The Book of Acts ~ Study Five

"Determined Steps"

In the last Study we focused on Judas and how He never really accepted Jesus as His Lord. He only saw Him as a "Rabbi." Judas desperately wanted Jesus to be more of a military conquerer and never understood  what Jesus came to earth to do. He died before He could see the resurrected Jesus. Who knows what would have happened if He had.

Today we move forward in the second half of Acts 1:15-26 and observe what happened next.

Acts:1:21-26 (NLT) “So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus—from the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.”

     So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they all prayed, “O Lord, you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have chosen as an apostle to replace Judas in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.

There were 120 people present during this meeting. There had been 12 disciples and now since Judas had betrayed Jesus and killed himself, his spot needed to be filled. This was very important. Two men were considered because they had been with Jesus from the beginning. (Justus and Matthias) They followed Jesus from His baptism to His resurrection.

The first thing they did was pray. They acknowledged that God knew the hearts of these two men and believed that God would show them who He wanted as a replacement for Judas. Now this gets me: "Then they cast lots." (Anyone else confused by this?)

Why in the world did they cast lots? To understand this we need to look at the history behind casting lots. It was common in the Old Testament and in the customs of the people of Jesus' time. 

Leviticus 16:8 (NLT) He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel.

Joshua 18:10 (NLT) And there at Shiloh, Joshua cast sacred lots in the presence of the Lord to determine which tribe should have each section.

Proverbs 18:18 (NLT) Flipping a coin (casting lots) can end arguments; it settles disputes between powerful opponents.

So why did the disciples resort to casting lots, flipping a coin, etc.? Before they were filled with the Holy Spirit the Israelites would cast lots and believed God would bless the decision. This is why they prayed first. Notice that the promised Holy Spirit had not descended into man's hearts yet and they responded the way they had always made hard decisions. 

We will see in the next chapter that the Holy Spirit comes and indwells the Believer. It will no longer be necessary to rely on outside signs to hear God's voice. He speaks directly to us.

God knew where each disciple was spiritually and knew they were casting lots by faith and by tradition and so He directed them once again through this outside means. Soon things would change because the Holy Spirit would indwell each believer.

How do you know you are hearing the will of God? Do you wait until you know for sure? Do you act on faith that God will honor your efforts and lead you in His will? God does indeed know our motives behind each action, just as He knew the disciples' hearts and answered them through the casting of the lots, directing them to choose Mathias.

Acts 17:30 (NLT) “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him."

Remember how we learned about "The Next Step?" The next step is always prayer and seeking God's will. The second step is waiting on Him. The third step is stepping out in faith that God will give us His direction.

Proverbs 16:17 (NLT) We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

I think that it all comes down to this. We should first pray and seek God on which steps He desires for us to take. We wait on Him and respond by stepping out in faith. He knows our true motives and acts accordingly. We must lay our wills down for His. We must search the reasons and motives of our actions. Most importantly we must act in faith. Hopefully, this helps us as we truly seek to follow our Leader Jesus. 

May the Lord determine your steps 

and may your heart be 

responsive 

to His perfect will.