30 July 2024
Given my strong sense of conviction and long experience hearing from God on a personal level, it's quite rare that I would have any need for biblical divination. Still, it does happen. There are covenant requirements for this; it's a covenant thing that excludes outsiders.
Don't use this process for notional objectives. The whole point is making a choice of what to do, what course to follow, and perhaps how.
Objects used for determining the will of God cannot be used for any other purpose. If it serves for divination, it must be set aside from common use if you plan to use it repeatedly. Otherwise, the item is offered, dedicated to God for that particular instance, and then destroyed or discarded in some definitive way so that none of the participants can ever touch it again.
I would be comfortable using marbles or flipping a coin. For drawing straws, pick them fresh from source; they can be used only once and must then be destroyed. Those are the three objects I might use. This is a ritual. God doesn't need the ritual; we do. Ritual serves to compel us to take things seriously. Bathe the situation in prayer. Everyone involved needs to be sober and reverent. This is the voice of God we are seeking. Everyone agrees in advance to play by the rules and abide by the answer.
One person sets it up, the other executes. Most questions are binary.
For a coin, one calls the meaning of the results. They place the special coin blindly in other's hands cupped like a hollow ball. Shake it at least three times and then toss it up as high as possible with both hands. It must fall on a fairly hard surface so as to bounce. If it gets away from you -- rolling away under furniture or something, then you can try twice more. If you can't get a read in three tries, God is not interested in the question. Put the coin away.
Caveat: Should you find yourself forced by exigency to use a common coin, it must be discarded, as previously noted. Dedicate it to God before flipping. It can be dropped in a charity box or given away, but the participants must lose contact with it.
For marbles, a binary question means two different ones in a container big enough for fingers to reach in and grab. One person nominates which indicates which choice. Close the container (a covering hand will do) and shake at least three times. Open the container while holding it above eye level. The other person draws one and shows the result.
You can extrapolate using more marbles to, for example, choose one person from a group for a task, or choose one among several options. This is where each choice has it's own color. If all you have is two colors, then you must use several rounds to eliminate those aren't chosen. Keep track of it somehow.
Drawing straws is pretty simple. One person cuts them from some source with one distinctly shorter (toothpicks work well for this). Make them otherwise as uniform as possible. Roll them together in a bundle and hold them so they all appear the same height. The holder is the only one who might know which one is short; they look away as each person draws one. Once the decision is known, the straws are discarded. Dropping them in a fire is ideal, but they can be dropped in the trash if that's all you have to work with.
If you go through this process, anyone who backs out is defiled. Keep your distance from them, because judgment will surely come.
Comments
Jay DiNitto
I like the idea of keeping something permanent, set aside for the specific use, maybe because it would remind me of God's providence if I ever happen to look at it randomly.
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