Was Matthias the Twelfth Apostle?

Was Matthias, or Paul, the twelfth apostle?

The apostles cast lots in Acts 1:24-26 to know who should replace Judas. The lot fell to Matthias.

Was this sanctioned by the Lord? Does Proverbs 16:33 endorse it?

First, understand that it does not matter. It does not affect the gospel. It will not affect how we live. However, I’ll spell out my reasons for disagreement with those who say God chose Matthias because there might be something to learn hermeneutically.

1. Most of the proverbs are generalities, not universal promises. I won’t argue this point myself. Instead, I’ll direct you to any parent who reared their child in the love, nurture, and admonition of the Lord, yet that child went permanently astray. Citing Proverbs 16:33 is an extremely weak argument because the literary style of Proverbs prohibits turning 16:33 into a universal endorsement of casting lots. It is also weak because there's no evidence that the disciples should have been casting lots in the first place.
   
   
2. Description of an event does not imply endorsement or prescription. Many bad interpretations of the Bible come from taking the description of an event to indicate its endorsement. Atheists commonly take Old Testament descriptions of murders, rapes, and child sacrifices to mean that God endorses such abominations. But the Bible describes people honestly warts and all. Acts in no way endorses the selection of Matthias as an apostle; it merely documents it.
   
   
3. Jesus told the disciples to chill until the Holy Spirit came. During the time between Jesus ascension into heaven and Pentecost, the disciples should have been waiting, not taking action. Impetuous Peter impulsively perpetrated a violation of that command. God’s choice was Paul, and that choice came later, in God’s timing.
   
   For an Old Testament analogue, recall how Jesse presented all the sons he thought would be qualified to be anointed by the prophet (1 Samuel 16). The prophet had to urge Jesse to present the son he hadn’t thought of, and that son, David, turned out to be God’s choice. Likewise, the disciples set their own criteria for selection and then forced a choice from among their own personal favorites.
   
   
4. There’s no evidence that when they cast lots, they gave God the option of “None of the above.” They forced a selection of a replacement.
   
   
5. When Paul said in his church epistles that he was chosen by God, not by men, it was a dig at the false apostles who were misleading the churches. I would speculate that the net also caught the Eleven’s forcing a premature choice.
   
   
6. Matthias, once chosen, rarely, if ever, appears again in the New Testament. He is not know for any great accomplishment.

Arguments 5 and 6 are very weak arguments, but I think that the arguments, taken together, form a very strong case that the twelfth apostle was Paul, not Matthias. 

Copyright 2020, Richard Wheeler. This is a significantly edited version of a comment first posted on Quora. Permission granted for non-profit use provided credit is given where credit is due.