When reading the Bible you may have come across these two words and wondered just what they were. I know that I was and let me tell you there are a lot of little things like these in the Bible that will send me down a rabbit hole. Luckily for you I will share where that takes me.
The Urim and Thummim are mentioned in several books in the Old Testament and are honestly like a magic eight ball. That is the best modern description I could find for you. It seems weird but that is essentially what they were.
Urim means lights and Thummim means perfections both were gemstones that the high priest of Israel carried on the ephod. The ephod is that apron that you may remember from your Sunday School days that the priest wore as you can see in the image above. The breastplate had a pocket and that is where the Urim and the Thummim were placed. Now, the Bible doesn’t actually tell us what they looked like, what they were, or how they functioned.
Most scholar believe they were two stones one being light (meaning yes) and the other a dark one (meaning no). They would have been used liked casting lots. For example (and this is just an example) the light stone may have had the word for YES written on it while the darker one had the word for NO. Then the stones were tossed or cast and whichever word was facing upward was the answer.
I have no idea what was done if both had the word facing upwards. Casting lots was a lot like tossing a coin. You get heads or tails and there you go. It is all left to chance or God. The Israelites believed God controlled how the stones ended up.
They are certainly two items that are mentioned several times but then no more information. It could be that God simply didn’t want anyone other than the priests to know how they worked. There could be a million different reasons for why we don’t know what they were or how they worked.
References to the Urim and Thummim in the Bible:
- Exodus 28:30 & Leviticus 8:8: The description of the breastplate of judgment.
- Numbers 27:21: Joshua was to receive answers from God by means of the Urim through Eleazar the high priest after he succeeded Moses.
- Deuteronomy 33:8: Mentioned in Moses’ dying blessing upon Levi.
- Joshua 7:14-18; 1 Samuel 14:37-45; and 2 Samuel 21:1: Other Scriptures that likely also speak of the Urim and Thummim.
For those in the Old Testament the Urim and Thummim seemed to have played an important part in their lives. Especially in those early years in the wilderness and after they came out. I’m going to be honest and say I am not sure if I could have been so trusting with a couple of stones or jewels. It just goes to show how much faith they actually had in God and his promise.
