Among the priests was the high priest with his priestly garments. The most important part of these garments was the breastplate on the ephod (Exo. 28:15-30). On the breastplate were twelve precious stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (vv. 17-21). I read an article years ago concerning the Urim and the Thummim written by a Hebrew scholar. According to this article, the twelve names of the twelve tribes of Israel were composed of eighteen of the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The remaining four letters were put on a piece called the Thummim. The word Thummim indicates perfection or completion. Thus, on the breastplate with the additional piece called the Thummim, all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet could be found.

Furthermore, according to this article, the Urim, which means light, was an illuminator inserted into the breastplate underneath the twelve stones. Normally the twelve stones of the breastplate were under the shining of the Urim. When the priest went into God’s presence with the breastplate, suddenly a stone inscribed with a certain name became dark. This darkening of a particular stone was God’s instant speaking. It was in this way that letter by letter, the high priest was able to spell out a word, then a sentence, and then a paragraph, until the full judgment of God was determined. It was necessary to have the complete Hebrew alphabet of twenty-two letters so that any word could be made.

The writer of this article said that it was through the Urim and the Thummim that the sin of Achan was discovered in Joshua 7. By the Urim and the Thummim, they knew that the one who sinned belonged to the tribe of Judah. Eventually the family and the person were found out (vv. 16-18). The breastplate of the high priest is called the breastplate of judgment in Exodus (28:30) because it speaks for God instantly. Whenever there was a problem that could not be decided or resolved by the written law, the high priest brought the breastplate into the presence of God to wait on God and to read the letters. Then he received the speaking of God. This was the way to receive God’s instant revelation concerning His administration. Furthermore, this is why some scholars have called this divine administration in the Old Testament a theocracy.

After the high priest received the instant speaking from God, he did not directly execute or carry out what God spoke. Instead he passed on the word he had received to the elders, and the elders became the direct administrators among God’s people. Joshua could be considered as the leading elder among God’s people at his time. The high priest accompanying Joshua was Eleazar, a descendant of Aaron. God asked Moses to tell Joshua that if he wanted to know God’s will or leading, he had to go to Eleazar the priest, who would “ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord” (Num. 27:21). These two persons went on in God’s move together. One bore the responsibility to go into God’s presence to receive God’s instant speaking, and the other received the divine speaking to administrate among God’s people. In principle, the administration of God was always carried out by the elders according to the divine speaking received through the Urim and the Thummim. When the priests became weak, such as at the time of Eli (1 Sam. 1:12; 3:12-14), the prophets were raised up to strengthen God’s speaking (3:20-21). God’s instant speaking through the priests was by the Urim and the Thummim, but God’s instant speaking through the prophets was by the Spirit of God coming upon certain persons to enable them to speak God’s word.

Later in the Old Testament, the children of Israel followed the worldly way to have a king. That offended God (1 Sam. 8:4-7). Their desire for a king displeased God because they wanted a man to reign over them rather than God. God allowed them to have a king, but they suffered as a result (vv. 10-18). Following this king, Saul, God established a man as king who was according to His heart, a man named David (Acts 13:21-22). Even with David there was still the need of the ephod (1 Sam. 23:9-12; 30:7-8; 2 Sam. 6:14; 1 Chron. 15:27).

When the kingship became weak, the prophets were raised up. When David sinned, Nathan came to rebuke him and to help him in God’s administration (2 Sam. 12:1-25). All of the prophets from the time of David through the time of Malachi (Mal. 1:1) were people used by God to speak His instant word to His people in order to help the administrators, the kings, carry out God’s administration among His people.

Whatever happened in the Old Testament was a type of the New Testament government. If we are going to understand God’s administration in His move in the New Testament today, we have to go back to the Old Testament to receive the full understanding of the practice of God’s administration. God’s administration is a direct ruling and governing by God Himself. This direct divine ruling is a theocracy. We must see the principle of God’s divine government among His people. His government is by His instant speaking plus the constant written word. The instant speaking was either through the priests or the prophets, but neither the priests or the prophets were the direct administrators. The direct administrators were either the elders, the judges, or the kings.
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