49. OTHER MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD IN LIGHT

49. OTHER MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD IN LIGHT

In two other glorious manifestations of light, God revealed Himself in the Old Testament to Israel: namely, the Shekinah glory and that mysterious oracle called Urim ve Thummim.

The Shekinah

At Sinai when Moses had gone up into the Mount to receive the Law, the people departed from the will of God by creating for themselves a visual image to worship to which they attributed the miracle of their deliverance from Egypt. God was so displeased with their idolatrous act that He proposed to Moses that He should destroy them and make Moses and his seed the heirs of the promises. But Moses interceded for the people and begged forgiveness.  In granting this forgiveness, God gave them a visible manifestation of Himself to go with them. This was not a concrete image such as an idol could have; not the works of men's hands, but an image of light, the pillar of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. This manifestation was called the Shekinah and offered tangible proof of God's presence while providing physical guidance for the nation. But this presence was necessarily also a spiritual presence, for when Israel strayed from God morally, His visible presence would remove from their midst until they were again so oriented as to behold the revelation of His glory.

In the time of Christ the faithful in Israel had longed for the return of the Shekinah which had been missing since the days of the destruction of the first temple. The literal interpretation of Shekinah is "He dwells with us." When Christ became manifest in Light, the event represents the return of the Shekinah glory. The message to the faithful is: "Behold Him! The Shekinah glory," thereby reversing the curse of Ichabod which literally means "the glory is departed." Christ as Immanuel is “God-with-us”; the glory has returned.

Urim ve Thummim

The other visible manifestation of God's presence in the Light of wisdom and understanding was the oracle of Urim ve Thummim. Taken separately, the meaning of Urim is “Lights,” and the literal meaning of Thummim is “Perfection.” Taken together they mean “Revelation and Truth.” In the beginning God said: “Let there be Light” and in the last book of God’s revealed Word we find that Light brought to perfection, Revelation, perfection of God’s will, and the inevitable outcome of His Word of power. The most fitting title for this final Book of scripture is Tammim, (a variant form of Thummim), “perfection, completion, and fullness.” The Book itself declares that the Revelation is complete when it pronounces a curse upon anyone adding or taking from the words of the Book, (Revelation 22:19).

In the Old Testament we read that the Urim ve Thummim was given to the High Priest for the purpose of discerning the instruction of God in matters of utmost importance to the nation. This most holy oracle was received by means of a very specific and carefully worked out use of the ephod which was only to be handled by those specifically anointed as Priests of God and instructed in His purposes. We find the instructions for this oracle in Exodus 28:1-30 and the confirmation that these instructions were carried out in Leviticus 8:8.

As this use was so limited it seems probable that the details were not common knowledge but were passed from one generation to the other of the Priests. Although this information may have been considered secret at times, it was not necessarily forbidden, but rather merely specialized knowledge. It was simply irrelevant to the general community as it was neither their right nor duty to handle the ephod. This technical and specialized knowledge would have been incorporated into the Pattern of the Heavens which was given to Moses, (Exodus 25:9, 40), the Pattern for orientation in time and space. The benefits of this special guidance were very important to the community.

These things were for examples and patterns: Hebrews 8:5:

Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, “See,” saith he, “that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”

These things are again mentioned in Hebrews 9:23-24:

It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

The ephod was a part of the prescribed garments of the High Priest. It was the outermost garment worn somewhat as a vest. It consisted of a breastplate which contained twelve precious stones set according to specific directions. These twelve jewels were each engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The breastplate was held in place by shoulder pieces. These two shoulder pieces each contained an onyx stone engraved with the names of six of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The priest was also to wear a headpiece called the fair mitre, to which was attached a plate of pure gold with the engraving: "Holiness To The Lord." Below the ephod, on the hem, was to be hung "pomegranates of blue" and golden bells. In considering the total effect of these garments, one might imagine the lights reflected by such an arrangement. Aaron's garments were made as a copy of the image of the garments of God which is the starry heavens.

The jewels of the breastplate are named, but as these names are not equivalent to the names presently used to describe precious stones, it is not certain exactly which jewels are meant. From the description and names of these stones, however, it is certain that they were all either transparent or at least translucent. Without doubt they all reflected light in a very special way.

When used according to God's instructions, there were answers received by means of this ephod. These answers were called “Urim ve Thummim.” It has long been a matter of controversy as to the manner in which the Priest received these oracles. Philo suggested that there was a little image in between the folds of the ephod, which is probably why Philo has earned the reputation of being Greek in his thinking, for certainly no one in harmony with the spirit of the Old Testament could ever think that God could be manifest in some little image tucked into the folds of the priest's garment!

Others have suggested that the ephod was used as the base for a lottery upon which was cast something like a "sacred dice," the answer being revealed by the way in which the lot fell. This cannot be completely ruled out on Biblical grounds; however, it is not totally in keeping with the way God reveals Himself in other instances throughout the Bible.

On the basis of the other accounts of the manifestations of God in the Old Testament, we must believe that God's will by Urim ve Thummim was revealed when the precious stones of the breastplate were placed upon the mercy seat, or perhaps even upon the Priest's body in relation to the fair mitre upon his head, in such a way that the reflected light created a visible image, even as light from a prism creates a rainbow of colour. This could only happen when everything was in perfect alignment both literally and spiritually according to the Pattern shown to Moses on the Mount. The moral condition of the Priest as well as the people must be such as God could approve. Then and only then did that "glory" appear which was the answer of Urim ve Thummim, Lights and Revelations. So these manifestations of God were always manifestations of Light, either of physical, visible light or the inner light of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

The Book of Revelation is not so much a message as a manifestation, and that manifestation is the Light of God, the Urim ve Thummim for the direction of His people: "...a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of His people, Israel."