GAMBLING WITH SOULS: URIM AND THUMMIM

KEY VERSES: These were they (a list followed of people and priests) which went up also from Telmelah, Telharesha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel (Neh 7:61)… These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found: therefore, were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood. And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim. (Neh 7:64-65)

  The wall around Jerusalem had been rebuilt. Symbolically, the “hedge” had been restored around the middle of the Garden Paradise where there was safety from their adversaries - the mixture races paying homage to the King of Persia. They feared Nehemiah and the Jews because they saw them gaining power. The prophets spoke of a King for Israel, and the governors perceived that he would be a rebellious king from whom they would lose their power. Therefore, Nehemiah’s adversaries sought to kill him, and tear down the newly restored walls around Jerusalem. They never understood two things: (1) That the walls were for preservation of the remnant of Jews whose line was promised by God to have a Messiah, and (2) that the Messiah would be King of the Jews (aka Jesus) centuries later.
  Thinking they were preventing Nehemiah from obtaining kingship, their device was alternately to keep Jesus from reigning in the World. They sought to destroy the Kingdom of God in earth! Jesus said to pray as this, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (Mat 6:9-10).
  The governors saw Nehemiah as the “king” who would do God’s will in Jerusalem, as it is done in heaven, not as it was done in Persia! Think of Jerusalem as the midst of the Garden Paradise wherein God (the Tree of Life) stood. Nehemiah was creating another Heaven on Earth. The Persian governors were agents of the Serpent, so to speak, who sought to enter into “Paradise” by force. Hence, the Jews who guarded the gates of Jerusalem were symbolic of cherubim, the same guardians of the gate to the Garden of Eden.
  From the key verses, it is seen that groups of people sought safe haven within the walls of Paradise. Most of the Jews were allowed to enter based on genealogy. They had to prove their descent from Jacob (aka Israel). Their credentials were as heirs to the Abrahamic Covenant. They identified themselves as God’s chosen people, and because they had been brought safely by God to the gates of Jerusalem, they were considered worthy.
  On the other hand, those from outlying provinces were brought by God as well, but they were without genealogy. They were “peculiar” from the chosen people, and some may have been Gentiles. Jews were peculiar and chosen (Deut 14:2). They were chosen by genealogy and peculiar by behavior. Those who were allowed to enter without reservation were God’s people who did God’s Will. The remainder (see key verses) were from afar; neither were they known to be of the promise nor was their true allegiance to God known. Perhaps they were Gentiles! The list of them included even the priests whose doctrine would be tested by God by the Urim and Thummim. The Urim and Thummim are generally taken to mean, “Light and Perfection,” respectively, and were worn on the breastplate of the High Priests to discover God’s Will, or in effect, What is truth, and who is perfect?
  God makes the imperfect perfect for those who depend on Him for their well-being. The Thummim was to determine which of the “peculiar” people were willing to follow God’s precepts. The Urim was to determine genealogy from God. Who among them were truly “sons of God?” Those known to be Jews were allowed into “Paradise” by genealogy, but those without genealogy from Israel, were to be allowed in by their lineage from God. The Urim and Thummim were the early way of discovering who God will protect from perishing. They would decide who, other than the Jews, were worthy of protection. Those peoples of the key verses represent Gentile Christians.
  Timothy told the Christians at Ephesus in apostolic times this:

I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned… (1 Tim 1:3b-5).

  The Church was to give no heed to endless genealogies. In Nehemiah’s time, God promised the Jews safety, but he allowed them in without genealogies. Like the Gentiles at Ephesus, so were the people of Telmelah, Telharesha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer. They may have not been Jewish at all, but Gentiles who shared the same “Spirit” as the Jews. Christians are not peculiar by heritage, nor chosen to be kept safe, but those who are charitable “out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned.” In Nehemiah’s time, God determined who would be allowed into “paradise” by Urim and Thummim, and it is God who will determine the “pure in heart” to delegate the heavenly Paradise.
  Jews could have been allowed into the walls by checking the males who were circumcised. However, books were used which revealed genealogies. God could have checked the foreskin of the others to see who were Jewish, but instead used Urim and Thummim to check their hearts for circumcision.
  God judged the Jews based on the Promise to Abraham, and He will honor that until the end for faithful Jews; not those with only circumcised foreskins, but those willing to have their heads “circumcised’ …” them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus” (Rev 20:4). For Christians, God will only check for circumcised hearts and snatch them up to Paradise before the “governors” of the apocalypse come to behead them!
 Who of the Christians will be snatched up to Paradise? God will again use the Urim and Thummim process:

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Mat 7:22-23), and His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Mat 25:21)

  The Urim and Thummin were the Old Testament way of revealing God’s judgement. The Chief Priest cast lots to see who got through the gate and who did not. God does deal in human affairs and is a personal God. For each person, God decided the outcome of the lot. It was not gambling because it merely revealed God’s judgment. Lots were cast for Jesus’s clothing… the clothing of a dead man, but God still determined Jesus’s lot. He had to died, and the die was cast back before the foundation of the world.
  You can see from the verses from Matthew above, that people cast their own lots for inside or outside Paradise. As royal priests, Christians decide their own fate by how they live and what they believe; whether their hearts are circumcised or not, regardless of genealogy. The sinners decide their own fate by casting their lot with their “father” the Devil, and the Great Serpent decides their fate. What shall it be? I never knew you, or well done, my faithful servant. Wise people cast their lot with the latter, and are grateful for Jesus’s handing out the “lots” for all to cast!

Urim & Thummim (0n "vest" credit: crustalinkscom)