The Lot is Cast:
Does Proverbs 16:33 teach that God controls everything?
Firstly, Proverbs, as a book of wisdom literature, is not the best place to go looking for universal metaphysical facts. Interpreting every line as universally and literally true fails to read the verses in light of the genre. There are many Proverbs that are clearly speaking in terms of general patterns as opposed to universal metaphysical realities:
Proverbs 10:3 “The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry”
Is this a universal statement about reality? Is this an unbreakable biblical promise such that poverty is proof of unrighteousness? Or is this a general description of God’s care for the righteous?
Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Is this a universal promise indicating that all wayward children are the result of poor training by their parents? Or is it a general statement encouraging wise parenting?
Do the following verses represent statements that are literally and universally true in all cases?
Proverbs 11:8 “The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked walks into it instead.”
Proverbs 12:21 “No ill befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.”
Proverbs 15:6 “The house of the righteous contains great treasure, but the income of the wicked brings ruin.”
How about in the immediate context of chapter 16? Are these universal statements about reality we can use to know how God operates in all circumstances?
Proverbs 16:3 “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
Proverbs 16:7 “When the LORD takes pleasure in anyone’s way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them.”
The book of Proverbs is absolutely filled with verses that do not make sense when interpreted literally as unqualified statements describing how God always operates in the world. We are forced to interpret them in ways that do not arise naturally from the verses themselves, but we are justified in doing this in light of the genre.
See also Proverbs 3:2, 3:10, 11:25, 12:7, 13:9, 14:11, 15:29, 19:23, 21:21, 28:25.
Secondly, though I would argue the first point is more than sufficient to justify a non-literal understanding of Proverbs 16:33, the interpretation of the metaphor may not even mean what the deterministic reading suggests.
The deterministic reading interprets the lot as a symbol of randomness, chance, or minutiae. John Piper compares it to dice, using this verse to argue that all seemingly random events are caused by God.
But given the cultural context of the ancient world, it is more likely that the lot is a reference, not to randomness, but to divine direction in the context of seeking God’s will. For example, God controlled the dew when Gideon sought his will by laying out a fleece (Judges 6:36-40). This does not demand that we conclude that God eternally decreed and meticulously controlled the location and size of every dew drop that has ever existed in the history of the world.
People would cast lots as an appeal to God for his decision or judgment concerning a specific matter. This Proverb can very naturally be understood as clarifying that the mishpat (“justice/judgement/decision/verdict”) of the lot is ultimately the decision of God – it’s not actually the lot that decides these matters, it’s God.
Thus, as with dozens of other Proverbs, Proverbs 16:33 can reasonably be understood as making a statement about a general truth, rather than making a specific metaphysical claim about reality. The context of the verse specifically relates to people using lots for the purpose of seeking God’s direction, so Proverbs 16:33 need not be literally and universally applied to all events in the universe.
Also, we should base our beliefs about these important topics, not on isolated verses here and there, but on the whole breadth of the biblical witness.