Can someone use normal stones, writing 'yes' or 'no' on it, to pray and ask God for an answer on a subject? Is this biblical?
EX. 28:29 “Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.
EX. 28:30 “You shall put in the breastpiece of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually.
EX. 28:31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
EX. 28:32 “There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn.
In the opening of chapter 28, Aaron and his sons are identified as the family who will carry the burden of the priesthood throughout all the generations of Israel. The garments described, worn by Aaron, the first High Priest, were specifically intended to mark them for duty.
We’ll examine each item briefly. First, the ephod and breast plate were one piece covering the torso of the priest. The ephod was the gold woven front piece worn over the shoulders and on top of each shoulder and the ephod held onyx stones. Each stone was engraved with the names of the sons of Israel, 6 on one stone and 6 on the second. Attached to the ephod and adorning the breast plate were 12 jewels representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Behind the breastplate was a pouch containing 2 stones called the Urim and Thummin. These stones were given to Israel to discern God’s will on questions they brought before the Lord. The word Urim means “lights” or “illumination” and the word Thummim means perfection or completion.
The LXX (Septuagint) translates them “Revelation” and “Truth,” while together they represent complete illumination for the Priesthood. This method of discerning God’s will was less efficient than sending a prophet to speak to the people, however, it served to give Israel divine direction in the face of difficult questions. These stones were not special except that God had designated them to be so. The Urim and Thummim stones remained in the possession of the priests until the Babylonian invasion and destruction of Jerusalem.
These stones were required for work in the service of the tabernacle but never were intended to be adopted by believers thereafter. For more information on Urim and Thummim we suggest doing our Exodus Teaching.
