A lottery is a type of gambling game in which people buy numbered tickets and the numbers are drawn to determine the winners. Often the prize is a fixed amount of money or goods. Other times the prize is a percentage of the total receipts. The word comes from the Dutch word lot, which is a diminutive of the Latin verb luo, meaning “to share.” People may also use the phrase to describe something that depends on chance or luck, such as which judges are assigned to a case.
Lotteries have long been used to raise funds for public works and services. In colonial-era America they were common for paving streets, building wharves and even financing schools, including Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, William and Mary and Union. George Washington sponsored a lottery in 1768 to finance the construction of a road across the mountains.
Some states have a monopoly on lotteries, while others license private firms for the operation of a state lottery. In either case, the basic structure is the same: a state establishes an independent agency or public corporation to run the lottery; it starts with a modest number of relatively simple games; and then, as revenues expand, it progressively adds new games.
A number of issues arise from state-run lotteries, ranging from the problem of compulsive gambling to the alleged regressive impact on lower-income groups. More importantly, however, the lottery promotes the idea that money is the key to solving life’s problems. This flies in the face of God’s prohibition against covetousness, which is clearly stated in Exodus 20:17 and 1 Timothy 6:10.