Funny you should bring that up, Yada. I'm just now working on the apparel worn by the High Priest in Volume II of The Owner's Manual. And part of that is the discussion about the Urim and Thummim, described in Exodus 28---used to determine "by lot" what the will of Yahweh was. Here's what I wrote about that (in chapter 5, coming soon to an Internet site near you...)

(739) Provide for the Urim and Thummim. “And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before Yahweh. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before Yahweh continually.” (Exodus 28:30) The breast-piece, you’ll recall, was a doubled-over piece of cloth, with the “pocket” opening at the top. These two mysterious objects, the Urim and Thummim, were to be placed within that pocket. They were used exclusively by the High Priest to discern the will of Yahweh in matters of national importance, though the actual method or means he used has been lost to history (probably a good thing). These weren’t “divination” devices, like reading tea leaves or throwing dice. Such practices, in fact, were strictly forbidden. Rather, the idea and goal was to elicit guidance from Yahweh in the absence of a Torah precept covering the question or a prophet like Samuel or Elijah with which to consult. Neither chance nor occult knowledge was in view. It seems the Urim and Thummim were most often used to elicit a “yes or no” answer from Yahweh (e.g. I Samuel 23:9-12). But unlike “flipping a coin,” the question could entail more than a simple binary decision (as in Judges 1:1). And the answer might even be, “I’m not going to give you an answer,” (as in I Samuel 28:6).

Both of these words are plural forms. Urim is based on ur, a verb meaning “to be light, to shine; to give light, cause to shine; or to illumine.” Literally, then, urim means “lights” or “illumination.” Thummim (or Tumim) is derived from the verb tamam: to be complete, as in the related words tom (integrity or uprightness) and tam (perfect). Thus thummim, the plural of tom, literally means “perfections.” It speaks of truth that is arrived at honestly, in a natural, non-calculating way, with a clear conscience and pure motives. The use of the word to describe the random, un-aimed arrow shot that killed Ahab almost by accident (I Kings 22) gives us a clearer picture of the underlying tone of tom and thummim.

We needn’t get hung up on how the High Priest used the Urim and Thummim to discern the will of Yahweh. I realize that Josephus reported that the twelve stones of the ephod would shine when the Israelites were to be victorious in battle (Antiquities, 3.8, 9) and that the Talmudic rabbis suggested that the Shekinah would illumine letters within the engraved names of these stones to spell out secret messages (never mind the fact that they were five letters short of an alphabet using that method). These fanciful extrapolations on history and scripture ignore the fact that we never hear of the Urim and Thummim being used after the reign of David. Ezra and Nehemiah both mention their need, but not their use, at the time of the return of Judah’s exiles from Babylon. It’s quite possible that there was no physical property associated with them at all, but that their use in faith gave the High Priest prophetic insight into the question at hand.

We, rather, should consider what the Urim and Thummim mean as metaphors in Yahweh’s plan for our lives. Because they are the exclusive province of our High Priest, Yahshua, we are blessed with the counsel they provide, for His Spirit dwells within us today. We need only to ask for guidance. We would be fools not to avail ourselves of this priceless resource: lights and perfections—illumination and truth.

kp