In certain religious traditions, most emphatically including the primitive Israelite cult of YHWH from which Judaism later evolved, the outcome of sortition was regarded as an expression of the will of supernatural beings, and was therefore treated with veneration. Elected office bearers are obviously chosen by people; but ones selected by lot are thought to be chosen by the god, and that is more impressive to the primitive mind. Primitive minds think that everything is determined by the decision of intelligent beings, either human, or supernatural.
... (T)he practice of lots was used frequently in ancient Israel.
The primary reason for casting lots was to render an impartial, unbiased decision on important matters. Once they were cast, no one could argue that the decision was the result of human intervention like nepotism, politics, favoritism, and so on. This practice would be the same as throwing dice or flipping a coin we commonly use today. In ancient times, they used varying means to cast lots, depending on the place and local customs, such as coins, polished sticks, cards, dice, and so on.
What is particularly significant is the fact that, in ancient Israel, the High Priest did use from time to time the tradition of casting lots for important, uncertain decisions. It amounted to consulting God for the answer, as Proverbs states "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" (Proverbs 16:33).
http://www.biblestudy.org/question/what-is-casting-lots.html
Later religions, including of course later Judaism, evolved beyond that, and are more content with election as an expression of rational thought. But NC has reverted to proto-historic primitivism.