If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the LORD your God will choose. – Deuteronomy 17:8

Today's Scripture Reading (March 5, 2025): Deuteronomy 17

As a kid, I remember being roped into umpiring a baseball game. It wasn't at the top of my list of activities for the afternoon, but I agreed to the task. Everything was going relatively well until one borderline pitch. After the pitch, I honestly didn't know whether it was a ball or a strike. The catcher, who was at least a decade older than me, became instantly irate at my indecision. I was young, so I let the catcher's reaction decide my problem. It was a ball. Of course, that call did not endear me to the catcher. I was young enough to make the immature decision to narrow the strike zone a little more, at least when it came to one of the teams. Admittedly, the rest of the game was far from fair; at least, it was on any play that involved the catcher. It shouldn't have been that way; my only defense was that I was young. 

Israel had a system to handle disputes. Judges were assigned who could judge between the complainants in most legal disputes. But, if the case was too hard or demanded an appeal, the understanding was that the case would be taken to "the place the Lord your God will choose." This language indicates wherever the Tabernacle might be at that moment. At the time of Moses's instruction, the future location of the Tabernacle would have been unknown. And so, Moses simply indicated, "the place the Lord your God will choose."

The concept behind referring the case to priests ministering at the Tabernacle was that God could judge impartially and without emotion, unlike my stint as an umpire of a baseball game. Often, this was done through the casting of lots. Another method, although little understood, was using the Urim and Thummim. From what we know, experts think that Urim and Thummim were two sides of a thin piece of wood or bone. The wood or bone would be cast like a coin; if the Urim side were up, then God would have declared the suspect guilty. If the Thummim was up, then the suspect was innocent. Through the Urim and Thummim, God could speak to the people and decide the cases that were too complex or difficult for the judges or were appealed by suspects who continued to declare their innocence.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 18