Matthew 27: 35: And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
Many prophecies came to pass from the time of Jesus’ arrest to His crucifixion, and yet the Jewish people and the Roman soldiers were unconscious of what the scriptures had said, and that those scriptures were being fulfilled all around them. In fact, their very deeds were also the fulfillment of scripture, for they were the unwitting partakers of the prophecies concerning their day. Jesus was the fullness of the Word in flesh whose life fulfilled the shadows of the Old Testament; and the Jews, who were believers of their prophets, failed to recognize their Messiah, and instead put Him to death on the cross of Calvary.
The crucifixion of the Word made flesh coincided with the spirit of gambling that had come upon the Roman soldiers guarding the cross. These men rolled dice for Jesus’ garment; their minds being more concerned with entertainment and personal gain than on the salvation and redemption of man that was taking place on the cross in their midst. They had become preoccupied, passing the time with gambling and enjoying the entertainment it gave them whilst the Word was being crucified. But when Jesus gave up the ghost and the earthquake happened, then the Roman centurion recognized that Jesus was the Son of God, but there was no repentance in him nor in the other soldiers (Matthew 27: 54: Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.).
That same spirit of gambling is here again in the last days when the Word has been rejected and crucified a second time by the denominations. But this time it has displayed itself in a much greater way, with the big lotteries and casinos of the world. Millions have flocked to the gambling capital of Las Vegas to play its casinos, or have tried their hand in national lotteries, poker games, slot machines and so forth, being attracted to all the lights, colors, sounds, and possible monetary gain that these things bring.
The spirit of gambling has so enthralled the world that the people have not recognized the reality of the living Word here on the earth. And the same Word has been rejected and crucified again whilst the people amuse themselves to their own destruction, for as an earthquake announced the completion of Jesus’ sacrifice and the closing of the Judaic dispensation, so the California earthquake that sinks Los Angeles will close the Gentile dispensation. The Great Tribulation will roll in upon them unawares, and many (like the Roman centurion) will be jolted back to reality and recognize the Lamb, but there will be no repentance in them at that time, for the day of true repentance (for the Gentiles) will be past (Revelation 6: 15 – 17; Revelation 9: 20 – 21).