The Urim and Thummim were later applied to Eleazar, the son of Aaron. After Aaron and Moses died, Joshua came into the position to lead the children of Israel. God, however, did not speak to him as He spoke to Moses. Instead, God asked Moses to tell Joshua that if he wanted to know God’s will or leading, he had to go to the priest (Num. 27:21). At that time, the high priest was Eleazar. Therefore, Joshua had to go to Eleazar to receive the revelation of God’s will by means of the Urim and the Thummim.
According to the appendix in David Baron’s book, it was through the Urim and Thummim that it was made known that Achan was the one whose sin had caused the defeat of the children of Israel at Ai. This is recorded in Joshua 7:16-21. Through the Urim and the Thummim the tribe, the family, and the individual were singled out.
After Eleazar, the Urim and the Thummim were applied to each of the high priests of Levi for Israel (Deut. 33:8-10; Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65). In Deuteronomy 33:8-10 we see what kind of person is qualified to obtain revelation through the Urim and the Thummim. This person must be not only holy but also godly. To be godly is to exhibit godliness, that is, to be one with God. A godly person is not only for God; he is also one with God. Someone who is merely holy may be for God, but someone who is godly is also one with God. Deuteronomy 33:8 and 9 say, “And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy godly one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant” (lit.). Verse 9 indicates that between these godly ones and God there was no separation. Not even the members of their families separated them from God. This is very similar to what the Lord Jesus says in the Gospels: “He who loves father or mother above Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter above Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37). The Lord Jesus also said, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Even in the Old Testament times Moses taught something the same in principle as what was taught by the Lord Jesus: not even our relationship with our family can be allowed to separate us from the Lord.
Deuteronomy 33:10 goes on to say, “They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.” According to this verse, those who are qualified to use the Urim and the Thummim are also those who offer the burnt offerings and burn incense. Both the burnt offering and the incense were a sweet-smelling savor to the Lord. In typology only two things gave such a pleasant fragrance to God. God smelled the fragrance from the burnt offering, and He especially delighted in the fragrance from the incense within the tabernacle. Both the burnt offering and the incense are types of Christ. Thus, the godly ones offer Christ to God as the burnt offering and as the sweet incense. To burn incense is to offer Christ to God as the fragrant incense. If we are truly one with God, we must offer the burnt offering and burn the incense so that He may enjoy their sweet fragrance.
Now we can see the qualifications of the priests, those who have the function to use the Urim and the Thummim for God to speak to His people. The priests were godly ones, they maintained a direct relationship with God, and they offered the burnt offering and the incense to God. This enabled them to use the Urim and the Thummim.
In the book of 1 Samuel we see that the situation among God’s people had become abnormal. Most of the priests were destroyed by King Saul, and Abiathar the priest fled to David. First Samuel 23:6 says, “And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Abimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.” No doubt the Urim and the Thummim were attached to the ephod. Verses 9 through 12 of 1 Samuel 23 indicate that Abiathar used the Urim and Thummim to reveal the Lord’s answers to David’s questions concerning Saul. After telling Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod, David said, “O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant” (vv. 10-11). The Lord, by means of the Urim and the Thummim, told David that Saul would come down and that the men of Keilah would deliver David into Saul’s hand. Therefore, David received answers to two practical questions through the Urim and the Thummim used by Abiathar the priest. David was given a clear answer through the heavenly typewriter of the Urim and the Thummim.