Tuesday, June 30, 2015

A Summary of The Answer To Question (3) Of The " 100 Tough Questions about God And The Bible " by Stephen Miller.



By Sodium


( Note: It seems to the writer of this blog that the intent of Stephen Miller, for raising the 100  tough questions and answering them, has been to induce more interest in the study of the Bible and possibly searching for rational explanations for the biblical issues that are still not well understood by many people in the realm of Christianity ) .


Reciting Question ( 3 ):
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" When Israel's high priest wanted to hear from God, he used some magical stones called Urim and Thummin, which gave him a yes or no answer. Isn't that a bit like flipping a coin ? "


Summary of Miller's Answer:
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~ It is "pretty much " like flipping a coin, with the exception that those magical stones Moses called them " sacred lots " ( Deuteronomy 33:8 NLT )
~ Beside the high priest, what stones, Urim and Thummin, look like. However, some biblical scholars say that Urim may mean light, because it sounds like the Hebrew word " Light ". As to the meaning of  Thummin, no one really knows, but some scholars have guessed that it may mean " Dark ".
~ In flipping a coin, one side of the coin has an image of a president of a country, or a king or queen of a kingdom or an emir of an emirate, etc.... and the other side of the coin has the image of non-person, like an eagle or something else. The side of the coin that has the image of a head of a person is called " Head " and the other side of the coin is called " Tail ".  By the same process of thoughts, the high priest has to deal with " Light " and " Dark " when he has his conversation with God. " Light " may mean " Good " and " Bad " or  " Urim " and " Thummin " as may be used by the high priest, respectively.


All of the foregoing is not really clear, according to Stephen Miller. What is clear to Miller is how the Jews have used the Magical Stones or rather the " Sacred Lots ", as Moses called them. Miller goes on to say the following about how the Jews used the " Sacred Lots " :


" Starting with Aaron, ( ancient ) Israel's first high priest, the stones ( Sacred Lots )rested in the high priest; s vest pocket--" over Aaron's Heart " ( Exodus 28:30 ). The high priest was to use the stones " when direction from the Lord is needed . . .to determine his will " ( Number 27:21 NLT ). Apparently they provide a yes or no answer."


Miller continues to say the following explanation:

Bible experts say that whenever they read the Bible that the Jews " inquired of the Lord, " they suspect the Jews were consulting the sacred lots. "


He further goes on to say the following statements:


" Jews weren't the only people using lots to get advice from above. People throughout the Middle East used lots. " Miller goes on to prove that the Jews were not the only ones who used lots to seek guidance from their gods by citing a story from the Bible. And then said the following:


" Yet the Jews never seemed to stop using lots entirely--even their own personal lots. They use lots to:
* divide (ancient) Israel s' land among the twelve tribes ( Numbers 26:25 )
* select Saul as their first king ( 1 Samuel 10:20-21 )
* assign ministry jobs to temple workers ( 1 Chronicles 24:5 )
* choose Matthias as the disciple to replace Judas ( Acts 1:26 ) "


Miller has further asked:


Why link almighty God to something as the flip of a coin ? "


And he answers his own question"


" The answer is simple: God is in charge.If he calls " heads, " it's  heads;  if he calls " tails, " it tails "


He finally makes the following comment:


" As the Bible reports it, the Techniques worked. "


Final Words:
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In order to develop a comprehension of the content of the answer or answers Stephen Miller has provided ,the reader has to take his time in reading all of the above. Quick reading will not be helpful.


END.








  

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