The Objective Verdict: When God Decides Text: Proverbs 18:18
Introduction: The Untouchables
We live in an age that is drowning in contention. Our entire public square is a gladiatorial arena, and the quarrels are not just between individuals, but between institutions, ideologies, and nations. And when the combatants are what the world calls "mighty," when you have two immovable forces colliding, the conflict can seem intractable. When two corporate giants lock horns, or two political dynasties, or two tenured academic departments, who can possibly render a verdict? They are accountable to no one. They answer to no one. Each is the supreme court in its own cause.
This is the fruit of our great modern rebellion, which is the rebellion against all forms of external, objective authority. Modern man wants to be his own god, his own lawgiver, his own judge. He wants to define reality for himself. As the previous proverb reminds us, "He who is first in his own cause seems just, But his neighbor comes and searches him" (Prov. 18:17). But what happens when both neighbors are mighty, and both refuse to be searched? What happens when both parties have entourages of lawyers and public relations teams and a legion of online sycophants? The result is endless strife. The result is a cold war, or a hot war, that grinds on and on, consuming everything in its path.
Our culture believes that the solution to such conflicts is found through more talk, more therapy, more negotiation, more compromise. But this assumes that both parties are operating in good faith, which they rarely are. More often than not, they are operating out of pride, envy, and a lust for domination. They do not want resolution; they want victory. And so the contention continues, because the mighty are accountable to nothing mightier than themselves.
Into this morass of subjective pride and endless conflict, the wisdom of God drops a small, heavy stone. It is a principle that seems archaic, almost bizarre, to the modern mind. But it is a principle that reveals the profound realism of the Scriptures. God knows what men are like. He knows that some disputes cannot be settled by human reason or negotiation alone, because the hearts of the disputants are corrupt. And so He provides a mechanism for cutting the Gordian knot, a way to bring an objective, final, and humbling verdict.
The Text
The cast lot puts an end to contentions
And decides between the mighty ones.
(Proverbs 18:18 LSB)
An End to Strife (v. 18a)
The first clause gives us the function and the great blessing of the cast lot.
"The cast lot puts an end to contentions..." (Proverbs 18:18a)
The key phrase here is "puts an end." The Hebrew word means to cause to cease, to bring to a final stop. This is not about a temporary truce or a fragile ceasefire. It is about finality. Contentions, by their very nature, want to live forever. They are self-perpetuating. One accusation leads to a counter-accusation, which leads to a defense, which leads to another attack. It is a feedback loop of bitterness. The cast lot is God's circuit breaker.
Now, what is the lot? In the Old Testament, it was a physical object, perhaps stones or marked pieces of wood, used to determine the will of God in a particular matter. The land of Canaan was divided by lot (Num. 26:55). Achan's sin was discovered by lot (Josh. 7:14). Saul was chosen as king by lot (1 Sam. 10:20-21). The goat for Azazel on the Day of Atonement was selected by lot (Lev. 16:8). Even the apostles, seeking a replacement for Judas, cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias (Acts 1:26).
The underlying principle is stated plainly elsewhere in Proverbs: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Prov. 16:33). Casting the lot was not an appeal to blind chance. It was not gambling. It was a structured, formal appeal to the sovereignty of God. It was a way of saying, "We have reached the end of our wisdom. We have reached the end of our ability to reason this through without sinning further. Our pride and self-interest have clouded our judgment. Therefore, we will remove the decision from our own hands and place it directly into the hands of God, and we will bind ourselves to His decision, whatever it may be."
This is the very thing modern man cannot stand. He cannot bear the thought that there is a reality, a verdict, a truth, that exists outside of his own mind and his own will. But this is the essence of biblical wisdom. It is the recognition that we are creatures, and that the Creator has the final say. The lot brings an end to contention because it forces the combatants to stop talking, stop arguing, and submit to an external, objective, and divinely rendered judgment.
Humbling the Mighty (v. 18b)
The second clause explains the specific type of situation where this practice is most valuable.
"And decides between the mighty ones." (Proverbs 18:18b)
Why are the "mighty ones" singled out? Because they are the most difficult to bring to resolution. Two poor men arguing over a donkey can be brought before a village elder, and a judgment can be rendered. They are both under authority. But when the mighty clash, they recognize no authority but their own. Their power, their wealth, their influence, insulates them from ordinary accountability. They are accustomed to getting their own way. Their pride is immense, and to concede anything to their rival would be a catastrophic loss of face.
This is where the lot is so potent. It is the great humbler. It bypasses the power, the prestige, and the pride of the mighty. The lot does not care about your resume. It is not impressed by your bank account or your Twitter following. When the mighty agree to cast the lot, they are both, in that moment, brought low before God. They are both acknowledging that there is a power mightier than they are. They are both submitting to the King of kings.
The lot "decides" between them. The word means to separate, to make a distinction. It draws a clear, sharp line where before there was only the muddy chaos of strife. It does not offer a compromise. It does not split the difference. It renders a verdict. One is right, and the other is wrong. This is God's decision. And because it is God's decision, there can be no appeal. To argue with the outcome of the lot is to argue with God Himself.
This is why this principle is so important for the church. When two elders are at an impasse, when two influential families are in a bitter dispute, when human wisdom has been exhausted, there must be a way to appeal to God. Now, we do not typically cast lots today, because we have the completed canon of Scripture and the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide the church. But the principle remains. There must be a submission to an objective standard outside of ourselves. The Word of God is our lot. The formal decisions of the church courts, when they are bound to that Word, are our lot. We must be willing to submit our cause to God's ordained processes and accept the outcome, even if it is not the one we wanted. The alternative is endless contention, which tears the body of Christ apart.
The Cross as the Final Lot
This proverb, like all of Proverbs, ultimately points us to Christ. The entire history of the world is a contention between two mighty ones: the mighty God and mighty, rebellious man. From the garden onward, man has asserted his own will, his own righteousness, his own cause against his Creator. This is a dispute that could never be resolved by negotiation. God could not compromise His holiness, and man could not abandon his sin.
How did God put an end to this ultimate contention? He cast the final lot. That lot was the cross of Jesus Christ.
At the cross, the ultimate decision was rendered. All the sin, all the rebellion, all the pride of man was gathered together and placed on one man, Jesus. And all the perfect righteousness and terrifying wrath of God against that sin was also brought to that one place. The soldiers cast lots for His garments at the foot of the cross, a small historical detail that points to the great cosmic reality taking place above their heads. God was casting the lot for the fate of the world.
And what was the verdict? The decision from the Lord was this: sin would be condemned, and the sinner would be saved. The contention was ended. God "separated" the mighty ones. He separated those who would receive this verdict by faith from those who would reject it in their pride. He decided the case. Through the death and resurrection of His Son, God put a final end to the strife between Himself and His people.
Therefore, when we come to a dispute with our brother, we must remember the cross. The cross humbles us all. It reminds us that we were the guilty party in the ultimate dispute, and that God, in His mercy, rendered the verdict in our favor at the cost of His own Son. How then can we, who have received such a gracious verdict, refuse to submit our petty quarrels to His judgment? How can we insist on our own rights when our own rights would have landed us in Hell?
The principle of the lot is the principle of the gospel. It is the principle of submitting our cause to God, trusting in His sovereign wisdom, and humbly accepting His verdict. It is the only way to put an end to contention, whether it is between two mighty men, or between a holy God and a sinful one.