Therefore the children of Israel can't stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, because they are become accursed: I will not be with you any more, except you destroy the devoted thing from among you.
Israel resorted to the casting of lots when no eyewitness could testify against a criminal (cf. 1 Samuel 14:41-42; Jonah 1:7; Proverbs 18:18). Probably the high priest used the Urim and Thummim to identify Achan (cf. Numbers 27:21).