The Urim and the Thummim. What are they? Verse 62, these sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy to see if they were true Levites. And their name was not found in the genealogy. And the scripture uses some strong language that says they were polluted. and they were not allowed to be priests, put from the priesthood. That is strong language as well. And the Tarshishah, Nehemiah, the Persian word for the governor, said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things.

It's going to remain this way till there stood up a priest with the Urim and with the Thummim. That is the way they would be able to take on the priesthood once again, and I have no doubt that this is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. He stood up, the priest with the Urim and the Thummim. Now, what were the Urim and the Thummim? Turn with me to Exodus 28. Exodus 28 is dedicated to the priestly garments, and every one of these garments represents some aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He had a breastplate on and it had the names of the children of Israel on it. And my name is on his heart. There weren't any Jebusites, there weren't any Hittites, there weren't any Amalekites, only the children of Israel. That's who he represented, and what is so touching is to think that he represents me. This is not something generic. He's representing me with my name on his heart, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has this breastplate.

And look in verse 30 of Exodus 28. And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the thumben, and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the Lord. And Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually."

Now, there was some kind of pouch on this breastplate, and it contained what is called the urim and the thumben. Now, we're not told what this material substance was. Most think it was two stones. a black stone and a white stone. And actually, during those times, they would consult with the Urim and the Thummim to get an answer to a question. Let me show you this in 1 Samuel chapter 28. Yeah, 1 Samuel 28. Verse four. Well, let's start verse three.

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land. And the Philistines gathered themselves together and came and pitched and shew them. And Saul gathered all Israel together and they pitched in Gilboa.

And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart greatly trembled And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by the Urim, nor by prophets. There are three ways the Lord would speak. By dreams, and we have many instances of that in the scriptures, where the Lord spoke by dreams. He spoke by the prophets, and he spoke when you would consult the Urim and the Thummim.

These two stones would give you a yes or a no. Shall I fight against the Philistines? Yes or no. Now I think it's interesting that the names Urim and Thummim mean light and perfection. What a name for our Lord Jesus Christ. He indeed is the perfection of lumination. light and perfection. And we're going to consider that more in a few moments. Now, look at the first of Ezra 2. Ezra 2 is one of those difficult chapters to read.

There's so many people mentioned. Verse 1, now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity and of those which had been carried away from whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away into Babylon. And they came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city. And then we have this very long list of names. And it comes out to nearly 50,000 people that left Babylon and went back to Jerusalem. And I think that's an amazing thing. These people had grown up in Babylon. Most of them had never been to Jerusalem. And actually, quite a number of these people had become quite successful in Babylon.

Daniel was number two under King Nebuchadnezzar, under King Cyrus, and under King Darius. He was the second in command. Now he was a Jew, and the Lord used him greatly. And you remember his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were third in command. And so they prospered under these men. And then we have Ahasuerus. You remember Mordecai the Jew in Esther chapter three? Ahasuerus ended up making him his right-hand man, and he ruled over all these people.

So these people grew up in Babylon. They'd never been to Jerusalem. This was their home. This was their jobs. This is all they'd experienced and all they'd known. And I imagine that many of them were satisfied where they were. but the Lord stirred up their hearts. That's why they returned.

Look in chapter one, verse one, now in the first year of the Cyrus king of Persia, the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it in writing, saying, thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven, hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, he realized that, and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Now that's a four month trip. Can you imagine how grueling that would be? A four-month trip to get back to Jerusalem. It was 800 miles.

Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God that's in Jerusalem.

Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah, and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, all them whose spirit God raised." And that's the same word as stirred in verse one. Doesn't this make you want to ask the Lord to stir your spirit? stir you. Oh, may the Lord stir me. Don't leave me to myself, but stir me up to follow him fully." He stirred their spirits.

And these are the 50,000 people that went. Now, these are the children of the provinces, chapter two, that went out of the captivity, those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away into Babylon and came again into Jerusalem.

And Judah with every city. Now, in chapter two, we're given this long list of peoples, the leaders are named, and other lists, the priests, the Levites, the singers, the porters, the nethemums, which are the temple slaves, the servants of the priests and Levites who assist them in the work of the temple, the children of Solomon's servants, and the ones who built the original temple. Look in verse 64. Then the whole congregation, together with forty and two thousand, three hundred and threescore, besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand, three hundred, thirty and seven, and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women, Their horses were 730 and six, their mules 240 and five, their camels 430 and five, their asses 6,720. And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the Lord, which is a Jerusalem offered freely for the house of God, to set it up in his place. They gave after their ability, under the treasure of the work, three score and 1,000 grams of gold and 5,000 pounds of silver and 100 priest garments. So the priests and the Levites and some of the people and the singers and the porters and the Nethemim dwell in their cities and all Israel in their cities.

They had left Babylon, nearly 50,000 people, to come and rebuild the temple. Now, back to these priests. They could not be priests because they were not proven Levites. There was a record. There was a book written with the names of the ones who should be there, and they were not in the book. They were not in the genealogy, therefore they were put out as polluted. Now, there's a couple of things that we can do from that. The only ones who are saved, are those whose names are written in the book.

Turn with me to Daniel 12. Daniel was prophesying during this time. Daniel chapter 12, right after Ezekiel. Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel. Verse one, Daniel chapter 12, and at that time shall Michael stand up. The word Michael means he who is God. Michael shall stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to the same time, and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found, what? written in the book.

Turn to Revelation 13, eight. Verse seven, it was given unto him, this beast to make war with the saints. to overcome them and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 20. Verse 12, and I saw the dead small and great stand before God, and the books were opened, plural.

And another book, singular, was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and the death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21, verse 27. And there shall in no wise enter in anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. Do you remember when the disciples came back to the Lord after he'd sent them out, and they said, Lord, even the devils are subject to undoes. And he said, in this, rejoice not. that the devils are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Remember when the writer to the Hebrews spake of the general assembly and church of the firstborn, whose names are in heaven.

Now, my name is not in this book. I'm polluted. The names written in the book, the role of God's elect say one thing, salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is by grace. That's what the names written in the book declare to us. I realize many will say, well, it's not fair that my name is not written in the book. You wouldn't want to be there anyway, so you can't really say it's not fair. But if you want to be there, if you want to be conformed to the image of Christ, if you want your sins put away by His blood, if you want to be accepted in the beloved, your name's there.

There is a name with all of God's elect written. And I have to say this, we don't have any access to that book. There is a book. We don't have any access to it. And I know that if I could look at that book, I know whose name I'd be looking for first, and it wouldn't be yours. I'd be looking for you after that. But here's the point.

We don't have to see the role of the If you look to Christ only, you're there. And if you don't look to Christ only, you wouldn't want to be there anyway. But if you're someone who rests completely in Jesus Christ, it's everything in your salvation. If His righteousness is the only righteousness you have, if His shed blood is the only way you can be brought wholly into God's presence, Your name's in the book. And you're not called upon to figure out if your name is in the book. You're called upon to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you believe on Christ, your name is written in that book.

I must be able to go to the book, the scriptures of truth, to see if my hope is a good hope. As a matter of fact, this word that, let's go back to our text. I'm forgetting the word already. Ezra chapter two. These sought their register among them that reckoned by genealogy, and they were not found. That word register, the exact same word is translated by Daniel, the scriptures of truth. Daniel chapter 10 verse 21, the scriptures of truth. Now if I can't go to the scriptures of the truth, to find out whether or not I'll be there, I have no right to think I will.

Now what do I mean by this? I remember many years ago, I read a sermon by J.C. Ryle, a preacher in the 18th century, 19th century rather, and I remember that message stuck with me like No other message, really. I still remember the outline right now.

And in this message, he said, what is a good hope? And it was taken from 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16, where he said he had given us a good hope through grace. And he had these five points to what is a good hope. Number one, a good hope is a hope a man can explain. Can you explain your hope? It's one thing to say, I have hope. Can you explain why you have hope? Well, let me tell you why I have hope. I have hope because Jesus Christ put away my sin. That's the only hope I have. That Christ died for me. He's raised for me. I have hope because the only righteousness I have is his.

I can go to the scriptures to show that. And that kind of goes to the second point. He's got to be able to go to the scriptures to show his hope. and you go to the scriptures to show why you have a hope that you'll be saved, why you'll stand before God just. Can you go to the scriptures? You yourself, not somebody for you. Can you go to the scriptures and show why you have this hope?

And the third statement he made with regard to a good hope, first of all, good hope, a hope a man can explain. I'll tell you why I have a hope that I'll be in heaven, why I'll stand before God. It's a hope that's founded in the scriptures. And thirdly, it's a hope that's based wholly on the grace of God. That's his text, A Good Hope Through Grace. My hope has absolutely nothing to do with anything about me.

It's the grace of God, the electing grace, the redeeming grace, the justifying grace, the life-giving grace, the preserving grace of God. That's my hope. Grace. Oh to grace, how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be, let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee. Grace.

And he said in his fourth statement, a good hope is a hope that a man feels on the inside. Are you happy that salvation is by grace? Would you have it any other way? Do you love being saved wholly by the grace of God? And the fifth statement he said about this good hope is it's seen on the outside. It's something that will be seen. I love what somebody came up to a preacher and said, do I need to tell people I'm a Christian? He said, it'll leak out on you. It'll leak out on you. hope. They had to go to the scriptures of truth to find this hope.

Now, verse 63 of our text, and the Tertiary said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things. They were put out of the priesthood. They were polluted. till there stood up a priest with the Urim and the Thummim." Now, the temple had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The Ark had been taken away. There was no longer the Urim and the Thummim. You no longer had the continual fire from off the altar that was never to be burnt.

And I have no doubt that the urn and the thumb speaks of Jesus Christ. Deuteronomy 33, eight says as much. Two stones in a pouch on the breastplate of the judgment of the great high priest. And I love the names, light and perfection. What a description of the glorious person of Jesus Christ. Light and perfection. They were used to determine God's decision in certain questions and issues.

Now, you'll remember that Urim and Thummim would not speak to Saul. He inquired of them and they did not speak. Some have said, and it doesn't say this in the Bible, and I don't even know whether we ought to say something that's not in the Bible, but some have said it was a white stone and a black stone. I don't know where that comes from, but the white stone signified yes, the black stone signified no, but let's think about light and perfection.

What a commentary on the person and work of Christ, light. He's the light of who God is. He said, he that has seen me has seen the Father. He's the light as to how God can actually be just and holy and righteous and altogether pure and without sin and justify somebody like me when I know in myself how sinful I am. And I don't know the half. You don't know the half either. But yet God can justify me.

I love when that woman who was taken in adultery in the very act, there wasn't any doubt about the guilt of this woman. And the Lord said to her, woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, no man, Lord. He said, neither do I condemn thee. Now, how can he say that if she was guilty? because she wasn't guilty, because she didn't have any sin to be condemned for. That's what Christ actually accomplished on Calvary's tree. He made it to where I don't have any sin to give an account for.

I hate picking on these people, but when people talk about Judgment of believers, you're going to be rewarded according to how obedient you've been or how disobedient you've been. Somebody will have a high place, a big mansion, somebody in a little shack. Well, that brings works into it. That's all it is. I'm not going to stand before God in any other way but perfect righteousness where he's going to say to me and every believer, well done. Thou good and faithful servant. I'm gonna hear that. And believe me, I'm sitting there thinking, am I really gonna hear that? Because I know better than that about myself. Yes, I'm gonna hear it because if Christ did well, if he did well, I did well.

I'm in him. He is the light as to how that can take place. Don't you love him as the light of the world? Not only is he light, this word says perfection. Perfection. Now, I was laying in bed last night, and I was thinking about this. And I thought, I wonder if that word is in the plural. And I got up this morning and looked, and lo and behold, it is.

He is perfections and I don't have any doubt that this is talking about the perfections of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is perfect deity, complete deity, 100% God. He's not half God and half man. He's 100% God equal with the father. He's 100% perfect man. The only perfect man. Now for him to save me, he had to have these two natures in this one individual person. He's one person, he's not two people. He's one person. We're one person. We have two natures, the old man and the new man, but we're one person. It all comes through one consciousness, and that's why it's so confusing sometimes, because we have this mind we're working with, but we also have the new man, and we also have the mind of Christ.

But for me to be saved, only God can save me. A mere man, even a perfect man, can't save me. God, that doesn't take care of my sins. Only God can save me. Only God can take my sins and put them on His Son. For me to be saved, Christ has to be a real man, a perfect man, the perfections of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is perfection. He is light. It shall be perfect to be accepted in Christ. We are perfect. Hebrews 10, 14 says, wherefore by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Perfect in Christ Jesus. You know, when people say, And I say this, boy, I'm not perfect. You know, everybody knows that. But in Christ Jesus, I am perfect, complete in Him.

Now, the urim and the thummim were used to answer questions. And the answer to every question is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul said, we preach Christ crucified. Now, this is our message. I love that passage of Scripture in 1 Corinthians 1, 22.

The Jews require a sign. I need something I can see before I can believe. The Jews require a sign. I need some evidence. I need to see a changed life. I need evidence. I need to see a sign. There's something I got to see. The Jews require a sign. The Greeks seek after wisdom. I want to have Wisdom to make this world a better place to live. I want to improve education. I want to improve the economy. I want to improve health care. I want to make this world a better place to live. And I want wisdom to do it.

But we preach Christ crucified. And that the Jews are stumbling block. I can't believe that. You mean I'm saved wholly by what he did and my works don't even enter in? You mean it was finished before I was even born? Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. Why, I stumble at that. That'll promote licentious living. That'll promote anti-good works and anti-effort. No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. The Greeks seek after wisdom. They say, well, that's foolishness.

How can I improve health care by preaching Christ crucified? How can I improve the economy? How can I make this world a better place? Unto the Greeks it's foolishness, but unto them which are called. the sovereign call of God's grace to them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, Christ, the wisdom of God.

Christ crucified is the answer to every question. Why did God create the universe? For Jesus Christ and him crucified. Why is there evil? For Jesus Christ and him crucified. You see, the cross was not God's response to the fall. The fall was for the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. What's God's eternal purpose? Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Acts 2.23, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. What is the meaning of scripture? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What glorifies God? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. How can God be just and justify the ungodly? Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

What must be preached? Well, Paul said, I determine not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What is the object of faith? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What's the motive for obedience? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What's the ground of assurance? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What comforts a believer? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What is the foundation of every doctrine? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The lamb slain from the foundation of the world is the explanation of every doctrine in scripture. It's the meaning of this book. Jesus Christ and him crucified is the explanation of election. You know, when we call election unconditional election, there's a condition.

I'm in the sun. He died for me. That's why I'm elect. God didn't choose me independently, the Lord Jesus Christ. Really, Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the reason behind election. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the reason for redemption. He did the redeeming. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is justification. That's how God can be just and justify me. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is regeneration. The reason I'm regenerated is because Christ died for me. That's the only reason.

Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the reason for perseverance. Perseverance is continuing only to look to Jesus Christ and Him crucified as you're all in salvation. What's the motive for forgiveness? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, had forgiven you.

What is our fellowship? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's our fellowship. Somebody who looks to Christ and Him crucified. That's the most glorious thing Whatever you want, that's my salvation. Anybody who looks that way, oh, I have fellowship with him. We're fellows in the same ship. We're all in Christ, and that's our fellowship.

It's around Jesus Christ and him crucified. Jesus Christ is light and perfection, and he's the answer to every question. He's the yes, he's the no. He's not yes and no, but he's the yes and he's the no. He's the yes and anything contrary to the yes is no. It is that simple. Is Christ really all? Yes. What's that maybe, does anything else count? No. He's the yes, he is the no. Is he salvation? Yes. Is there salvation anywhere else? No. Is his will always done? Yes. Does man have free will?

No. No. Yes and no. In closing, if God said, why should I let you into heaven? Try to picture that. standing before God in judgment. And he said, why should I let you into heaven? If your answer begins with an I, you will not be admitted. Because I, fill in the blank, you won't be admitted. The only answer is Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the only way I'll be brought in. Now, if that's your answer, you will be there eternally and you will hear Him say to you, come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

The Urim and the Thummim Light and perfection. What a description of this glorious, unique God-man, God our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord. Light and perfection. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that The Lord is the light of who you are, the perfection of who you are, how we thank you for his glorious person, perfection of deity, equal with you, very God of very God, perfection of humanity, able to bear the sins of your people and put them away, how we thank you for his excellency and his glory.

Give us grace, even now, to look only to Him, our Urim and our Thummim. And Lord, we know that like those priests that were put out and polluted, that would be us and is us. unless there stands that great high priest with the Urim and the Thummim. And we're glad that he does stand before you as our intercessor and our savior. And Lord, We long for his return when he will come and a great trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ will be raised and we'll be forever with him in glory, beholding his glory. We say, even so, come Lord Jesus. Lord, as we face this coming week, we pray that you would enable us to glorify you by being fully persuaded that what you've promised you're able also to perform. We ask that we might be like Paul, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. We ask that you would open doors to preach your gospel. We pray for your great blessing upon us. We pray that you'd give us the grace to simply rest in what your son has done. In his name we pray. Amen.