URIM AND THUMMIM 321
" Which man has sinned ? " he looked upon the stones and saw letter after letter taken, of which, when he put them together in the same order in which they were taken, he made the name HIT (Zabdi). He then communicated this name unto the public, and when they brought the household of Zabdi man by man, Achan was taken. When he was examined by Joshua he confessed his crime, in consequence of which he and all those who were involved in his crime were put to death as the Lord had commanded.
Such wonderful services this holy breastplate, and the Urim and Thummim, rendered unto Israel all the time of Joshua. By it the land of Canaan was divided (Josh, xviii. 6-10). By it Israel was directed in battle. By it every difficulty was removed, and every great and hard matter of controversy in judgment was decided. After the death of Joshua Israel asked the Lord which tribe should go first to fight against the Canaanitcs. The Lord's answer by this oracle was quite brief. " Jehudah yaleh " (" Judah shall go ") (Judges i. 1-12). When Israel asked again who should go first to fight against Benjamin, the answer was, " Judah first " (Judges xx. 1 8). That this was done by the oracle is evident from the ninth verse of the same chapter, where Israel says, " We will go up by lot against it." Compare this with verse 18, " And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God " (or to Bethel, where the tabernacle stood at that time, as verse 27 shows), "and asked counsel of God." Compare this with Numb, xxvii. 21, "Who shall ask counsel for him, after the judgment of the Urim, before the Lord." In every passage in the^Old Testa- ment scriptures where it is said that Israel or any person asked the Lord, and He answered, reference is made to the oracle Urim and Thummim, except in the lifetime of Moses, with whom the Lord spake face to face. King Saul, in his victorious war against the Philistines, asked the Lord if he should pursue his enemies the second day, but received no answer, because Jonathan his son had ignorantly transgressed against his father's oath in eating of the honey. Then Saul brought the people before the oracle, and said unto them, " Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan, my son, on the other." He then said, " Lord God of Israel, give a perfect lot." So Jonathan and Saul were taken. Again the priest asked between Saul and Jonathan, and Jonathan alone was taken. Jonathan then confessed his guilt, and his readiness to die for it ; but Israel prevailed with his father to spare his life (i Sam. xiv. 18-20, 26-46). In Saul's last and unfortunate battle the Lord would not answer him by the Urim
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