cast lots had a very high view of God’s sovereignty — God’s control over the world. We can all agree that God has control over His creation. He is not some cosmic watchmaker who created the world, wound it as one would wind a watch, and then left it to run on its own. We can all agree that we see God intervening in the world in the Bible. But how much control does God maintain over this world and your life?
This is a highly complex question, and many theologians, much smarter than I, reach different conclusions and use scripture to support their positions.
My Calvinist friends believe God is completely sovereign over every aspect of life. Not a leaf falls to the ground nor an airplane falls out of the sky that is not determined by His will. Moreover, they maintain that God has willed (predestined) that some individuals will be saved and some will not. And those individuals do not have a choice. They say Judas was destined by God to betray Jesus. God determined that Judas would do this. Nothing else could happen. There is no other way Judas’ story could end.
That is not what I see in the scriptures. I certainly believe that God is sovereign, but that he created people with free will. People have the option to make decisions contrary to God’s will. Even though God wants everyone to be saved, people can freely choose to reject God.
1 Timothy 2:4 [God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Judas had a choice. He didn’t have to betray Jesus. They were going to arrest Jesus anyway. Judas just made it easier. Everyone has a choice. God can make his plan happen without forcing people to sin. God is so good that He can accomplish his will despite some people’s choices. God often intervenes in the world to cause everything to work toward good. When people choose evil and cause harm to come to others, God is in the business of taking that bad situation and causing it to work for good. But God’s perfect will is not done on earth now due to humanity’s bad choices.
One day, God’s will is going to be completely done on earth as it is now being done in heaven. That is what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
These two ways of approaching the idea of sovereignty are much more complex than this. So please search the scriptures for yourself and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I believe God loves us and does everything He can to encourage us to make the best decisions. I think that applies to all people, as the Bible says. I believe God wanted Judas to be saved. When I read the Bible, I see God constantly intervening in people’s lives to lead them to where he would have them to be. I don’t think our lives are random any more than the result of casting lots was random.
But the Bible clearly says that prayerfully casting lots presumed that God determined the result. It was His will, not just random chance. So why are we not doing that today? Is it because we believe God no longer has the power to control the roll of the dice? Is it because we don’t think God cares enough about our decisions to give us the correct answer? Is it because we are enlightened in our modern world and believe we are so intelligent that we don’t need God’s help to make good decisions?
Though we see many instances of casting lots throughout the Old Testament and again here after Jesus’ ascension, there is not one example of casting lots in the Bible after this point in Acts chapter 1.2 Why? There are many times in the New Testament stories about the apostles making difficult and sometimes life-or-death decisions, but never after this episode in Acts 1 do we see them consulting God’s answer by casting lots.
Why? Because the next event in the Bible is the coming of the holy spirit. This is what Jesus’ ministry was leading up to: victory over sin and death and the blessing of the Holy Spirit. These things are part of God’s plan to dwell with his people again. And now that the Holy Spirit is within us, there is no need to cast lots again. So, how does the church in Acts make decisions?
Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
God speaks to them through the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit spoke while they were worshiping and fasting. Do you want to hear from the Holy Spirit? Here is your first clue: worship and fast. We do not hear because we don’t listen. We have not trained ourselves to listen to God. We are too busy doing other things. Can you hear from the Holy Spirit while watching TV or surfing the internet? Absolutely. God can speak at any time. However, while you are watching TV or surfing the internet, when the Spirit speaks, His message to you might be, “Stop watching TV!” or “Get off the internet!” But if you really want to hear God’s Spirit, you should follow his direction to worship, fast, and pray. Remember, Paul told Timothy:
2 Timothy 1:6 Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,”
Fan the flame. Encourage the Spirit by being obedient. Cultivate a relationship with the Spirit within you. You won’t hear from the Spirit if you are constantly dumping buckets of water on the fire. Here is another example of the Spirit’s direction:
Acts 16:6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
Paul thought heading west to Ephesus was the right move, but the Spirit said NO! You can’t go there now. “There is a way that seems right to a man”….. “Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.“
And we know the Holy Spirit sometimes speaks through visions:
Acts 16:9-10 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
And in Acts 15, the apostles met in Jerusalem to solve the church’s most significant question in the first century. What about Gentiles who want to follow the Jewish Messiah? Must they become Jewish first? Must they be circumcised? Must they stop eating shrimp?
They came to that meeting with very different opinions on the matter. And they meet and discuss this, and then they come to an agreement. How did they decide? Here is their report:
Acts 15:28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements…
“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” The voice of the Holy Spirit came to them, and they agreed with the Spirit. Now let me ask you, “Is this how you make decisions?”
God loves you and wants the best for you, and he has placed His Spirit within you to guide you. Oh, that we would listen.
The Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart, to lead you in the path God wants you to take. God is not just sitting back watching. He is bringing people into our lives for a reason. He is challenging you so you can grow and comforting you so that you may know peace in the storm. If we can only open our eyes to the work of God in this world, then we will see all the times that God intervenes and directs our path, all of those bad situations we avoided, and all of the accidents we didn’t have. We would see that really few things in our lives are coincidences, and very little is left to chance.
I recently reenrolled in Hebrew classes. I started 10 years ago and had to stop after a few years because my Pediatric practice was leaving me with too little time. In the past 2 weeks, I have been reviewing vocabulary words and came across this Hebrew word, miqreh, which means “chance or accident.” I remember coming across this word years ago, and knowing the Scripture’s high view of God’s sovereignty, I wondered where it was found in the Bible and how it was used. But I never found the time to look it up then. But now I had the time. You only see this word 10 times in the whole Hebrew Bible. Here is one verse:
Ruth 2:3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.
The Book of Ruth is short, but it is packed full of wisdom. The story occurs during the period of the Judges, a bleak time of Israel’s failure and rebellion. A famine forces Naomi, her husband, and her two sons to leave Israel and live in Moab. Her husband dies there, and Naomi’s two sons marry women from Moab. One of those women is Ruth. Later, both sons die, and Naomi is left with her two daughters-in-law. Three widows left together. Naomi returns to her country, Israel, and Ruth agrees to go, even though it means leaving her homeland. Life is hard for the two widows. They live in poverty, gathering the remnants of the grain harvest left in the field.
Ruth just “happened” to come, of all the fields around Bethlehem, to the one who belonged to a relative of Naomi. However, how the writer of Ruth has crafted the story makes it evident that this is no accident. The writer emphasizes God’s involvement in the story all along. God takes the horrible circumstance of the death of the three men and works the story for the good. Ruth thought she ended up at Boaz’s field by accident. Too often, we are like Ruth and chalk up the work of God to good luck. Boaz becomes the kinsman-redeemer who rescues Naomi and Ruth from poverty. Boaz and Ruth have a son, Obed, who becomes the grandfather of David and the ancestor of Jesus. God has taken something bad and made good out of it. And it was not an accident or coincidence.
God is just as active in our lives as he was in Ruth’s. There are many fewer coincidences in life than we might realize. I love how Oswald Chambers says it in his devotional, “My Utmost for His Highest”:
“God engineers our circumstances as He did those of His Son; all we have to do is to follow where He places us. The majority of us are busy trying to place ourselves.”3
God is intimately involved and moving in our lives on a daily basis. Just yesterday, Shirley shared with a friend at lunch about one such incident.
We were leaving New York City, where we had been for a week. Meriel had won a drama competition and was invited to participate in a trial run of a new Dreamworks play that they were demonstrating for some Disney executives. We were at the airport past security when Shirley realized her purse was left at the hotel. The purse that had our car keys for the car parked in Atlanta. We decided it was worth the trip back, and Shirley insisted that Meriel and I take the flight that was leaving soon. She changed her flight to the next one and then took a taxi back to pick up her purse.
She got on the plane, and a woman sat down beside her. God ordained this meeting. This woman was going through a terrible situation, and she needed help. She needed some godly counseling. And she “happened” to sit by my wife, a pastoral counselor, for a several-hour flight. God went to a lot of trouble to set this up. This was no more an accident than Ruth gleaning wheat in Boaz’s field. And I could tell you many stories where God moved us and our circumstances for the cause of Christ. God is active in our world and is working good all around us.
God is powerfully sovereign, constantly moving in the world he created. Despite the popular Christian song, I don’t think God has to tell the sun to rise every morning. He designed a beautiful universe where gravity and other forces keep the sun and the moon in their orbits for billions of years with no need to make adjustments. God can intervene in the sun’s orbit if he desires it (see Job 9:7 and Joshua 10). But he initially set things up so well that it doesn’t need regular adjustment. He doesn’t need to push each leaf off the trees in the fall. In his design for this world, leaves fall when it is their season. And the sun and the leaves are obedient to the laws God set up for them in the beginning. But people are not leaves or planets. We have free will. We are not always obedient. We are capable of making decisions that run counter to God’s will. So unlike the sun’s rising, God must constantly intervene in our lives to work things for good. If we sin and choose a wrong path, God, out of his love, mercy, and grace, intervenes to urge us back on track. He brings people into our lives to encourage us to return. God’s love for us is so great that he continually adjusts our world to help us do the next right thing.
God promised that this time would come:
Isaiah 42:16 And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, And I do not forsake them.
This is what God does. His Holy Spirit constantly goes before us, leveling the ground in ways we do not see.
We are often blind to God working in our lives. Think about your past week. Like Ruth, you might see something that happened as a chance encounter or an accidental meeting, but it was God-directed and meant for your good. We need to have the attitude of the lot casters who said…
Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
Here is the attitude we need:
Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but Yehovah establishes his steps.
When you walk out your door today or when you wake up tomorrow morning, you may have plans for your journey, but expect the Holy Spirit to intervene. Remember when we discussed the Great Commission and Jesus said: “As you go about living life, disciple people.”
Let me encourage you again to view every person that comes into your life, every “chance encounter”, as if God has purposely brought you together. What would you say to someone, and how would you act differently if you knew God had specifically arranged for them to meet you that day? I believe God directs our lives, so we have many daily opportunities to influence people for God’s Kingdom. This is how we fulfill the Great Commission. Much more good is done for God’s kingdom through the encounters of his people just doing life than all the preachers and missionaries put together. We need to be more aware that God is placing people in our path and looking for opportunities to display Jesus.
So you can get rid of your ‘Holy Dice.’ You don’t need them. We have the Holy Spirit within us. We must live lives of worship, prayer, and fasting, fanning the flame of God’s spirit in us. As we go through the book of Acts in the following months, we will see how the Holy Spirit made a difference in the lives of the early church. Let us decide to imitate their response to the coming of the Holy Spirit. Ask God to open your eyes to see Him working all around you. Ask God to give you ears to hear. God is speaking. Are you listening?
- This is where our word comes from for the land we own. Our “building lot” is 1.3 acres.
- It is interesting that Luke begins his Gospel and the Book of Acts with a casting of lots. In Luke 1:9, we learn that Zechariah was chosen by lot to offer incense in the Temple when the angel came to announce he would have a son.
- Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. 1924.
Swallow No Camels 