Troublesome Topic: THE URIM AND THUMMIM IN THE BOOK OF HEBREWS

If speaking in tongues is the New Testament equivalent to the High Priest’s use of the Urim and the Thummim of the Old Testament, wouldn’t we expect to see at least one reference to this replacement in the book of Hebrews, whose purpose was to guide the Hebrew Christians in the transition from Old Testament Judaism to Jesus as the Messiah?

Yes, we would.

Do we find anything in the book of Hebrews that points that direction?  Yes, we do.

Allow me to remind you that the use of the Urim and Thummim by the High Priest started with someone bringing him a burning question, then the Urim was used so the “light” of God could “illuminate” the issue, then the Thummim was used to bring the issue to “completion or fulfillment” by indicating the “practical truth” about what the person should do about the problem.

Below is a list of the most obvious connections to the Urim and Thummim in the book of Hebrews.

Heb 6:19-20  Jesus entered behind the curtain – certain things have been hidden and not revealed to us yet, but Jesus has made them clear.

In 8:5  there is the copy / shadow, and then there is the reality.

In this verse the word “complete” is used, possibly pointing to the Thummim. It does not refer to “Moses being about to build the tabernacle,” as it is sometimes translated, but rather “Moses, being about to complete the tabernacle.” The word that is used means “to complete.”  

In Hebrews 9 we see there were veils in the tabernacle to keep certain things covered, unknown.

In these two verses we see a veiled reference to the Hebrew words Urim and Thummim. Urim means “light, flame and clarity,” and Thummim means “completeness, perfection, integrity, finished.” Thummim is rendered in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) with a word meaning “moral truth, reality, certainty, truth appertaining to God and the duties of man, a mode of life in harmony with divine truth, or integrity of character.”

The Greek word in Hebrews 9:8, which I render “making clear,” is equivalent of the Old Testament word for Urim (just in a different form), and the Greek word in verse 9 which I render “make fully complete,” is almost identical in meaning to the Hebrew word Thummim.

Therefore, although this passage does not intend to directly address the act of speaking in tongues, it does refer to the process that God has used down through history for addressing a burning question; He illuminates it with His light/flame and makes it clear, then He brings us to a point of completion as we learn to obey that truth and live in harmony with it, thus developing the type of character He desires.

In Heb 9:11 we see that Jesus offered a more perfect, more complete tabernacle, another reference to the Hebrew word Thummim.

Heb 9:24 uses the word “true ones” which is similar to the Greek word used for Thummim used in the LXX but there seems to be no reference to Urim nearby.

Heb 9:26 includes a hint at both the Urim and the Thummim. It uses a Greek word for “completion” and then a Greek word for “revealed.” The order has been switched but the two concepts are used close together. Both of these concepts are common in Scripture, so we are not surprised to see them used close to each other. But it does serve to indicate how common the concepts involved in tongues were.

Heb 9:27 mentions judgement, which is one of the meanings of the Ephod, or “pouch of decision.” Of course, judgement is a also common theme throughout Scripture.

10:1  refers to the Law as a shadow. This points to the common Biblical theme of something not fully revealed until a later time; this is the Biblical concept of a mystery. The last word in this verse means “to make complete.” This verse shows two of the three steps involved in the Urim and Thummim, something that is not yet revealed (the burning question), but which later is brought to completion (Thummim). In order for this to happen the hidden must be illuminated and reveals (Urim), but in this verse that middle step is assumed, not stated.

10:26 uses the word truth

Vs 27 uses the word “judgment” which relates to the ephod which in Hebrew is “the Pouch of decision, judgment, sentence, or the last word, the word of authority.”

Vs 27 also speaks o the fire that is about to consume God’s adversaries.  – But I don’t think this is intended as a reference to the flame and light of the Urim.

10:32 uses the word “having been enlightened”

11:1 we can have assurance of things unseen because the important things will be revealed in their time.

11:7 Noah was divinely instructed concerning things not yet seen and, moved with fear, he acted, he prepared the ark.

11:40 uses the word “made complete”

12:2 speaks of the “completer/perfector” of our fauth

12:23 uses “the judge” and “having been perfected”

12:27 uses a different form of Greek word used to translate Urim in the Septuagint (LXX)

12:29  calls God a consuming fire

13:4  God will judge