I don’t do much with the volatile #exvangelical crowd anymore, but has anyone talked about the insanity that is the Urim and Thummim? Most Christians don’t even know they existed, and folks, that shit is sketchy as fuck. Hang in there with me, it’s nerdy but worth it.
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The High Priest wore the Ephod - the Ephod was woven out of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet threads, was made of fine linen, and was embroidered with skillful work in gold thread (Exodus 28:6-14), and he wore the Ephod on top of his high priestly garment.
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On top of the Ephod, the High Priest wore the Hoshen. Now we’re not sure what the Hoshen was made out of, but it was a square, and it hung around the neck of the High Priest by gold chains/chords.
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In the Hashen were 12 stones - each of a different mineral - each inscribed with the name of one of the 12 tribes of Israel.
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Now here’s where it starts to get weird, the Hoshen functioned as a sort of talisman - a good luck charm. It was supposed to represent the presence of YHWH and bestowed the High Priest the power of divination. This is also how the will of YHWH was conveyed to the people.
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The 12 stones were also called the Urim and Thummim (roughly translates as “lights and perfections” and called “revelation and truth”) and were used as straight up cleromancy - casting lots to discern the will of YHWH.
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So, what would happen is the High Priest would take these stones and rattle them around for a bit, and then throw them on the ground, and interpret what they said as the will of YHWH. If that sounds pagan to you it’s because IT’S EXACTLY THE SAME SHIT PAGANS DID.
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And here’s the kicker: according to the Talmud, the wearing of the Hoshen atoned for the sin of errors in judgement on the part of the Children of Israel.
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Meaning that the people could not question the will of YHWH as interpreted by the High Priest throwing these stones on the ground. It was indisputable. It was inerrant. It was absolute.
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The point is, that this is EXACTLY the kind of divination and cleromancy that we were taught was evil and from Satan if gypsies or pagans did it. But it was a cornerstone of the OT Israelite experience. In 38 years in evangelicalism, I never once heard it taught on.
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