Urim and Thummim

Introduction

The last 8 months have been a roller coaster combined with a whirlwind and in just 2 days time Christ Reformed Baptist Church will have officially been meeting for seven months. Much has changed, but the foundational reason that we come together has not and must not change. If you were to go to our website and look under the section entitled “Who We Are” this is the first statement that would greet you there,

“Christ Reformed Baptist is a church rooted in historic biblical Christianity that is committed to reaching an ever-changing culture with a never-changing message. It is our deepest desire to honor and glorify God, remain true to His inerrant, infallible, sufficient, and authoritative Word”

It was this more than anything else that drew us together, desiring to bring glory to God by being faithful to His Word. This is the attack point of the enemy, God’s Word, as it has been since the very beginning. Fairly early in our short history it was determined that we would stand as we read the specific text from God’s Word that we will be focusing on, and each Sunday, as you stand I typically state that we are standing for reading of God’s Holy, Inerrant, Infallible, Complete, Authoritative and Sufficient Word. The reason that I repeat this truth is that we need to be reminded, we need to hear, in all honesty, daily, that this Word is not just some ancient text that is subject to our whims, desires and emotions, but that it is truly the Word of God.

This week I saw a clip of a person speaking from a podium, I refuse to call this person a pastor and the podium a pulpit, who literally speaks about reinterpreting the story of the fall in the garden… and when this person completed her reinterpretation, Eve was to be applauded for her wisdom in her choices…

Chapter 1 Paragraph 1 of the 1689 LBCF reads:

Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century I. The Holy Scriptures

The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible standard of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. The light of nature and the works of creation and providence so clearly demonstrate the goodness, wisdom, and power of God that people are left without excuse; however, these demonstrations are not sufficient to give the knowledge of God and His will that is necessary for salvation. Therefore, the Lord was pleased at different times and in various ways to reveal Himself and to declare His will to His church.3 To preserve and propagate the truth better and to establish and comfort the church with greater certainty against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and the world, the Lord put this revelation completely in writing. Therefore, the Holy Scriptures are absolutely necessary, because God’s former ways of revealing His will to His people have now ceased.

For the last several weeks we have been reading through Psalm 119 and through each octet we hear the words commands, judgments, statutes, laws, etc. all of which speak of God’s Word and each time we are pointed back to them for truth, for understanding, for guidance and for directions. In the introduction or prelude of John’s Gospel, he calls Jesus the Word, the Light, the one through whom grace and truth came. John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

This morning, we are benefactors of the single greatest thing in all of history… the completed Word of God. We have the luxury of opening this library, for it is truly a library of books, and learning the true truth. The Israelites on the other hand, where not quite as fortunate. For them, they had to go to the priest, and specifically the high priest, to get direction concerning the will of God. Last week we began talking about the breastpiece of judgement. During our conversation we mentioned, but did not discuss, the Urim and the Thummim, the final two pieces of the breastpiece. This is our focus for today. Our text is the same as last week, but we will focus in on verse 30 and then we will take a look at what Scripture teaches us about these two mysterious objects, their purpose for the people of God, what they point forward to, and finally how this impacts us today.

If you will, take your copy of God’s Word, make your way to Exodus 28 and...

Text

Please stand for the reading of God’s Holy, Inerrant, Infallible, Complete, Authoritative and Sufficient Word:

Exodus 28:15–30 LSB

“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skillful designer; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen you shall make it. “It shall be square, having been folded double, a span in length and a span in width. “You shall mount on it four rows of stones; the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald; and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper; they shall be set in gold settings. “The stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names; they shall be like the engravings of a signet, each according to his name for the twelve tribes. “You shall make on the breastpiece chains of a twisted work of cords in pure gold. “You shall make on the breastpiece two rings of gold, and you shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. “You shall put the two cords of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. “You shall put the two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, and you shall put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. “You shall make two rings of gold and shall place them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on the edge of it, which is toward the inner side of the ephod. “You shall make two rings of gold and put them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the front of it close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. “They shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it will be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece will not come loose from the ephod. “Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he comes into the holy place, for a remembrance before Yahweh continually. “You shall put in the breastpiece of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he comes in before Yahweh; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before Yahweh continually.

Father, we thank You, that even though everything around us is continually in motion and changing, that You remain steadfast. Your Word is truth and is not shaken; Your Son is a sure and steadfast foundation. Lord, that we would forsake all things and rest solely upon Him, abide solely in Him, be borne up solely by Him in all things. All of our mercies come through Christ, who has designed, purchased, promised, and effected them. How sweet it is when we draw near to Him, filled with holy affections for Him. Father we are forever thankful that You have given us Your Son, Jesus, as the Mediator between us and You, who has satisfied divine justice on Calvary’s cross and spanned the chasm created by our sin. May we wholly trust in Him as the object of our faith, acknowledging that it is by His righteousness alone that we are found worthy. May we be reminded through Your Word of how dear He is, that by the Word we are one with Him through faith, that in love we obey the Word; that when we receive the Word, we receive our Lord. Father, who holds the hearts of all men in Your hand, may our hearts be formed according to Your Word, in the image of Your Son. May Christ the Word, and His Word, be our comfort and strength, for it is in His precious name that we pray, Amen.

The Final Pieces

As we come to verse 30 we see the final instructions to Moses regarding the fabrication of the breastpiece, the insertion of the Urim and Thummim into the pouch that was formed when the fabric was doubled over in verse 16. When we speak about things within Scripture that remain a mystery, these two items certainly must be counted in that list. The words Urim and Thummim themselves are not translations of the Hebrew but transliterations, which is when we take the Hebrew letters that form a word and use their counterparts in English to give us a word that we can pronounce. If we were to directly translate these two words we would end up with something along the lines of “Lights and Perfections”.

The truth is that these two items have baffled Biblical scholars and as we approach them we must take care to observe one of the great principles of interpretation of Scripture so that we are being as faithful to God’s word as possible. The principle being that of ensuring that we use scripture to interpret scripture and that we do not read into or go beyond the bounds of what God has given us in His Word for the things that He has chosen not to reveal to us are not, at least while on this side of glory, for us. AW Pink is helpful regarding this truth as we read these words:

Gleanings in Exodus Contents

Let us not attempt to be wise above that which is written. Let us seek grace to be kept humble, from invading the prerogatives of the Most High, and from endeavoring to handle things which are “too wonderful” (

This “Day to come” that Pink speaks of is when Christ returns and the “fuller revelation” being granted is whatever knowledge that God will give to us on the other side of glory. It is necessary that we make that we draw out that distinction so that we understand this is not speaking of seeking special revelation, as you may recall from the Chapter 1 Paragraph 2 of the 1689 LBCF, which opens with these words:

Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century I. The Holy Scriptures

The whole counsel of God concerning everything essential for His own glory and man’s salvation, faith, and life is either explicitly stated or by necessary inference contained in the Holy Scriptures. Nothing is ever to be added to the Scriptures, either by new revelation of the Spirit or by human traditions.

Although there is much we simply do not know about the Urim and Thummim, their purpose for God’s people, what they are a type of and how that impacts us today are revealed to us in the pages of scripture. A couple of additional things that we need to note before we proceed into that information. Firstly, these two words form a hendiadys, which is basically when two words are used to convey a single concept. As an example, when we read in Revelation 1:8 when God identifies Himself as ““the Alpha and the Omega.”” we understand this as the truth that God is eternal. Similarly, here in Exodus, as the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet were used in Revelation, we have two words that begin with the first and last letters or characters of the Hebrew alphabet. This signifies or speaks of the fullness or completeness of God’s guidance to His people… just as we acknowledge today that God has closed the canon of Scripture and that the 66 inspired books that form the Old and New Testament are the full and complete Word of God to His people, the church, the bride of Christ.

Secondly, as we move towards understanding these words, it is also helpful to us to understand how we arrive at the translation of these two ancient and mysterious Hebrew words. To do this we turn to the Septuagint which is the earliest translation of the original Hebrew into the Greek which was done in a time when some of the obscure words we encounter, such as the two words we have before us today, may have still been known or at least understood more fully. In the Septuagint these words were translated as “delosis and aletheim” which roughly translates to “clarity/manifestation/understanding and truth”. The reason we translate them into English as “light and perfections” is that these two words in the early English language help with our comprehension, at least as far as our comprehension can go. The word light speaks of illuminating, clarifying, revealing something that was unseen and the word perfection, gets us closer to concept of truth than does our modern day definition of truth, which as we have witnessed in society, has come to mean something far removed from the original intention or concept.

The Placement

Before we dive headlong in the usage of these items, we would be remiss if we did not take a moment and recall where these two items were to be placed within the breastpiece and where they would rest as the breastpiece was placed onto the chest of the high priest. As we mentioned last week and again a few moments ago, the breastpiece was fabricated from a piece of cloth that was doubled over to form a pocket and the purpose of that pocket was the Urim and Thummim. When they were properly placed they would rest over the heart of the high priest but under the twelve stones that represented the twelve tribes of Israel.

The placement itself, apart from the actual items speaks to their importance. They literally form the foundation for the people of Israel as they are carried on the heart of the high priest into the presence of God. As we will see this morning they were instrumental in guiding the people of God. We learned a few weeks back, when we were in the tabernacle proper, about the foundation upon which it stood, and here we have the foundation upon which the people stand, all pointing us towards that same foundation, the one of which we so diligently sing: “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

The Usage

There are some “biblical scholars” that chalk the Urim and Thummim up to being nothing more than dice that were casts or coins that were flipped that would grant the user a “yes or no” response and little else, however, as we look at their usage recorded for us, we will see that this is far from the truth of how these items were used. In some way, they were used in a manner similar to that of the casting of lots but it is apparent that they were not simply a “yes/no” decider. We read in 1 Samuel 28:6 “So Saul asked of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.” This is where the mystery remains, how exactly they were used of God to guide the people is not clear, other than that God did use them to provide some type of counsel or prophetic guidance. In Numbers 27, God has Moses to go up on a mountain side and look over the land which was to be given to the people of Israel, and we find this written there in Numbers 27:12-22

Numbers 27:12–22 LSB

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go up to this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel. “So when you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was, for in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to treat Me as holy before their eyes at the water.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) Then Moses spoke to Yahweh, saying, “May Yahweh, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of Yahweh will not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” So Yahweh said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight. “And you shall put some of your splendor on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him. “Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Yahweh. At his command they shall go out, and at his command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.” So Moses did just as Yahweh commanded him; and he took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation.

Note especially the mention of the Urim in verse 21 as the item which was to used by the high priest, by this time it was Eleazar, one of the sons of Aaron, “inquire for him by the judgement of the Urim”. This is in reference to what will occur when the people of God would enter the promised land. We read regarding the dividing of the land that Joshua and Eleazar in Numbers 34:17 ““These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun.” The actual division occurs in the book of Joshua were we read that the lot “came up”, “came forth”, “came out” which references them coming out of the bag of the ephod. Although the Urim is not specifically mentioned in the division of the land in the book of Joshua it stands that Joshua would have been obedient to the earlier command of God as shown to Moses and recorded for us in the book of Numbers.

We see them used by David in 1 Samuel 30:7–8 “Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod near to me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod near to David. And David asked of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely deliver all.”” again, note that the Urim and Thummim are not mentioned, however the ephod is mentioned and they were contained within. Note that it refers to David asking of Yahweh, but only after the high priest draws near with the ephod. All of these examples point to some usage which seeks the will or counsel of God as directive in the lives of Israel.

After the Israelites have been held captive in Babylon and then subsequently released we see them returning to the land in Ezra and Nehemiah where we read these words Ezra 2:61–63 “Of the sons of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he was called by their name. These searched in their genealogical records, but they could not be found; therefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood. The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest stood with Urim and Thummim.” This encounter is also repeated in Nehemiah. What is important here is to note that the people determined that a judgement on this issue should not occur until there was a true high priest to consult God and be directed by His will through the Urim and Thummim. All of these things are well summed up by Heinrich Bullinger, a Swiss reformer and theologian who wrote:

Gleanings in Exodus 3. Their Use

“The Urim and Thummim were probably two precious stones, which were drawn out as a lot to give Jehovah’s judgment. ‘The lot is cast into the lap (Heb. ‘bosom’), but the whole judgment thereof is of the Lord’ (

It is clear from these texts that these items were of great importance to the people of Israel for understanding and determining the will of God, however, what we need to ensure that we understand is that these two items were for these specific peoples during this specific time. There is no mention of the Urim and Thummim in the prophets, there is also no mention of them in the New Testament. They served their purpose and have now faded into distant memory. Pastor and Theologian J Vernon McGee correctly points out the reason why God has kept these items so shrouded in mystery when he writes:

Thru the Bible Vol. 5: The Law (Exodus 19–40) The Urim and Thummim

God has kept the details obscure for a very good reason—some nut would try to produce a Urim and Thummim today and would claim that it would give us all the answers. We have a lot of people around today trying to give us the answers without the Urim and Thummim! God wants us to go to Him for the answers.

The Typology

As much of a truth as this is, we also need to remember that they are contained within the Word of God and as such are profitable for the people of God, the body of Christ, the Church. Now, certainly as we have already established, this is not for us to have our own set to consult, but rather in what they point us forward towards, in what or whom do they find their fulfillment. The great thing about everything within the tabernacle and regarding the priesthood, if you have not caught on to the trend, point us towards Christ. This means that the simple answer regarding the typology of the Urim and Thummim is that of Christ, that they point us forward to and find their fulfillment in Him. To be certain we could stop there and rest assured that we have the correct answer, but to do so would prevent us from seeing the full picture and display of the glory of God revealed in His Word.

Here is how one theologian defines for us the reality of what is foreshadowed within these two objects:

Gleanings in Exodus 5. Their Significance

First, He is the “Light and Perfection” of God—the Brightness of His glory (

Obviously, the things that the Urim and Thummim typify are full and honestly we could spend a great amount of time unpacking each of these, however, I would like to introduce an eighth thing that is foreshadowed by these and that is that they point us forward to the Word. They remind us that in Christ, the revealed Word, and Scriptures, the inspired written Word, do we find all that is needed to guide us in all areas of our lives. Just as we saw the people of Israel turning to the Urim and Thummim for the direction of God, we as believers, should be turning to the Word of God.

So that we are all clear and on the same page here, we need to clarify a couple of things. Firstly, these instructions are for the people of God, those who have professed faith in Christ, who were regenerated by the work of the Holy Spirit, enabling them to have that faith given to them through the grace of God allowing them to fully and finally rest on the finished work of Christ ALONE for their salvation. While God’s Word does provide us with the knowledge of Christ so that we can have faith, this Word by itself does not save but it absolutely reveals to us the truth, not only of Christ, but of who God is, the work that He has done in our lives. Secondly, these instructions for the people of God must be acknowledge in truth, in totality. We cannot affirm the truth of parts of the Bible without affirming the truth of it as a whole. We do not, as we are not the author, have the right to change this word to suit our desires, wants, wishes or emotions. Who we are and who the world around us is, must be interpreted in light of the scripture not the other way around. Finally, we need to properly approach the Word of God, using it to interpret itself, for the clear passages to reveal the obscure as they can and when they do not accept that this knowledge, after we have diligently studied, is not for us, much like the full details of the Urim and Thummim. With this understanding we read the inspired words of the Apostle Peter who writes in 2 Peter 1:2-8

2 Peter 1:2–8 LSB

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the full knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these things are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter begins this with a request that grace and peace be multiplied to the people of God, but he quickly demonstrates that the way in which that grace and peace is multiplied is through the full knowledge of God. Earlier I mentioned that we are more fortunate than the people of Israel because we have the COMPLETE Word of God. We no longer need to go to an earthly priest to seek God’s will, we can turn directly to His Word. What is do great about this passage is the way in which the Holy Spirit uses Peter to flesh out this truth.

The first clue for us that this is truly the divinely inspired word of God that Peter is recording is actually found in the gospel. It is there that we really learn about Peter and who he was. I have always found it so easy to relate to Peter in so many ways, the gruff guy who speaks a little too quickly, believes wholeheartedly but yet gets distracted and falters along the way, the one who said he would go to the cross yet as Christ stood before the Sanhedrin, denied Him repeatedly. The transition we see in Peter is remarkable, but it reminds us that the Holy Spirit is continually at work in each of our lives, for Peter, he was enabled and entrusted to record these words, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to remind generations to come of the remarkable reliability and truth found in God’s Word.

He goes on in verse three to proclaim the overall things that we have received from God, everything pertaining to life AND godliness, but note that he is also clear as to the source of those things. Unfortunately there are many who profess to call themselves believers but refuse to submit to the word of God. Again, so that there is clarity, this is not saying and I am not saying that you are saved by your obedience to the word of God. What this is saying, what God is saying, what is being taught, again, here, through the Holy Spirit is that as a result of your salvation, note verse 2, Jesus is acknowledged as our Lord, meaning this is to believers, as a result of your salvation, you understand that everything that pertains to your life, in its totality, and the godliness which should be demonstrated through your life, also in its totality, is contained in the “full knowledge of Him”

Moving forward in the passage, you should note the framework that is fleshed out and how all of this framework has its foundation in that knowledge. As believers, all that we are, is determined by Scripture. Often times we hear people refer to “their Christian Walk” in such a ways as to separate it from the rest of their lives. When we do this, we remove the authority and doubt the sufficiency of scripture in our lives. We say that God’s Word is absolutely wonderful as it pertains to my faith life and we keep it out of my personal life. To do this, to take this approach, denies the Lordship of Christ by denying the authority that scripture has in our lives, it denies the Sovereignty of God in all things and specifically as they pertain to us, and it denies the sufficiency of the Word.

Conclusion

As we come to the conclusion of our time together this morning, I want to draw your attention back to the theme that has been woven throughout our gathering—the absolute necessity of God’s Word. From the very foundation of Christ Reformed Baptist Church, we have stood firm on the principle that the Bible is our inerrant, infallible, and sufficient guide. It has been the attack point of the enemy since the garden, and it remains the battlefield today.

Consider for a moment the profound significance of the Urim and Thummim in Israel’s history. Though shrouded in mystery, their function was clear—they were the means by which God’s people sought His will. But they were not an end in themselves. They pointed forward to something greater, or rather, Someone greater—the perfect revelation of God in Jesus Christ, the Living Word. Today, we are no longer dependent on stones hidden within a breastpiece, nor on earthly priests seeking God’s will on our behalf. We have been given something far greater—the full and complete revelation of God in the Scriptures.

It is no small thing that we have been entrusted with the Word of God. We live in a time when many professing Christians treat Scripture as a mere collection of ancient writings, subject to personal interpretation and cultural revision. We see pulpits abandoned for platforms where men and women attempt to reshape the truth to fit their desires. The authority of Scripture is attacked, its sufficiency questioned, its commands reinterpreted. Yet, as we have been reminded in our study today, God has not left us to grope in the darkness. He has spoken, and His Word is sufficient.

The question before each of us is this: Do we believe that? Not in word only, but in practice? Do we truly live as though God’s Word is our final authority in all things? Do we turn to it for guidance, for correction, for instruction in righteousness? Do we submit ourselves fully to its commands, even when they confront us? Or have we, perhaps subtly, begun to allow the shifting tides of culture to determine what we will and will not accept?

Brothers and sisters, the urgency of this matter cannot be overstated. The enemy’s strategy has not changed—he seeks to undermine the authority of God’s Word. He whispers the same question he posed to Eve: “Did God actually say…?” And the moment we entertain that question in a way that leads us to doubt rather than to trust, we begin to drift.

We must hold fast. We must stand unwaveringly upon the foundation that has been laid before us. Christ, the Living Word, is our foundation, and His written Word is our guide. We do not need to seek new revelations; we do not need to conform to the patterns of this world. What we need is a steadfast, unyielding commitment to the truth that God has given us.

So, I leave you with this final question, a question that demands a response from every one of us: Will you live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God? Will you take up this Word daily, allowing it to shape your thoughts, your actions, your desires? Will you, by the grace of God, be one who does not merely hear the Word, but one who does it?

May we be a people who cherish the Word of God, who submit to its authority, who proclaim its truth with boldness, and who find in it our deepest delight. And may Christ Reformed Baptist Church continue to be a beacon of light in a world that so desperately needs the unchanging, unshakable truth of God’s Word.

Let us pray.

Father, we thank You for the gift of Your Word, the lamp unto our feet and the light unto our path. We confess that we are often weak, that we are easily swayed, that we sometimes fail to treasure Your Word as we ought. Strengthen us, O Lord. Give us hearts that delight in Your law, minds that are renewed by Your truth, and lives that bear fruit in obedience to Your commands. May we stand firm, unwavering, in the face of opposition. And may we ever be found faithful, clinging to Christ, the Word made flesh, in whose name we pray. Amen.