Jonah 1:7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is on us… 1. We must never fall to lottery but when necessity enforceth us: all other lawful means must be first assayed. 2. We must use great reverence and religiousness in the action. Holy things must be done in a holy manner. 3. We must avoid impiety and idolatry therein, ascribing the event of our wishes neither to the stars nor to any other celestial body, which cannot want the ingestion and intermeddling of devils. 4. We must not apply the oracles of God in His sacred Scriptures to our earthly, temporary, and transitory losses. 5. The ends of our lots must be respected; the honour of God, as the moderator of all such ambiguities; the furnishing of His Church, if two or more be fit, with the fitter; the preserving of justice; the avoidance of greater mischiefs. 6. We must eschew all fraud and deceit in permitting our causes to heavenly arbitrament. (Bishop John King.) Parallel Verses KJV: And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. |
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