Let's read 4 chapters today. That way, we'll finish off the section on "land grants." Yea!
Since pictures speak a thousand words, I'll let this picture do most of the talking today! It is a map depicting the areas of Israel where each of the 12 tribes (besides the Levites) were given land through the use of either force or "sacred lots."
What are these sacred lots? The Bible describes these as the "Urim and Thummin" - two beautiful stones on the breastplate of the high priest. If you remember Exodus 28:30, God told Moses to "Insert the Urim and Thummim into the sacred chestpiece so they will be carried over Aaron's heart when he goes into the Lord's presence. In this way, Aaron will always carry over his heart the objects used to determine the Lord's will for his people whenever he goes in before the Lord." According to the Talmud, a brilliant light would shine forth from these stones indicating an answer from the Lord, usually in a "yes" or "no" fashion. The Bible is not real clear on how these two stones were exactly used to determine God's will, but the fact remains that they were used quite often! They are actually referred to in Scripture as the "sacred lots." In Numbers 27:21, Moses writes, "When direction from the lord is needed, Joshua will stand before Eleazar the priest, who will use the Urim - one of the sacred lots cast before the Lord - to determine his will. This is how Joshua and th rest of the community of Israel will determine everything they should do." It seems obvious from the text, and from other texts as well, that these stones were removed from the breastplate of the high priest and "cast" or thrown down on a table or ground. From that, God would show His will. Don't you wish knowing God's will was as easy as that today?
Some time later, the Urim and Thummin seems to have disappeared. After the days of King David, prophecy was in ascendancy, and accordingly, we find no clear record of the use of the Urim and Thummim in the days of the later kings. However, in Acts 1:26, after the death of Jesus, His remaining 11 disciples "cast lots" over who would be the next disciple of Christ since Judas Iscariot went out and hanged himself. Could these be the Urim and Thummim? How could they have received them from the high priest? In reality, no one knows! However, it's intereting that Josephus, the famous Jewish historian, sets the date for the obsolescence of the Urim and Thummin at sometime near the time of Christ, or shortly thereafter.
I hope this was interesting and helpful. God bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment