The lottery is a gambling game in which winners are chosen at random, and prizes, often millions of dollars, are awarded. It’s also a popular way for state governments to raise money. It’s a form of gambling that encourages people to pay a small sum to have a chance at winning big, and it has been around for centuries. Its first recorded use in the Low Countries was in the 15th century, when towns held lotteries to raise funds for town fortifications and to help the poor.
I’ve talked to a lot of committed lottery players, people who buy $50 or $100 worth of tickets every week, and they’re clear-eyed about the odds. They know they’re not going to win, but they feel a deep sense of hope that somebody will — that there’s an out there somewhere that they’ll get lucky, and they’re giving themselves the long shot.
One of the reasons that people play the lottery is that they covet money and the things it can buy, even though God forbids the coveting of a neighbor’s house or their servants or their cattle (Exodus 20:17). It’s also true that most of us don’t have much choice about whether we play, as we’re lured by billboards touting the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots and encouraging us to stop at the convenience store to purchase a ticket. But if we want to avoid getting duped, we need to understand how the lottery works.