Why Are They Casting Lots in the Book of Joel?

In this regular feature Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call.Here is this week’s question:Dear Dave and Tom, I just read through the Book of Joel.I would like to know what is meant in Joel:3:3And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
See All..., “And they have cast lots for my people and have given a boy for an harlot and sold a girl for wine that they might drink.”Is this similar to when Jesus Christ was on the cross and they cast lots too?

Tom:

Dave, I don’t think so, but there are numerous typologies, particularly in the Old Testament with regard to things that had to do with the Messiah [and] what would take place.

Dave:

I think there is some similarity because it shows contempt for Jesus Christ, a disregard for him.The soldiers are gambling for his clothes, it’s kind of—I don’t even know if they thought of it as a souvenir.Probably it was a nice robe.

Tom:

Yes, they could make a few shekels.

Dave:

Yes, they maybe could sell it or wear it themselves.Well we can give this writer credit that he or she has studied the Bible I guess to get to Joel:3:3And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
See All....That’s near the end of the Old Testament. Someone must have been reading.It is an interesting verse, well let’s read verse 2, “I will also (this is also talking about Armageddon), “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” Now in fact the whole world wants Israel to part the land.Give up so much land for peace and give it to those sworn to exterminate you doesn’t make sense.And then it goes on in verse 3, “And they have cast lots for my people; in other words, it’s up for grabs.The world thinks they are going to decide.They think they have a peace plan fir the Middle East and for Jerusalem and so forth.“They cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.”I think it’s just showing that they think they can buy this and it’s immoral what they are doing.They think that they can determine what is going to happen to the land of Israel and to the people of Israel.

Tom:

Dave, was there a previous partial fulfillment of this with regard to God pouring out his, in a sense limited wrath, but this is the consequences that these people are going to suffer.

Dave:

Well he has poured out his wrath upon Israel a number of times, but that’s not what it is speaking of here.This is the judgment of God upon the nations and Ezekiel 38 tells you he—Armageddon, one of the purposes of Armageddon—there are two major purposes of Armageddon, well maybe three.But one of the major purposes, God says he’s going to punish the nations.

Tom:

That’s kind of what I was referring to is the punishment involved here.A partial punishment with regard to the fulfilling of this prophecy.

Dave:

Well I think you could trace some partial fulfillments down through history.You could for example, take Great Britain.Great Britain ruled the sea.The sun never went down on the empire of Great Britain and Great Britain betrayed Israel.The Balfour Declaration—maybe we’ve talked about this before, I can’t remember.But what they did in the mandate for Palestine and so forth, how they favored the Arabs, how they would not allow the Jews in and how they played around with statistics and let far more Arab come in than were supposed to and they were opposed to Israel.They armed the Arabs against Israel, the British blockade to prevent survivors of the Holocaust from coming back to this land.And I think you can trace the down fall of this British Empire.They lost their empire, they went down as soon as they turned against Israel and God said to Abraham Genesis 12, “I will bless them that blesses you and I will curse them that curse you.”Now we have ALL the nations.Babylon got it’s come-uppance for what it did and various ones—Egypt was judged and became a fifth rate power which it is today.It’s pitiful if you visit Egypt today, because of what they did enslaving the children of Israel for all those years—400 years.Germany—well there’s another side to that coin too; you know Germany and Japan prospered. The saying is, “get in a war with the United States and then you’ll prosper because we give them our aid and so forth.But Germany suffered terribly.I remember a young man that was one of the Hitler youths.His father was a Christian; he was not at that time, he became one later.They were out in the street when they saw that first Kristallnacht and that grand piano being shoved out the window of a synagogue and setting the synagogue on fire (and this was going on across Germany) and this young man’s father who was a Christian turned to him and said this is the beginning of the end for Germany.And indeed it was and they went through horrible suffering.We visited some of these cities shortly after the war that had been leveled.But finally this is the ultimate judgment; the ultimate war, Armageddon.And God is going to gather the nations and they have played with my people, Israel, like giving a boy for a harlot, and a girl for some wine and—in other words, they have no regard for human life, no regard for morals, but they have just made merchandise out of these people and have betrayed them and they’ve betrayed God and the whole world will be judged for this one day.