What if God gave us all Holy Magic Eight Balls? – 1st Samuel 23 & 24, Part 1

What are the most difficult decisions you’ve ever had to make?  I’m talking about decisions where you had at least two options, maybe more, and you thought, “I have no idea what option to go with”?  Take a moment and think about those tough choices.

Did you ever wish that something like a magic 8-ball from God was available? 

In our ongoing series on the Life of David, David has some difficult decisions.  There are options.  While we’re going to learn which option he chooses, I want us to pay attention particularly to how he chooses.  Observe what goes into David’s decision-making process.

Turn to 1^st Samuel chapter 23. In chapters 21 and 22, we learned that David is on the run as a fugitive being hunted by his insane father-in-law King Saul.  David has become the leader of a group of 400 men who joined David because they were experiencing difficult situations like his.  Chapter 22 concluded with a horrible story in which King Saul commands the slaughter of priests, because one priest, Ahimelek, helped David.  85 priests, and their families and livestock were decimated in the purge.  It is awful.  The only bright spot in the story is that one of Ahimelek’s sons, Abiathar, who was also a priest, escapes and finds refuge with David.  Now look at verse 6 of chapter 23. Rather than start the chapter at verse 1, I’m with verse 6 because it will help us understand the previous five verses in the chapter.  

“Now Abiathar son of Ahimelek had brought the ephod down with him when he fled to David at Keilah.”

Ephod? What is the ephod?  Apparently, when Abiathar escaped the slaughter of his family in chapter 22, on his way, he grabbed the ephod.  The ephod is like an apron that was a standard part of the special garments the priests wore when they were serving the Lord.  For our story today, what is important about the Ephod is what is in the ephod’s pocket. 

In the book of Exodus, chapter 28, God explains in detail how to make the ephod and the pocket.  In Exodus, the pocket is called a breastpiece.  When I think of a breastpiece, I think of some kind of metal armor to guard the chest area.  So to avoid confusion, I’m calling the breastpiece a pocket, because it was actually a fancy cloth pocket with jewels on the front.  It was attached to the shoulders and waistband of the ephod, so it wouldn’t swing all over the place when the priest was ministering. 

The most important part of the ephod and pocket is what was inside the pocket.  The pocket held two stones, called the Urim and Thummim.  Some believe one stone was black and one was white.  Some say they had the names Urim and Thummim etched on them, or maybe just the first letters.  The word Urim begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the word Thummim begins with the last letter.  We can only speculate because the parts of the Mosaic Law that mention these two stones are vague in describing what they stones looked like.  What we do know is that the priests used the stones to ascertain God’s will.  This might sound odd or ancient, and it is, but I personally think it is also really cool, and I wish we could still use this method for discerning God’s will.

Here’s how it worked.  One was a “yes” stone, and the other was “no.”  You ask God a Yes or No question, then the priest reaches into the pocket, and he pulls out a stone.  Whichever stone he pulls out is the answer from God. 

Could you imagine if all Christians could have one of those?  It’s like a magic eight ball, except that God truly spoke his will through the selection of the stones.  Think about all those decisions that you have to make in life that are filled with anxiety and uncertainty.  Wouldn’t it be amazing to have your own personal Urim and Thummim?  “God, should I marry my boyfriend or girlfriend?”  Pull out a stone.  There’s your answer.  “God, should I put an offer in on this house for sale?”  Pull out a stone.  How many of you have wished or prayed, “God, I’m really struggling with this decision, and I want you to tell me what to do!”  And you feel anguish about not knowing what to do.  We sometimes think it would be so nice, so reassuring to have our own “God’s Will” device. 

Here’s the difference, though.  God didn’t tell Israel to make and use their own personal Urim and Thummims.  The high priest had the one and only Urim and Thummim set, and that’s it.  So was there a line out the door of the tabernacle every day as people from all over Israel came to ask God Yes or No questions?  You’d think there would be loads of people coming to the tabernacle to get answers about their questions in life.  But the Old Testament scriptures give no indication of that. 

Instead, the use of the Urim and Thummim is rarely mentioned in Scripture.  In Numbers 27, we read the story of God instructing Moses to commission Joshua as his successor in leading the nation.  In verse 21, God says that Joshua, the new leader of the people, will stand before the priest, and the priest will obtain decisions from the Lord for Joshua by using the Urim and Thummim.  What this likely indicates is that the use of the Urim and Thummim was primarily (maybe even only) intended for significant leadership decisions.

It just so happens that 1^st Samuel chapter 23 is one of those rare places where we see significant leadership decisions taking place.  When you read through 1^st Samuel 23, you will not see the words “Urim and Thummim.”  You will only hear about the ephod in verse 6, and about God giving David directions.  But we can know that it was through the use of the Urim and Thummim, which were located in the pocket of the ephod, that God gave his directions to David.

In the next post, we’ll go back to verses 1 through 5, observing not only what decisions David makes, but how he makes them, which will be very instructive for us as we make decisions.