Believe it or not, today is the last day of January. It is Tuesday, January 31, 2023. Today we get a rare look beyond the veil where only the High Priest was allowed. As in the days of Moses, God would speak to His people and render judgment, absolution, and blessing. However, one non-negotiable would be the purity and cleanliness of that Priest’s heart. Only God could evaluate it, so He placed a divine meter of sorts over the heart of the Priest that paid immediate benefits … or immediate consequences! We could use some of those meters today. Read on …
Today's Reading:
Exodus 28,29; Acts 7
Scripture
“And you shall place in the breast piece of judgment, the Urim and Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the Sons of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.” (Exodus 28:29-30)
Observation
The Urim and Thummim (translated: lights and perfections) were two stones … that resembled an ancient treasure from an Indiana Jones movie. These stones acted as the barometer that measured the condition of the priest's heart when he would go before the Lord to intercede and obtain direction. If the priest's heart were not right, the judgments of God would be skewed, and the future of Israel would be at stake.
And since the condition of a person's heart is unseen and virtually impossible to measure from the outside, God gave the Urim and Thummim. It was a cross between a lie detector and a talking conscience. It would evaluate the leader's heart and deliver swift judgment if it were not right!
Application
Things would surely be different today if we still had a Urim and Thummim over each leader‘s heart! God would move on the country’s behalf if the leader's heart were right and motives pure, or he would die on the spot if it were deceptive or contained unresolved sin!
I wonder how many funerals we’d need to prepare if it were the same today in leadership circles? And closer to home … would I still be alive?
We must be like David, who prayed in Ps. 39 – “Search me, Oh God, and know my heart. Try me and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in Your everlasting way!”
Prayer
Thank You for reminding me again about maintaining the condition of my heart. Keep me pure, and please forgive the many times I should have been struck dead. Yet Your tender mercies gave me another day and another opportunity to purge, forgive, and let go of the things that clog my heart. Today I choose to do that.
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