As priests to God, we believers must spend time with God to be infused with Him and filled with His Spirit so that, when we meet others, we would bring God to man and man to God.
In the Old Testament type we see that the high priest had to wear a certain set of clothing (including the tunic, the turban, the ephod, and all the priestly garments) and God spoke to him with the help of the breastplate of judgement. This breastplate had twelve transparent precious stones set in gold, and it was worn on the breast as the priest entered the Holy of Holies.
Each precious stone had a name of the tribe of Israel inscribed on it, and there was also the Urim (the illuminators) and the Thummim (the perfecters, containing the remaining 4 letters of the Hebrew alphabet).
We praise the Lord for the ministry of the age which opens up and applies this symbol to our Christian life. Also, we thank the Lord for David Baron and his book, The Ancient Scriptures and the Modern Jew; in its appendix he expounds on the breastplate and how God spoke to the priests, and this understanding matches the entire revelation of the Bible.
Today we would like to see what does it mean that the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were inscribed on the precious stones, and what is the significance of “Urim” and its application to our Christian life.
Having Christ Inscribed into our Hearts to become Living Letters of Christ
The engraving of the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on the precious stones on the breastplate of judgement corresponds to the inscribing of Christ into the believers of Christ (see 2 Cor. 3:3). The ministers of the new covenant cooperate with God to inscribe Christ into the hearts of the believers, and they use the ink of the Spirit of the living God to write the content of Christ on the hearts of the believers.
In this way, through the writing of Christ into our hearts, we become living letters of Christ. We have Christ inscribed into our hearts through our daily experience of Him and through our being in the word of God and under the Lord’s speaking in the church meetings.
The letters of the alphabet are Christ Himself: He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 22:13). Ever since we heard the gospel, Christ has been inscribing Himself into our being.
Those who preach the gospel cooperate with the Lord to inscribe Christ into the listeners, the shepherding saints who care for the new ones write Christ into them, and all throughout our Christian life we become living letters of Christ having Him inscribed into our heart through our experience of Him and by the inscribing of the New Testament ministry (see 2 Cor. 3:2-6).
As a letter of Christ with Christ inscribed into us, people can read and know Christ in us, and we convey Christ to others. Hallelujah, Christ is being inscribed into us as we experience Him and as we’re under the New Testament ministry so that others may see Him in us! On the one hand we are being transformed to be precious stones, and on the other, we are inscribed with Christ for others to see Him in us.
However, if we are not transformed and transparent, and if we have not been inscribed with the Spirit of the living God along with Christ as the content, we may be merely opaque stones without any letters inscribed into us and it will be impossible for others to have God’s speaking through us.
We need to open to the Lord, behold Him face to face daily, let Him transform us and make us precious stones, and pay the price to be transparent so that, as He inscribes Himself into us, others may see Him in us!
We may have some experiences of Christ, but are we transparent so that others may see Him through us? We may love the Lord and be genuine seekers of Christ, but do we have Him inscribed into our hearts with the Spirit of the living God?
We need to have Christ as the content inscribed into our heart with the “ink” of the Spirit of the living God, and we need to be transparent transformed believers so that others may see the Christ written on us and expressed through us.
Lord Jesus, keep us open to Your transformation work so that we may become transparent precious stones inscribed with Christ so that others may see You in us! Lord, transform us and make us transparent. Inscribe us with the Spirit of the living God and with Christ as the content so that we may become living letters of Christ. Lord, save us from being opaque; make us transparent so that others may see You inscribed in us! Keep us experiencing You and enjoying You under the New Testament ministry so that Christ may be inscribed in us and may be expressed through us!
Having Christ Shining through the Spirit and the Cross Through us
After the Urim and the Thummim were put into the breastplate, it became not only a memorial but also a breastplate of judgement (see Exo. 28:30). Urim means “lights” or “illuminators” – Christ is our light (John 8:12), our illuminator.
In order to understand what Urim is, I would like to quote David Baron with a paragraph from his appendix 1 in the book, The Ancient Scriptures and the Modern Jew (you can read this book online here and here).
We shall now describe the nature and construction of that wonderful oracle, and the manner in which its answers were given. We have already seen how the breastplate of judgment was made like a four-square box, a span in length, and a span in breadth. Into the front of it were inserted twelve precious stones of different natures and colours. They were set in golden frames, and were fastened to the breastplate, and formed the splendid front of the same. On each of these twelve stones the name of one of the sons of Jacob was engraven in Hebrew letters. One bore the name ” Reuben,” the other ” Simeon,” and so on. The front of this breastplate which contained these gems was not very thick, and the breastplate itself was empty within. Into the inside of the breastplate the Lord commanded Moses to put the Urim and the Thummim. The Hebrew word ” Urim ” signifies “lights,” or “illuminators.” It was no more than a lamp, with twelve lights, put into the breastplate. Within, each light was directed towards one of the precious stones, by which means the brilliancy and lustre of the gems were heightened to a great degree. But all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet did not occur in the twelve names on the breastplate. These four, p, . t3- n- were wanting. To supply this defect Moses was directed to make another stone with these four letters on it. This stone was called “Thummim,” which signifies “the com- pleters,” or ” the perfecters”; inasmuch as these four letters upon it completed the alphabet, and perfected the oracle for the purpose of giving answers. These lights and perfecters were put into the breastplate whenever the high priest had to enter the Most Holy, or when a matter of difficulty occurred in Church or State affairs. The Urim, or illuminating lights, were supplied with holy oil, and kindled with that sacred fire which came down from heaven upon the altar at the dedication of the tabernacle (Lev. ix. 24). This fire was carefully preserved in the tabernacle till the time of Solomon. When that king dedicated the Temple and brought sacrifices upon the new altar which he had made, fire came down again from heaven upon the altar (2 Chron. vii. 1-3). (The Ancient Scriptures and the Modern Jew, David Baron)
In essence and in experience, the Urim typifies Christ as lights, illuminators (see John 8:12; Eph. 5:16) shining through the Spirit (the oil) and the cross (the fire from the altar). Christ is the light of the world; He is the fire from the altar coming from God, and He wants to shine on us, in us, and through us.
As we bear the cross and are filled with the Spirit through the exercise of our human spirit, Christ has a way to shine through us. We can have the Lord’s shining and cooperate with it by coming to the Lord’s word, being under the New Testament ministry, and allowing Christ to inscribe Himself into us so that, as He shines in us and through us, others may see Him and they would have God’s speaking.
Oh, that we may have more of Christ inscribed into our hearts so that others may see Him in us as He shines!
Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to us as the light of the world; shine on us, in us, and through us. You are the real Urim, the illuminator. We open to Your shining through Your word. Lord, make our whole being transparent and full of light. Inscribe Yourself into our being, transform us to be transparent precious stones, and shine in us and through us for others to receive God’s living message through us. May we be full of the content of Christ and illuminated by Him so that we may speak God’s living word to others!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1409-1411, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Recovery of the Priesthood or God’s Building, week 7 / msg 7, The Central and Ultimate Point of the Priesthood.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# The new covenant ministers / Are Christ’s own living letters / Inscribed with the Spirit of God, / To express the rich Christ to others. / Lord, write Yourself in me. / Inscribe in my heart / That I may write on others. / Lord, make home in me. (Song on being inscribed with Christ)
# You are a letter of Christ, / Inscribed with the Spirit; / In the fleshly tablets of the hearts. / We are the ministers / Of a new covenant, / Not the letter which kills, / But the life-giving Spirit. (Song on Letters of Christ)
# O Jesus Christ, grow Thou in me, / And all things else recede; / My heart be daily nearer Thee, / From sin be daily freed. / Each day let Thy supporting might / My weakness still embrace; / My darkness vanish in Thy light, / Thy life my death efface. (Hymns #395)
How many of today’s Christians have Christ inscribed into them? The answer is that few have truly been inscribed with Christ. Even with these few, the amount of Christ inscribed may not be very great. Moreover, many Christians are not transparent. How can the Lord speak through those who have not been inscribed with Christ and who are not transparent? This is impossible. If the stones placed in the breastplate had been opaque, the illuminators of the Urim may have enlightened them, but they would not have been able to shine through such opaque stones. Likewise, because so many Christians are opaque, Christ does not have a way to shine through them. We need to be transformed, and we need to be transparent, and we need to have Christ inscribed into us. Then when the light shines through us, others will be able to read the letters, the content of Christ, inscribed into us. But if we are not transformed and transparent and if we have not been inscribed with Christ, but are merely opaque stones without any letters inscribed into us, it will not be possible for God to speak through us. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1409-1411)