Who here knows what the Urim & the Thummin are in the Bible?

Question

HINT: They are 2 stones with Hebrew writing on them.

(Exodus 28:30)
The Urim & the Thummin were ordained tools used by God's people for "Divination" in the Bible...(similiar to what the soothsayers of that day used)

They were the 'Lots' that were cast to 'divine' an answer from God. (like runes pendulums or the tarot) (Num 27:21 & Pro 16:33)

Questions: So, in your opinion is divination wrong? Was it of God or of something evil?

Answer 1

See Rabbi Telushkin's wonderful book, "Biblical Literacy" where he discusses each of the 613 Torah Commandments (including these two stones).

Providing the High Priest of the Temple (and the Hebrew King) with oracular tools was apparently okay in the eyes of G-d, provided it was done correctly and the questions put to the illuminated stones were proper.

Divination is one of the oldest forms of seeking guidance. . .from the time of antiquity. . .I cannot say that it is evil. . .but that it must be done properly. . .and most of us do not know how!

Answer 2

Urim and thummim were two stones.
The stones were used as the determiner
in matters where a decision was needed.
Pick the right one and it meant life,
the wrong one could mean death.
The same applied to right or wrong.
Guilty or Not guilty, Go left,Go right
Used to decide between two different
circumstances, consequences or courses of action.
Urim-Fire wrong
Thummim - Correct ,perfection,.positive yes
Stones, even to now play a role in almost all Faiths.
It all sort of sounds like voodoo stuff to me.

The below was found on the internet.

Some of the earlier Old-Testament passages are more instructive. Among these may be mentioned 1 Kings, xiv, 41-2. After the battle with the Philistines during which Jonathan had unwittingly violated the rash oath of his father, Saul, by tasting a little wild honey, the latter consulted the Lord but received no answer. Desiring to ascertain the cause of the Divine displeasure, Saul calls together the people in order that the culprit may be revealed and thus addresses the Lord: "O Lord God of Israel, give a sign, by which we may know, what the meaning is, that thou answerest not thy servant today. If this iniquity be in me, or in my son, Johathan, give a proof (Vulgate da ostensionem = Urim): or if this iniquity be in they people, give holiness (Vulgate da sanctitatem = Thummim). And Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people escaped. And Saul said: Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken." The above rendering of the Vulgate is confirmed by the Greek recension of Lucian (see ed. Lagarde), and by the evidently corrupt Massoretic thamim at the end of verse 41. From this and various other passages which it would be too long to discuss here (v.g. Deut. Xxxiii, 8, Heb., I Kings, xiv, 36, I Kings, xxiii, 6-12 etc.) we gather that the Urim and Thummim were a species of sacred oracle manipulated by the priest in consulting the Divine will, and that they were at times used as a kind of Divine ordeal to discover the guilt or innocence of suspected persons. The lots being two in number, only one question was put at a time, and that in a way admitting of only two alternative answers (see I Kings, xiv, 41-42; ibid., xxiii, 6-12).

Answer 3

Swedenborg goes over it somewhere.

Swedenborg states "a perception of the sphere of falsity from evil that flows forth from hell has often been granted me. It was like a perpetual effort to destroy all that is good and true, combined with anger and a kind of fury at not being able to do so, especially an effort to annihilate and destroy the Divine of the Lord, and this because all good and truth are from Him. But out of heaven a sphere of truth and good was perceived, whereby the fury of the effort ascending from hell was restrained. The result of this was an equilibrium. This sphere from heaven was perceived to come from the Lord alone, although it appeared to come from the angels in heaven. It is from the Lord alone, and not from the angels, because every angel in heaven acknowledges that nothing of good and truth is from himself, but all is from the Lord" (Heaven and Hell n. 538).

Answer 4

Very much in the nature of the person performong the rite . It was taught to me that people that had no knowledge of our Trinity would be judged according to how they lived their lives.
Rose P.

Answer 5

looked like your quesiton said Uma Thurman is in the bible.

Answer 6

Nah, I don't particularly like Uma Thurman :)