The second governing principle is the priesthood under the anointing with the Urim and the Thummim. What is the priesthood? This is a wonderful and glorious matter. The priesthood includes fellowship with the Lord and life and service in His presence. The priesthood is a group of people who are in constant fellowship with the Lord. They continually commune with the Lord and serve in His presence. They live, walk, and do everything in this way. When we have fellowship with the Lord, when we commune with the Lord day by day and moment by moment, and when in this living fellowship we live, we serve, and we act, we are a priesthood.
If we lose the priesthood, we lose one of the governing principles. This governing principle is not for guidance, but for judgment. The Lord’s presence in the pillars of cloud and fire is for guidance, while the priesthood in the anointing with the Urim and Thummim is for judgment.
Let us illustrate. Suppose two brothers are quarreling and fighting with one another. What shall we do? We are the Lord’s children, we are the Lord’s people, but something of such a nature exists among us. How can we solve the problem? How can we arrive at the proper judgment? Shall we call a meeting and decide the matter by vote? Of course not. All such problems can only be solved by the priesthood. They require a group of the Lord’s children who are always in fellowship with the Lord, who serve the Lord in His presence and who are continually before Him, no matter where they are or what they are doing. Such a group is under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and has the Urim and the Thummim. Thus, they can obtain the judgment, the decision of the Lord. They will be able to judge and decide any matter that may arise by the Urim and Thummim with the priesthood.
The priesthood includes three things: communion or fellowship with the Lord, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the Urim and Thummim. We can only speak briefly here concerning the last item, the Urim and the Thummim. Urim in Hebrew means “light,” while Thummim means “perfection, or completion.” About thirty years ago I read an article by a Hebrew writer, saying that the Thummim is a precious stone with four letters of the Hebrew alphabet carved upon it. Upon the breastplate of the high priests were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel carved upon twelve stones. The names of these twelve tribes contain only eighteen of the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Therefore, upon the breastplate of the high priest there was a shortage of four letters. However, these four letters were carved upon the Thummim, and when this stone was put into the breastplate, there was perfection, there was completion. There were then the full twenty-two letters. All the letters of the Hebrew alphabet were there. Then we are told that the Urim is a stone put into the breastplate to give light. Hence, we have the meaning of the Urim and Thummim: light and perfection.
How then were the Urim and the Thummim used? When some problem or question arose among the children of Israel, the high priest brought the matter to the Lord to get the answer by the help of the breastplate. The Hebrew writer in this article says that when the high priests went before the Lord, certain stones on the breastplate with their respective letters would shine and at other times other stones with their letters would shine. The high priest took down all the letters from the various stones as they shone, and in so doing formed words and then sentences. Eventually he received a complete message or judgment from the Lord. It was in this way, the article says, that Achan was apprehended from among all the children of Israel for his sin (Josh. 7).
Thus, what is the governing principle for the Lord’s people to solve their problems? It is that among them there should be the priesthood that brings all the Lord’s children upon the breast before the Lord. The priesthood must bring them in love into the Lord’s presence and read them there as letters. Thus, with the light of the Scriptures, the priesthood will learn the mind of the Lord and receive some word from Him regarding the situation of His children.
Now regarding the brothers who are quarreling with each other, we have the answer. We can tell them, “Brothers, be quiet for some time. We will go to the Lord.” We will then bring this problem to the Lord and read these brothers in His presence with the light of the Scriptures. This is the exercise of the priesthood with the breastplate of the Urim and the Thummim. By this we can get the letters, the words, and the message of the Lord regarding what decision must be made in this matter.
Do you know how the apostles wrote their Epistles? It was exactly in this way. The first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians is a good example. Paul was confronted with many problems in that church: problems of sectarianism, discipline, marriage, the doctrine of resurrection, etc. There were problems of almost every kind and description. What did he do? He brought all the problems and all the brothers and sisters in that church upon his heart to the Lord, and in the presence of the Lord he read them with the light of the Scriptures. Is this not true? As he read them there by the light of the Word, he realized the nature of the situation and the answer. He received a judgment, a decision from the Lord, and so he wrote the first Epistle to the Corinthians. Consider all the Epistles. All the books written by the apostles were done in such a way. It was not that they sat in their room reading, reasoning, and then writing. No. There was always some situation among the Lord’s children which demanded an answer, a word from the Lord. Then the apostles as priests fulfilling their priestly ministry brought all these problems with all the Lord’s children into God’s presence. They studied the problem in His presence, reading the believers one by one in the light of the Lord’s words. Thus, they received light; they got words, sentences, and thoughts from the Lord. Then they wrote the letters, telling the saints the Lord’s mind.
This is one of the governing principles. The first ruling principle is the presence of the Lord in the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, and the second is the priesthood under the anointing with these two peculiar things, the Urim and the Thummim.
Brothers and sisters, if you come to me telling of some problem you have with others, what should I do? I should exercise my spirit to bring you and the others to the Lord. With love I should put you and those other brothers or sisters on my heart, that is, upon my breast. I should bring all of you to the Lord and say, “Lord, here are some dear saints. Illuminate them. Give me Your light.” I should read you. I should read your minds and your emotions. I should read your thoughts, your motives, and your actions. I should read your problem and many things related to you in the light of the Word. After reading letter by letter, I will gradually get a word and then another word. Eventually I will receive a sentence and then a message. I will know something from the Lord. I will know what is the Lord’s mind toward you and His thought about you.
You who are leading brothers meet many kinds of problems in the church which give you opportunity to practice this priestly ministry. Sometimes a brother will come to you to share a problem he has with his father, who is also a brother in the Lord. He will ask you what he should do. The next day a sister may come to you telling of some trouble she has with her sister-in-law, who is also a sister in the church. What will you do? Will you tell them to go to court and see the judge? Of course, you cannot do that. The only way is just as we have shown. You must have a heart; you must have a breast; you must have love. Put them on your heart and bring them thus to the Lord. Exercise your spirit and read them before the Lord. Read the father first, and then read the son. Read their habits, their nationalities, their characters, their thoughts, their education—not by your way of thinking, but by the light of the Word. Read all these things. After reading, you will receive the sentences and the language, point by point. You will get a word from the Lord which will reveal to you His mind. Then you will be able to speak to the son and his father. Do the same with the sister and her sister-in-law. You will be able to say to them, “This is the Lord’s mind. Pray about it.” You have obtained the judgment and the decision from the Lord. This is the court for the Lord’s people. We do need such a court. We need a local representation of the heavenly supreme court. The court is the priesthood under the anointing of the Holy Spirit with the Urim and the Thummim.
It is not a small thing to have a group of the Lord’s children who are coordinated together to serve the Lord collectively. It is not so simple. Consider your own family. Do you not have some kind of family court to settle all your problems? What is our family court in the church? It is simply the priesthood, the fellowship with the Lord under the anointing of the Holy Spirit in reading all the brothers and sisters by the light of the Word. In this way we receive the judgment and make the decisions for all our affairs. All our problems and questions are solved in this way. It is not by arguing; it is not by consulting, reasoning, and arranging as a politician or an earthly judge. It is only by fellowship and anointing, reading in love the circumstances, natures, and daily lives of the believers with the light of the Lord’s Word.