Prior to receiving the impartation of The Holy Spirit recorded in Acts 2:4, Peter had determined that Judas Iscariot needed to be replace. In Acts chapter 1 it is written by THE SPIRIT:
1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen,
3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Jesus spent forty days with the disciples and did not select a replacement for Judas yet Peter determined to replace him after Jesus’ departure. Wouldn’t Jesus have made the selection before He departed if it was FATHER’S perfect plan, Will, and purpose? I am sure Peter’s intent was good but yet Jesus made no mention of it during the forty days of instruction. Peter took charge:
15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said,
16 “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus;
17 for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.”
…
21 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
23 And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
24 And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen
25 to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”
26 And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
After that day we hear no more mention of Matthias. Why didn’t Peter wait until the Day of Pentecost or wait upon FATHER to instruct him? Instead, he said a prayer requesting FATHER to endorse the casting of lots. It all sounded good but there is no observable fruit of Matthias after being designated as the twelfth apostle. Men continue to use physical means in order to get spiritual direction and answers. Gideon did so and FATHER answered him because of HIS great grace and mercy. However Gideon had already received the directive and simply wanted confirmation. Peter initiated the plan to replace Judas without any directive from Jesus.
A physical sign or use of physical means to discern FATHER’S Will was used in the Old Testament but since we have The Holy Spirit, any use today can lead one into the area of divination and witchcraft. False prophets used divination to foretell the future and FATHER expressly forbid its use (Lev. 19:26) as well as witchcraft (Deut 18:10). Any alternative to access the spiritual versus hearing FATHER places a person at risk of judgment. FATHER’S grace and mercy will prevail for those who are immature but at some point we must refer to Scripture to determine the validity of any teaching, prophecy, or method of receiving answers.
The Beloved Disciple John was totally silent in Peter’s decision to replace Judas and we hear of no mention of Peter’s decision later. There was simply no fruit produced. Could it be that Paul was meant to be counted as the twelfth disciple? After all, he did pen two-thirds of the New Testament after his conversion from Saul to Paul. In Acts chapter 9 Jesus spoke to Ananias:
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.
16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Jesus clearly chose Paul to be an apostle and I suspect Peter may have repented once he heard Paul’s testimony and saw the fruit of his ministry. It appears that Peter missed the mark but it did not prevent him from fulfilling his calling. I too have missed the mark countless times in the past but FATHER has continued to deliver me from death and destruction because of HIS Son’s perfect sacrifice and HIS great grace and mercy. We have all missed the mark from time to time and it is comforting to know that even the disciples were not yet perfected even though they spent 3 1/2 years with Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is hope for us all!