Urim and Thummin

# 193 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 14:36-38, “Now Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light; and let us not leave a man of them." And they said, "Do whatever seems good to you." Then the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here." 37 So Saul asked counsel of God, "Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You deliver them into the hand of Israel?" But He did not answer him that day. 38 And Saul said, "Come over here, all you chiefs of the people, and know and see what this sin was today. (1Sa 14:36-38), Saul calls for his weary men to attack the Philistines at night, but the priest intervenes and says, “don't you think it might be a good idea to check with God about this?” And so the Urim and Thummin were brought out again. These two stones were carried in the breastplate of the ephod worn by the priest and were used to get answers to specific yes or no questions. They could also be used to determine innocence or guilt. The procedure was fairly simple. The questions were prayerfully asked, the priest then reached into the ephod and pulled out one of the stones. These stones must've been exactly the same size and weight or the priest could manufacture his own answer. It's puzzling to me, that it would be possible to get “no answer” as they did here. It was “yes” or “no” “guilty” or “innocent,” there was no third stone used for “wait.” It's puzzling until you realize that the word “Thummin” comes from a Hebrew word for “innocence,” Therefore if it was drawn out innocence was declared. If Urim were drawn guilt was declared. I would imagine that innocence was a green light, guilty was not. I'm guessing that the Urim (guilty) was drawn here, because Saul immediately inquires about what sin was committed in Israel this day. There would be no “yes” or “no” from God until the sin was dealt with. Confession of sin and repentance is vital to the Christian because the presence of sin hinders our fellowship with God and consequently our prayer life. We'll talk about that truth next time.