“These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. The governor, therefore, ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there should be a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.”
Nehemiah 7:64-65
Last time we looked more deeply at two priest descendants, remembering the freeing way Yah has hidden us. Today we see a group of returned exiles who could not find family records to prove they were of priestly lineage.
The Hebrew word used for these men looking for evidence they could minister in Temple is baqash – to seek, pursue, request. And family records is kethab – script, text, writing, register.
Does any of that stir something in you? Have you ever longed to belong and earnestly pursued a place at the table? Ever wondered where your records are to prove you fit in with others?
It stirs something in me. I think we all know what it’s like to feel left out or forsaken. Or vulnerable to the eyes of others and coming up short. It gets even rougher when we see this particular group of returning exiles never found what they desired. Found here is matsa – attain, possess. Those family records of priestly descendants did not exist for them. They could not prove to be of a legitimate line of Aaron, and were therefore excluded (min) from the priesthood as unclean (gaal – defiled, stained).
There’s more to this because God’s Word is inexplicably brilliant. But let’s keep pushing forward and see how this turns out. The next verse outlines how the Persian governor (tirshatha) ordered this group of men not to eat the sacred bread until there stood (amad – to take one’s stand, abide, arise) a priest ministering with the Urim (a section of the high priest’s breastplate) and Thummin (emblem on the breastplate standing for complete Truth).
If you’re like me, you may have heard of Urim and Thummin but have no idea what they mean. When God was originally giving instructions to Moses on how to adorn his brother as high priest, he specified a particular breastplate:
“Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions…
There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes…”
Exodus 28:15, 21
Did you catch what the breastplate was for? Making decisions. So interesting, right? I love that the breastplate contained precious stones and names to represent the 12 tribes. Because if you are the one in charge of making decisions for a nation while ministering in the Holy Place, it would be wise to keep in mind the people those decisions affect.
Continuing on:
“Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the Lord. Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.”
Exodus 28:29-30
As seen in the text below, scholars are not sure precisely what the Urim and Thummim were. Only that God used them to impart direction to the high priest. In the Hebrew, Thummim is the plural of tom – integrity, innocence, simplicity. Whatever these items were exactly, they represented wisdom and capital-t Truth, and were never seen after the Babylonian king, King Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the temple and carried away the sacred things.
“For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods.”
Hosea 3:4
The price for idolatry was high. But He comes to us like rain.
And now for all the beauty:
If you have ever felt your family records were missing, my friend, no fear. You are welcomed in the family of God. You have a new identity, a new name, and a new family:
“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”
Romans 12:4-5 NLT
And remember the Hebrew word gaal, meaning unclean or defiled? It comes from a remarkably similar word, gaal, which means “to act as kinsmen, to redeem, buy back, rescue, avenge.”
We all stand before a Perfect Creator defiled and stained, no matter what our family papers say. But because of the cross we get new papers with a different verdict: not guilty and beloved. He bought us back from slavery, rescued us from our lost state, and redeemed every single thing the enemy tried to steal.
And remember how Thummim was the plural of the Hebrew word tom, meaning innocence? This word comes from tamam – to complete or finish, destroyed.
When our Savior breathed His last, He was the essence of Thummin, tom, and tamam. Perfectly Just, Truth walking around on planet earth. Simplistic and innocent, only making decisions as He listened to His Father. And Priest Whose perfect sacrifice ended the need for all other sacrifices. Now it is complete.
“If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?”
Hebrews 7:11
He has come, friends. Our perfect High Priest, Mediator of God and Man, Destroyer of Darkness. He is Urim and Thummim, and we are on His very heart.