Episode Transcript
[00:00:18] Speaker A: Some creative interpretations with you. All right, so first, I have to ask this question. Who knows what this is? The bat phone. You got it, man.
You got it. The bat phone. I want you to notice it. It's under glass. There's no dial or keys or numbers. We have one singular button. And you'll remember, with the bat phone, when in need, Commissioner Gordon could simply press that button on the other end of the bat phone was Batman. Right? That's the way it works. See? Direct connection.
No interference. Quickly, easily. Crime was eradicated. It was an amazing thing. Now, I have often thought to myself, how incredible would it be to have one of those with God?
Now, it would be the God phone. Okay? It would probably be gold, because God likes gold. We can see that. Actually, by the way, this we must note, I must recognize Miranda. What do we have here?
Priestly vestments, down to the pomegranates and bells. Miranda is going to know more about the Torah by doing these flowers than I will ever know.
Beautiful work, Miranda. Anyway, think about it.
You're in a tough situation, right? Something happens, you need something, you just simply lift the case.
Call God, answer given, right? Course of action taken. And in this case, you could literally say, God told me.
How amazing, right? And how outrageous, how silly. Your God phone, right? And then you read the Torah portion this week, and you realize that tucked in with all of the vestments and the turquoise and the scarlet and the turbans and the robes and the gold, we find that Israel actually had one.
Did you know it?
They did.
It wasn't actually a phone, but it was indeed a communication device with direct access to the most high God, a holy telegraph, Morse codeish light up thing that you could approach God and get answers from. And it has a name in the south. Here's how we say it. Ready? The orim and Tumim.
The orim and Tumim.
In Hebrew, it sounds a little bit better.
Ha. Orim feet. Hatumim.
The orim and the tumim.
And I want to teach you about it today, and what in the world it might have to do with you and your own God phone.
The orim vetumim. Can we just call it the u and the t from here on out? Because there's going to be a lot of talk about this thing. Now, first of all, who doesn't know either way? There's no way I can ask that question. Good. Who knows what I'm talking about? The orim and the tumim.
Okay, good. Well, I wouldn't, actually, if you didn't, it wouldn't be a big surprise. It's only mentioned four times in the Torah. It's mentioned eight times in the Bible. The whole Bible. Four of the times it's mentioned. It's about somebody who wasn't supposed to be using it or couldn't use it.
We find this one little verse tucked in. Exodus 28 30. It's on the board there. And the breast piece of judgment. You shall put the orim and the Tumim, and they shall be on Aaron's heart when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel and his heart before the Lord, regularly. First, what do you need to know? You need to understand something called the Hoshen, which is the breastplate, right? We're talking about the priestly garments, the breastplate. I'm sure you've seen pictures of the breastplate.
Now, the Hoshan, it's a square garment. It's made of this intricately woven fabric set with twelve stones, each engraved with the names of one of the twelve tribes.
And that's very important, by the way. Now, we often. You picture it in many pictures. It's some metal like shield of armor thing that the priest. That's not at all what it was. It's what we just looked at. A fabric, intricately woven fabric folded over into a pouch. It made a pouch. Gold rings connected it to the ephod of the priest garments. Okay. With this pouch in mind, we can understand the orim and Tumim.
A lot of people, I think when we think of something like the Oram Tamin, we think of this old, like, remember, not today, rats.
That's not what it was.
It was not a garment. It was not a device.
It was a piece of parchment upon which was inscribed the name of God.
Now, this is Judaism. There are other opinions.
Some opinions suggest that it's actually has. It's the stones themselves or part of the breastplate. But we're going with this opinion today, which is a pretty well founded opinion. A piece of parchment with the name of God that slid into the pouch of the breastplate of the high priest. Okay.
But a folded piece of fabric with a piece of parchment inside, that doesn't seem very cool. But this thing had a lot of power.
A lot of power.
Even the name. Even the name is powerful. We get the word the orim. It's from the word. Or if you're saying it in Hebrew, or say it right, you got to roll that r. I'm not very good at it. O, which means light. Okay, there's another possible word, meir, which means clarified. I think it's from the same root as light, but orim is drawn from the concept of light, or like shining light, clarifying light. Tumim comes from the word Tamim, or Tom, which means perfect, complete. So even the name itself, urim, tumim, means perfect clarity. Shining light revealed cool things. Complete clarity. Now, because with this parchment in the breastplate, here's what happened.
Certain people could approach to ask certain questions.
The stones, the letters on the stones, in essence, would illuminate or in some way be able to be read by the priest, who would then take the letters, put them together, and derive an answer for all of Israel. Okay, who could come and ask the questions?
Only certain people.
A king ahead of the court of justice, a priest appointed for war, a key national leader. What kind of questions could be asked of the orim? The Tumim emergencies, cases of national peril. Okay, so in other words, you couldn't go to the Orim and Tamim and say, listen, hashem, I got a couple of offers. There's this shepherding gig over here, or the farming gig, which one?
It was very special to approach.
Could any priest interpret?
No, not really. Only a priest through whom the Holy Spirit spoke and upon whom the shekhinah, the presence, rested.
Those were the parameters around it. So it's not exactly the God phone. It's not as if everyone had access, but there's something strange about it, as if the whole thing we're talking about is not already a little bit strange. Right. But there's a unique thing. Where did it come from?
The Torah portion this week, Tetsave is primarily about the priestly garments. If you did not see Darren's five minute Torah this week, he did a phenomenal job with graphics and illustration.
He talked about the vestments, but he also had a wonderful commentary at the end. I encourage you to look at the five minute Torah on Shalomikin. But the priestly garments.
Quick, Torah test.
What are they? I'm sure everyone read the Torah portion and memorized them. What are the priestly garments? Start at the top, the turban, the ephod, the tunic, the sash, and the breastplate. Now, that's six of eight.
These are literally the vestments. There are two more. There's the special gold band, which is not really like a garment.
It's a symbol. And then you have the thing that we don't even really talk about that much, because they're not that cool. And holy. His underwear, the breeches, the pants, the breeches. So there are eight actual parts of the priestly vestment. Now, who are these garments made by? This is an easy one. Who are these garments made by?
The Torah tells us very plainly, God says, all the wise hearted people whom I have invested with a spirit of wisdom, they are the ones who are going to make the tabernacle, the priestly garments. We know some of them by name. Betzalel, Aholiav, those guys anointed. And a lot of instruction given about how to build the tabernacle and the priestly garments and the threads and the colors and everything imaginable is spelled out there.
But let me bring up that scripture once again about the you and the t inside the breast piece of decision. You shall place the urim and the tumim so that they are over Aaron's heart when he comes before Adonai. Thus, Aaron shall carry the instrument of decision for the Israelites over his heart before Adonai at all time. There's no instruction.
There's nothing about it. It just appears. There's no indication of where it came from, what it does, how to use it, how it got there, nothing.
And you look at all the rest of the things, and it's incredibly detailed, right?
And the craftsman, you never hear anything about the craftsman interacting with this thing. It just appears so. This is something that Judaism draws. An incredibly cool connection, once again with Moses and God. Where did it come from?
Moses wrote it.
Moses got the instruction from God for the urim and the Tameem. Now, so listen, he wrote the name of God. He inserted it into the fold, the Torah, Judaism, anyway, reads this and says, that section of scripture, 28 30, that's speaking directly to Moses, and you shall place the orim and Tamim. Okay? So think about this just as a side note. If, when we ever find this thing, it's going to have Moses handwriting on it, that'll be cool, right?
But what I want you to understand about it is in order for this incredible source of knowledge directly from God to get to the people, it had to come from God through a very, very special individual who could then instruct the people in its use. And that was one very special dude by the name of Moshe.
He contained the Holy Spirit in a very unique way, didn't he? We know it. Read on. Numbers eleven. He takes some of the spirit that's on him and gives it to the elders. Temporarily it comes back. But sadly, the Orim and the Tamim were lost, not lost. Here's one tradition KinG Josiah, the righteous king, saw what was coming, whether through prophetic insight or just simply looking around at his country and saying, oh, my goodness, we're doomed. That sounds familiar. He decided then that he would take the special holy parts of the temple and hide them away along with them, the orim and the Tamim. So gone. This thing was not in the second temple anywhere.
We didn't have it. Now, wouldn't it have helped had it been in the second temple? Can you imagine how many crises might have been averted had you been able to go directly to God even today? Actually, it'd be nice to have had it, to know how to deal with what's happening in Israel. But we don't. It was lost. The God phone went away.
Or did it?
I mean, in the most literal sense, yes. We no longer have it. We don't have a high priest. We don't have a breastplate. We don't have the temple in Jerusalem. But let me point out something. We talked about how the orim and Tamim served as it was, in essence, the fuel for the breastplate to be able to bring forth the message. Okay, what I would ask you is, where did the orim and Tameem get its power if it fueled the breastplate, gave it what it needed to communicate? Where was this piece of parchment with God's name getting its power from?
The answer will surprise you.
From jewish, not christian, sources.
The orim and Tamim derives its power from the Ruach Hakodesh, from the Holy Spirit. There's a very grave misunderstanding about the Holy Spirit, that it was never in the Old Testament, and it showed up with Jesus, and all of a sudden, there it was. No, Moses had the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is functioning in this way from God to his people to communicate. That was the fuel. Okay. God communication device, giving good instruction to those who were capable of asking for it. But that was gone. Yet in the second Temple period, in a very different, yet incredibly cool way, this ability shows up again powerfully, in a way in which we all became beneficiaries.
Stick with me for this.
We learn that when studying this mysterious parchment with God's name written on it, placed into the fold of the Koshan, the breastplate on his heart, it functioned. It communicated to the interpreter by the Ruach Hakodesh. This is what the sages teach. So just think about that for a second. Thanks to Moses and his relationship with God, in unique cases, the people received instruction. Now, consider this at a time in Israel's history. During the second Temple period when we were in absolute crisis, Judaism was at each other's throats between all of the sects, roman sex sects, the roman occupation is there. There's so much going on, factions and fighting. No Urim and Tamim to consult.
But one like Moses shows up an even more unique connection with God. Supremely special spiritual insight and knowledge. Direct connection. As a matter of fact, he even, in a sense, might. You guess who I'm talking about, by the way, he even, in a sense, held the name of God within him, right?
He did.
And he returns at a time when Israel desperately needs to hear from God.
When we think about Yeshua, you see some interesting things. John 17. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me right now we know what this means. You need to understand what the name means. It doesn't mean Jesus is saying, I am you, God. It's one of my favorite memes of Yeshua in the garden. Hey, dad, it's me. You.
That's not what it means to have the name. Okay. The name is a statement of. It signifies authority, protection, identity. The concept of God's name encompasses his presence, his character, his power. When Yeshua says he's keeping his disciples in God's name, which he has been given, it means that he's keeping us by the power and character of God, which Yeshua embodies and manifests. That's the name that was given into him.
But he has the name within him, like the orim and Tumim, the power of the name.
Furthermore, in John twelve, I've not spoken on my own authority, but the father who sent me what I say, therefore I say, as the father has told me.
Where did he get his words?
From God.
As the father instructed him, Yeshua communicated directly with God. In turn, he told and taught the people, just as the urim and Tamim brought forth answers from God. Where did Yeshua derive his power?
Well, a source of his power certainly was encountered at the Jordan river. When the dove comes down and rests, and what do we have? The ruach Hakodesh. And from there, he goes out and begins his ministry. Certainly, he was empowered by the Ruach Hakodesh. So the Uri mentum, powered by the Holy Spirit. Yeshua certainly powered as well by the Holy Spirit.
Now there's a bigger problem.
He went away, too.
We lost that communication device. In some sense, he went away.
Ah, the twist.
The amazing, wonderful twist. The fuel of the urim. Tamim, the source of Yeshua's power, was made available to us all of us, right?
In a one of a kind kind of way, the power of the spirit was made available to us. The Holy Spirit's function, as you heard the term paraclete, right? Which means one who comes alongside, who guides, who teaches, who instructs, empowers. John 14, you'll know he dwells within you. That will be the purpose of the Holy Spirit. A permanent helper, a spirit of truth guiding you, providing continuous presence. The helper, he says in John 14, will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. The purpose ensures that Yeshua's teachings continue to guide, even in his physical absence. And it happened, in a sense, before. I've already referenced it three times. Moses in numbers. He takes the spirit off of him and gives it to the elders. So that's temporary. Here, Yeshua takes and gives to indwell in a unique and powerful way.
So get this connection. Your heart.
Okay, Elijah, you're early. The Seder's two months away.
Your heart is the breastplate with its folds and cavities. You got a little pocket here in your heart.
Your alignment with your dedication to your faith in the faithfulness of Yeshua, who. How he contained the essence of God, his name, so to speak. Now, that dwells in your little pocket, in your heart.
And from there, as we seek wisdom from God, answers direction. The Holy Spirit provides it to us. And in Messiah, we have this permanent, unique version of, loosely, our own little orim veratumim.
One problem. Now, wait a minute.
You want to talk about inviting Jesus into your. Huh?
I love it. There's a problem. The system is not perfect because in some sense, it still relies on Interpretation, doesn't it?
It really does. The spirit is perfect. The direction is perfect. The process is perfect. But the interpreter and the interpretation can still get messed up with the urim and the Tumim. I told you before, the Cohen who consulted it was to be speaking through the holy. The Holy Spirit speaks through him. The very shekinah rests upon him. He was supposed to be a special guy with proper interpretation. Pure of heart, pure of motive. And there was room, though, for misinterpretation. There's a funny story. Not a funny story.
It's a little snippet from the Vilna Gayon which gives an example of how the Urim and Tamim are misinterpreted. It has to do with Hana. You remember Hana and the high priest Aile and her son, who would be shmuel. And she went, and he's watching her and she's in desperate prayer. And what does he think?
That she's drunk. Okay. He consults the orim and the Tumim.
The letters emerge from the orim Tumim, which he takes and orders into a word that means a drunken woman.
Sadly, it turns out he misinterpreted, spelled the word wrong. It meant a wholesome woman.
So the interpretation and the interpreter matter.
Now, how incredibly relevant is that to us and the Holy Spirit? Right. Paul, I got a word for you. The Lord told me, you need to be doing this. Holy Spirit revealed it to me. God told me how much abuse of the Holy Spirit has taken place because the message is misinterpreted and the interpreter is off. A lot, I can tell you, a lot. And there's ridiculous things that occur in the body of believers supposedly fueled by the Holy Spirit.
So it matters. But the opportunity is there for us. That's the thing that we must understand in this unique and completely cool Orim Vitu mim sorta kind of way.
It's metaphorical interpretation I'm giving you, but it illustrates this beautiful thing from the transition of the physical breastplate, Orim Tamim, to the work of Messiah. You want to talk about what has Messiah ever done for me? Well, that's a pretty big thing.
He placed this within your breastplate, and it guides you right now, interestingly, and I'll conclude here, the orimintamim factor into the eschatological hopes of Judaism. Very much so. Why? Because all of the great hope is that the temple will be rebuilt, the third temple. And along with that comes the priesthood. And along with that comes the parts of the temple, including the Urim Hatumim.
But here's an interesting thought.
If Messiah is there, we don't need it because he's making all the right decisions. He literally has the godphone, and he will be ruling and reigning from Jerusalem. The nations are coming up. War and fighting have gone away. The temple is restored. So here's what I kind of imagine is know, we have this beautiful framed, a framed, like, shadow box. Inside of it is the parchment, the urim to meme with Moses handwriting on there. You ever been to the hard rock cafe or the Rock and Roll hall of Fame? You walk in and right here, placed on a prominent place in the temple. Look, it's Moses signature on the oriman to meme.
Because, you know, or maybe, or maybe because it completes the set, it will still be tucked into the breastplate of the priest. Who knows? Who can know these things, right?
But until then, the orim and Tomim, certainly incredibly cool, mysterious, literally mentioned in the Torah. It's not made up.
It's not Kabbalah.
It's there, though. I love mysticism and Kabbalah, but that's not what this is. It's there and we learn about it and we see how it's to be used.
They were part of the high priest's garments. Divinely ordained connection. And how beautiful to see this connection here. The uniquely connected Redeemer, Yeshua, who was to come according to Moses in him. So it turns out we have been given our own connection. That's a gift. That's a big deal to help you navigate this life in your own situations. No, it's not as clear as picking up the God phone and seeing if you should take that job or this one or deal with all of life's problems.
It's not that the light up stones and interpreter, but the truth is, that's your job.
That's your job.
In this way. Do your best.
Do your best. Like the high priest who was supposed to be seeking holiness and having the presence of God resting upon him, strive to be like that so that you're able to hear what the spirit communicates to you. Your own Urim vitumim directly speaking to you. Make sure your God phone is charged up, turned on getting signal my friends, because Batman can't help you in this life, but an incredible connection with the creator of the universe can take you a long, long way.
[00:31:20] Speaker B: Shabbat Shalom please visit our website, shalommaken.org, to learn more about us. Join our live services access other teachings, sign up for our newsletter, join our private network that will connect you with our greater community from around the world or contribute to the work of Shalom Macon, thank you for watching and we look forward to connecting with.
