Excerpt from Probability in Ancient Times; or, Shall I Go Down after the Philistines?
by Janet S. Milton
from the
Mathematics Teacher
March 1989
In Old Testament times, the three main
channels of God's revelation were the
sages, the priests, and the prophets. The
priests had various duties, but their primary
function until after the death of King
Solomon was that of divining the will of
God by the use of "Urim and Thummim."
Scholars think that these words refer to objects,
perhaps stones, used by the high
priest to ascertain the will of God in any
important matter affecting the nation. One
theory is that the stones were used to cast
lots, with the manner of their falling somehow
revealing the Lord's will.
Biblical scholar Horace R. Weaver
gives this general description of the
manner in which Urim and Thummim were
used. The sacred container used for divining
Urim and Thummim was a small box.
"Yes-no" type questions were brought to
the priest. He would place six stones, three
white and three black, in the sacred container.
The black stones might represent
"no" and the white, "yes." The stones were
mixed and three drawn at random. If all
three were white then God's answer to the
question was "yes"; three blacks implied a
"no" answer; and a mix indicated that God
gave no response that day.
For example, in 1 Samuel 14:37 Saul
asks, " Shall I go down after the Philistines?
Wilt thou deliver them into the
hand of Israel?" The King James version of
the Old Testament states, "He answered
him not that day" : the stones, when drawn,
were mixed in color. Other references to
this sort of decision making are found in
Exodus 28:90, where it states "and thou
shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the
Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be
upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in
before the Lord: and Aaron shall bear the
judgment of the children of Israel upon his
heart before the Lord continually"; in
Leviticus 8:8, we read, "and he put the
breastplate upon him: also he put in the
breastplate the Urim and Thummim."
This method of divining the will of God
became obsolete by 850 B.C.
Here are nine other verses that reference the Urim and Thummim:
Numbers 27:21
Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in, both he and
the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”
Deuteronomy 33:8
Of Levi he said,
“Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man,
Whom You proved at Massah,
With whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;
1 Samuel 23:9
Now David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
1 Samuel 28:6
When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.
1 Samuel 30:7
Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
Ezra 2:63
The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim.
Nehemiah 7:65
The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest arose with Urim and Thummim.
Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/The-Urim-And-Thummim