Introduction
For many years I have wanted to address the issue of gambling, and specifically, the matter of playing the lottery.
There is no text in Scripture that says, “You shall not gamble.” In fact, the words “gamble” or “gambling” are not found in the Bible. Nevertheless, that does not mean that Scripture does not address the issue. And that is what I would like to do in this message.
Now, at the outset, I should say that most of this material is from two sermons by John MacArthur on the topic of gambling and playing the lottery.
Lesson
What is God’s answer for the issue of playing the lottery?
Let’s use the following outline:
1. Current Concerns about Playing the Lottery
2. Culture’s Answers to Playing the Lottery
3. God’s Answer to Playing the Lottery
I. Current Concerns about Playing the Lottery
First, let’s look at current concerns about playing the lottery.
Gambling in America is huge. According to the website, Statista, gambling “makes a total contribution of around 137.5 billion U.S. dollars to the U.S. economy annually and directly employs more than 730 thousand people.” Illegal gambling perhaps doubles the amount of money spent.
Now, gambling is not something new. John MacArthur notes that “in 1776 the first Continental Congress of the United States sold lottery tickets to finance the American Revolution. President Washington himself bought the first lottery ticket to build the new capital called Federal City, now known as Washington, D.C. So our nation was founded on a lottery, the Revolution was financed by a lottery, and our capital city was financed by a lottery.”
Today, in this country, lotteries are run by 47 jurisdictions: 44 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The states that do not have lotteries are Alabama, Mississippi, Utah, Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii.
John MacArthur notes that “by 1995 studies indicate 95 percent of Americans gambled, 82 percent play the lotteries, 75 percent play slot machines, 50 percent bet on dogs and horses, 44 percent on cards, 34 percent on bingo, 26 percent on sporting events, 74 percent frequent casinos and 89 percent approved of gambling. That means there were six percent who didn’t approve but gambled anyway… interesting.”
II. Culture’s Answers to Playing the Lottery
Second, notice culture’s answers to playing the lottery.
Basically, the culture says that it is okay to play the lottery. Forty-four states have lotteries. They see it as a great way to increase state revenue. And the government is so duplicitous. On the one hand, they say that they want to help the poor. But, on the other hand, the vast majority of people who play the lottery are low income earners.
Oh, to be sure there are groups that help compulsive and addictive gamblers, such as Gamblers Anonymous. But their impact on the whole problem is miniscule.
So, what is God’s answer?
III. God’s Answer to Playing the Lottery
Third, let’s examine God’s answer to playing the lottery.
Let me begin by defining gambling. Now, let me say that gambling is not simply taking a risk. There is a risk in almost everything in life. If you are a farmer, there is risk. One year, you have a great crop. But the next year, the crop fails.
Insurance is a risk. You take out life insurance, health insurance, car insurance, home insurance, and so on.
Even the stock market is a risk. You invest money in a public company believing that the company will continue to do well so that you may receive a return on your investment.
Where there is a reasonable, manageable risk, you do not have gambling. The words “gamble, gambling, gambler” are related to the word for “game.” Gambling is a game. It is not a game based on skill, reason, or anything controllable. It is a game based on sheer chance. According to Dictionary.com gambling is defined as, “The activity or practice of playing at a game of chance for money or other stakes.” Gambling is an appeal to sheer chance.
Now, I want to approach God’s answer to playing the lottery by giving five biblical reasons why playing it is wrong.
A. Because It Denies the Reality of God’s Sovereignty
First, playing the lottery is wrong because it denies the reality of God’s sovereignty. Not only does it deny the reality of God’s sovereignty, playing the lottery affirms the existence of luck or chance.
There is no such thing as luck or chance. Luck is non-existent. Chance is an anti-God idea. The Bible clearly teaches that God is sovereign over all things. He is sovereign. He is in control of all things. Every single atom is under the sovereign control of Almighty God. Nothing happens by chance.
The Bible teaches that God is sovereign over all things in Psalm 103:19 (NASB95), “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.”
The Bible teaches that God even determines how much of an inheritance each person gets in Psalm 47:4a (NASB95), “He chooses our inheritance for us.”
The Bible teaches that it is God who gives you the power to get wealth in Deuteronomy 8:18a, “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.”
The Bible teaches that it is God who even lifts up rulers and deposes them, as Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:24–25, “This is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.”
But perhaps the most interesting text is found in Isaiah 65:11-12, which addresses how God views gambling. The context of the passage is that God’s covenant people have a mixture of believers and unbelievers. And although God will bring his saints to their glorious home, he will punish those who reject him. Isaiah 65:11–12 says, “But you who forsake the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.” Let’s unpack this text.
God says that for those who forsake the Lord, who forget his holy mountain (which is his covenant earthly residence), who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny, he will destine them for the sword, that is, for destruction. The reason God will destine them for destruction is because they spread a table for Fortune and filled cups of mixed wine for Destiny. Spreading a table means bringing food to an idol. And filling cups of mixed wine means bringing wine to an idol. And the two idol gods the people were worshiping were the god called Fortune and the god called Destiny. Fortune comes from the Hebrew word gad and it means luck, usually good luck. And Destiny comes from the Hebrew word meni and it means back luck. So the people were worshiping the god of good luck and the god of bad luck. So, for those people who bring offerings to the gods of luck God will punish by destroying them.
Faith in God and faith in luck are mutually exclusive ideas. There is no such thing as luck. God is in sovereign control of all things.
So, playing the lottery is wrong because it denies the reality of God’s sovereignty by affirming the existence of luck or chance.
B. Because It Is Built on Irresponsible Stewardship
Second, playing the lottery is wrong because it is built on irresponsible stewardship. Not only is it built on irresponsible stewardship, playing the lottery tempts people to throw away their money.
Psalm 24:1 teaches us, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” Everything in this world belongs to God. Everything. We are simply stewards of that which God has entrusted to us. We tend to think that our things belong to us, were acquired by us, and are rightfully ours. But they are not. They belong to God.
Listen to what God says in Psalm 50:10–12, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. ‘If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.’” Everything belongs to God. He owns it all. It is his.
However, we need to recognize that God has entrusted things to us. And why has he done so? So that everything we steward might be used for his glory. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Everything, not just most things, or church things, but everything is to be done for the glory of God.
Playing the lottery is an irresponsible stewardship of the money God has entrusted to you. It is irresponsible stewardship to put the money that God has entrusted to you before the gods of Fortune and Destiny and expect that God will be pleased with you. He is not pleased with you because you are throwing away the money that he has entrusted to you.
So, playing the lottery is wrong because it is built on irresponsible stewardship by tempting people to throw away their money.
C. Because It Erodes a Biblical Work Ethic
Third, playing the lottery is wrong because it erodes a biblical work ethic. Not only is it wrong because it erodes a biblical work ethic, playing the lottery devalues and displaces hard work as the proper means for one’s livelihood.
Right after God had created the world and everything in it, he created man. Genesis 2:15 says that “the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” So, God created man to work in the pristine beauty prior to the entrance of sin into the world. After sin entered the world at the Fall, man still had to work but now it became a burden, as we read what God said to Adam in Genesis 3:19, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
And so, ever since the Fall, God has expected men and women to work for their food. Proverbs 12:11a (NIV) gives an encouraging truism, “Those who work their land will have abundant food.” God is affirming that hard work generally results in an ample supply of necessities. But the verse goes on to say in verse 11b, “but those who chase fantasies have no sense.” Is there any greater fantasy than playing the lottery? People who play the lottery have no sense.
The Bible repeatedly affirms that work is ordained by God. Ephesians 4:28 says, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Moreover, Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” In all our work, no matter how menial, we are to work as if we were working for the Lord himself. And 2 Thessalonians 3:10b says, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” First Timothy 5:8 says, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
God has designed and commanded us to work. Playing the lottery, giving money to the gods of luck and chance, is simply rebelling against God’s command.
So, playing the lottery is wrong because it erodes a biblical work ethic by devaluing and displacing hard work as the proper means for one’s livelihood.
D. Because It Is Driven by the Sin of Covetousness
Fourth, playing the lottery is wrong because it is driven by the sin of covetousness. Not only is it driven by the sin of covetousness, playing the lottery tempts people to give in to their greed.
Gambling and playing the lottery is a direct violation of God’s tenth commandment, which is not to covet. Exodus 20:17 says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (cf. Deuteronomy 5:21). Moreover, Jesus warned against covetousness in Luke 12:15, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
People play the lottery because they covet wealth. They think that a quick accumulation of wealth will bring them joy and happiness and satisfaction. But it doesn’t. Only satisfaction in Christ is truly lasting.
This past week, in our morning devotions, Eileen and I read Philippians 4. Paul wrote this letter to the Philippian Church while he was in prison. And he said in Philippians 4:11b-12, “… for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” The antidote to covetousness is contentment. It is being content with Christ, it is being content with what he has entrusted to me. It is being content in whatever circumstance I find myself.
So, playing the lottery is wrong because it is driven by the sin of covetousness by tempting people to give in to their greed.
E. Because It Is Built on the Exploitation of Others
And fifth, playing the lottery is wrong because it is built on the exploitation of others. Not only is it built on the exploitation of others, playing the lottery often takes advantage of poor people who think they can gain wealth instantly.
Gambling is stealing. It is a violation of the eighth commandment. Exodus 20:15, “You shall not steal.” The Westminster Larger Catechism, in the answer to Q. 142, gives numerous examples of the sins forbidden in the eighth commandment. One of the sins forbidden in the eighth commandment is, “defrauding ourselves of the due use and comfort of that estate which God hath given us.” In other words, God has given us a stewardship of finances for us to use, but by playing the lottery we are allowing others to steal that money and we are defrauding ourselves of the due use and comfort that God has provided for us. Why not just put a sign in your yard that says, “Please! Come into my home and help yourself to whatever you want!”
But, worse, I think is that playing the lottery is a violation of the second great commandment. Jesus said in Matthew 22:39, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The vast majority of people who play the lottery are low income earners. Playing the lottery encourages them to continue losing money. It encourages the continual erosion of financial resources. It increases debt. It leads to increased poverty. And in some instances, it leads to suicide. Apparently, 20% of addictive gamblers have attempted suicide. And the suicide rate of spouses of compulsive gamblers is 150 times the national average. How in the world is playing the lottery loving your neighbor?
So, playing the lottery is wrong because it is built on the exploitation of others by often taking advantage of poor people who think they can gain wealth instantly.
Conclusion
Therefore, when we are confronted with the issue of playing the lottery, we should give heed to God’s answer as set forth in Scripture.
Scripture teaches that playing the lottery is wrong. In fact, it is sinful. If you play the lottery, ask God’s forgiveness and stop playing the lottery. Amen.
