First Timothy 6:10 is where we find the famous warning that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13). Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. Jesus teaches, “No one can serve two masters. So often, riches get in the way of a man’s spiritual benefit (Mark 4:19 10:25). The main purpose of playing the lottery is to win money, and the Bible tells us what our attitude toward money should be. And Proverbs 16:33 emphasizes the sovereignty of God: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” But the biblical purpose of casting lots was not to test one’s luck or to gain material wealth.
The Bible also mentions the casting of lots for the purpose of decision making (Joshua 18:10 Nehemiah 10:34). In neither case is gambling presented in a good light. The Bible has no examples of a lottery, but it does contain instances of gambling: Samson’s wager in Judges 14:12 and the soldiers’ gambling over Jesus’ garments in Mark 15:24.
