Joshua determined, by lot, that it was Achan, of the tribe of Judah, who had taken “the accursed thing” and thus brought upon Israel the disaster at Ai. (Josh. 7:14.) During the great battle of Michmash-Aijalon, Saul said unto the Israelites: “Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on my enemies.” Unmindful of this oath, wild honey was eaten by his son, in a moment of extreme hunger. No one would divulge that the king’s adjuration had been disregarded by the beloved Jonathan. “Therefore, Saul said unto the Lord God of Israel, give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped. And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan, my son. And Jonathan was taken.” (1 Sam. 14:40, 42.) _By lot, likewise, the question of “ministry and apostleship” was decided against Justus and in favor of Matthias._ (Acts 1:26.) Briefly, if the Bible is a divine production, how can appeals to chance be stigmatized as vicious or irreligious? Also, it is not to be denied that chance, or casualty, enters very largely into every department of human action. Men are compelled to take ventures every day; the engineer faces them; so does the sea captain; the same may be said of the doctor, the surgeon, the lawyer and the banker. A merchant encounters all the risks of trade; the hostility of the elements and the bankruptcy of others. The rains may rot or the drouths destroy the crops of the farmer. And almost, in the words of Ben Jonson, throughout the world, “All human business, fortune doth command, Without all order, and with her blind hand, She, blind, bestows blind gifts, that still have nurst, They see not who nor how.” The politician, too, might say with Macbeth: “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me.” War is a mighty game between giants. In truth, of Napoleon the poet has said: “Whose game was empires, and whose stakes were thrones, Whose table, earth; whose dice, were human bones.”