Texts Received by Urim & Thummim
Items on this page are not printed in any of our scripture texts but they have been received by Urim and therefore may be of special interest to the Lord’s people.
Preface to the Revelation on Judas Iscariot
February 2013
It would be best if I recorded some background information that gave rise to our getting gout the Urim and inquiring of the Lord to learn the truth about Judas.
In 1957 I was attending a church called The Rockwood Mission with my grandmother. One Sunday the minister taught about what the scriptures said about Judas. I was in my middle teens and felt bad that one of the Lord’s Apostles had failed Him. I do not recall which Gospel but what I found further saddened me. I went to my prayer spot in the woods and wept for him, as I knew Judas had repented because he hung himself out of grief. I felt that I could not pray for him as Judas was with the Lord and not in a place where it was proper for me to have any influence. So I wept before the Lord and asked Him, “What about poor Judas?” The Lord’s Spirit flooded over me and said to me, “I have forgiven him. That is the whole reason I came as the Savior so I could forgive. And he is still numbered among the twelve with me.” I was greatly comforted and soon put the whole issue out of mind.
That was over 55 years ago. Recently, I have been editing the New Testament so we can print a Community New Testament, of which this writing will be a part, perhaps an appendix. As I went through the Gospels and the Book of Acts, lingering questions again began to rise about Judas. One of the things I was editing out of the New Testament was elements of racism. I found a lot of misinformation and contradictions mingled with severe prejudice in regard to Judas. Here is some of what I found:
· Judas’ name is mentioned often and never without the term or in the context of “traitor” or “betrayer”. Even when he was first called to the Apostleship.
· He was called a thief even though there is no evidence of him stealing anything.
· He, of course, is said to have betrayed the Lord, but there is no evidence of him actually doing that. Here is what I mean:
A. He did not have to identify the Lord to the authorities. The Lord identified himself and said twice “whom seek ye?” and then “I am he.”
B. There is no evidence that Judas gave the authorities any information that was used a this many trials.
C. The amount it is recorded that they paid him was completely insufficient to purchase any field.
D. He was said to have a devil, but he traveled in the company of the One supreme person capable of casting out devils.
E. The Book of John records Christ telling Judas directly, face to face, that he would betray him. If he really did betray Christ so completely and openly conspiring against the Lord then why did he hang himself?
F. If Christ knew Judas would betray him from the first, why would he have called and ordained him to be an Apostle? And why would the Lord have selected him to keep the purse? Are we to believe that Christ carefully planned his own murder and at the same time asked three times for His Father to “let this cup pass from me” and sweat blood and fall on his face being sorrowed unto death?
G. Why when Christ told the twelve that they would sit upon twelve thrones to judge the house of Israel did he not say “Eleven of you will sit upon thrones?” Why did he include Judas in that discourse?
H. The Apostles are most often portrayed as dim-wits, so the theology of Paul can take precedent over theirs; but Christ chose intelligent and good hearted men to be his Apostles. It is certain that they all were men with a highly developed intuitive ability by the end of his ministry. Therefore, it is unrealistic to think that after spending all those intimate years with Judas (who is said to be a “son of perdition” “a thief,” and to have “a devil” and a “dark countenance”) that they would have had to ask so sincerely at the Last Supper who it was amongst them that was going to betray the Lord. If he was all that the Gospels say he was, any person in our community could have spent ten minutes with him and told who it was that was going to betray the Lord.
I. Why was he called a “son of perdition,” which is a phrase used to describe sorcerers, when there is no evidence that Judas ever used the element of wickedness?
J. And finally, the Gospels record that Christ warned very early in his ministry of an Apostle who would betray him. Doesn’t it seem reasonable that they would be on the lookout after that, to see who it may be among them? This would have been a deep topic of discussion over those years. Why then do they act surprised and not know who among them it might be at the Last Supper?
All of these questions, combined with real and identifiable racism in every account of him, caused me to year for the truth. So after some preparation, I assembled the scribes and put on the Urim and inquired of the Lord. All I was asking for was to see Judas through the eyes of the Lord. I was perfectly willing to see him to be anything the Lord would show me, good or bad or anything in-between. The following is a record of what I saw and the scribes recorded.
Prayer of the Seer before using the Urim: Oh Anokeesed, I come before you now. All my life I have wondered about Judas. Remember Lord how I cried over him when I was young, because I knew he repented? Everyone thought he was awful. All of that came before me again as I have been studying the New Testament. I have a burning desire to know the truth about him. I hope you are not displeased about this. I want to see him from Your view. Amen.
Urim:
As I put on the Urim, up before my eyes came a vision of Judas. It was nothing like what I had expected. He was the shortest of all the Apostles. He had a happy, round face with bright eyes. His beard was short and looked almost trimmed, as it was very neat. He was one of the last to be called to the Apostleship. I saw in his face, as he looked upon the Lord, a look of complete devotion. And the Spirit made it known to me that the Lord had healed him of some loathsome disease; and that it was that healing that inspired his complete devotion to the Lord. He was young and had a very sweet, active manner when I looked upon him. He took his duties of carrying the purse very seriously. And he was very diligent to carry out his every given task.
As I looked upon Judas he was standing in the midst of the gathering of all of the Apostles and the Lord. Some were sitting about. And then behind them in the fields I began to see huge throngs of people coming to sit under the Lord’s ministry.
In every city where there was a settlement of Nazareth, there was a keeper of the purse. All those who thus kept the purse found their duties to only refer to the people of their settlement. And they all were accustomed to the flow of provisions in the daily needs of their people. But these hug throngs of people brought a new burden upon them. For the people of the Church (the Essenes) now had the new burden of coming to the aid of their friends and loved ones outside the Church, who wanted to be healed or blessed by the Lord. And in this matter came one of the sweetest, most touching visions that ever came before my eyes. I saw a beggar who was blind, who normally wore the most pitiful rages. And he was unkempt as no one cared for him in his physical needs. And I saw him standing with hair well-kept and clean, wearing new linen clothes. And beside him, on either side, were people also wearing linen according to the custom of the Church. And each had a hold of one of his arms. And there was one who stood behind the blind man. These people of the Church had huge smiles of expectation for the blind man, because the Lord must shortly pass by and they had him ready so they could present him to the Lord for a healing. The beggar was too embarrassed to come before the Lord in his rags, so the keeper of the purse had purchased his new clothes and packed him a lunch.
This new burden upon those who carried the purse was common throughout all Israel during the ministry of the Lord. And Judas was thus burdened most of all, because he was in effect a traveling purse. And he had the most substantial offering coming to him, being the one to accompany the Lord in his healing ministry. For this reason, it was common that when the local purse carrier ran low of provision he would apply to Judas when anticipating the Lord coming into his area. But it must be said that it was not common for the people of the Church to so provide for people as most of the Lord’s healing activity was spontaneous and people in rags were healed. But the people of the Church were filled with love and often under took to prepare a loved one to be presented to the Lord to be blessed by his ministry. They knew who he was and were familiar with what he could do. And the Lord took particular delight in attending to those who were obviously in this way presented to him by the people of his Church. In this way, those individuals were loved before he loved them. They were prepared in their repentance in ways that enhanced his ministry of healing.
Now these huge throngs bring another dynamic into play that again bears directly on Judas. Many of those in these multitudes desired to speak to the Lord. And many of them tried various means to do so. They invited him home to dinner. They tried to find out where he would be passing the night and would disturb him in his sleep. They wanted just to be close to him. They would try to anticipate where he would come and come early to the synagogue. Many times there were observers upon hill tops watching the paths leading to their villages when it was anticipated that he might come their way. When he would depart from any place there was always a big element of disappointment that they missed speaking with him again. But it was not possible for him to attend to so many.
I saw that many would press upon the Apostles to learn where they would be resting so they may have private conversations with the Lord. And the Apostles had all agreed together that they would not divulge their resting places, for the Lord and their company were so often weary. And I saw a woman who had repeatedly sought to speak with him all one day. And she managed to find them in the night. And the Apostles asked the Lord to send her away, for they said “this woman pursues us.” But he would not and he blessed her by granting her request. And it began to become often that some would offer the Apostles money for a chance to speak with the Lord privately. And the Lord clearly forbid them to do so. He would not allow anyone to pay money to speak to him or to buy his ministry. He would always decline such offers.
After these things I began to see a hill in Jerusalem. It was covered with olive trees. At the bottom of this hill is a creek running. It is the brook Kedron. At the upper end of this creek the water is clear and clean. Farther down, nearer the city, it has corrupted water entering into it. There is a vineyard at the clear end. And on this hill, overlooking the creek and across which is the city, there is a cave in the midst of the olive grove. And in this cave is an olive press. And in this press room there is a hole in the ceiling letting in light. The Lord since his childhood had come to this place with his family during Passover. This hill is the Mount of Olives, and the vineyard and cave is in the Garden of Gethsemane. At Passover there are thousands of people camped on the Mount of Olives. I see hundreds and hundreds of lairs and little places for people to camp. Any person would have to carefully walk through all those people staying there. I see the people using the clean end of the creek to was their children and to use for their needs. For the Lord to have this cave every year, someone would have to come ahead and stand by to reserve it for him.
Now into this scene comes Judas. And this is the very occasion each year when he is the most pressed upon to supply provision. And he often prepares for it dutifully ahead of time. Hence the incident about the expensive ointment used to was the Lord’s feet on the way to Passover while staying at Eleizer’s house. Now when it is said he has to give to the poor it is in reference to the people of the Church who are called “the Poor” or the “Ebionim.”
This particular Passover, the Lord had openly spoke of his falling into the hands of the authorities. And Judas was well aware of the sentiments of hatred and determination expressed by the rulers of the Temple Religion. And when one of the prominent members of the Sanhedrin privately indicated to Judas that he was converted to the Lord and proposed that he could mend the rift between the Lord and the authorities, Judas was anxious to hear more. But when he asked to know where the Lord was resting Judas would not divulge it to him. The man offered him money to discover the Lord’s resting place. Judas refused, but he took the matter to the Lord. And the Lord refused again to allow private audience for money. And Judas explained his hopes for being reconciled with the authorities. But the Lord didn’t agree that they would do so, and knew that they would not turn in their desires to destroy him. But Judas in his tender heart, desired to bring peace to the Lord in the tense atmosphere of their situation in the city. So he resolved in his heart, that during their Passover meal he would do it anyway.
Now in the Religion of Shabuot, it was the custom to seek permission to leave during any act of worship. And when Judas asked to leave the Lord said, “Go and do what you have to do.” And I saw him go up the Temple hill and down a very narrow street. He seemed to know right where he was going. And he met a man in the darkness, standing by a doorway. It was the man of the Sanhedrin who was converted to the Lord. I don’t know who He is. He immediately wanted to know where the Lord was resting. It would be very hard and disruptive to go through such a huge crowd of sleeping encampments in the night without causing a stir: children being awakened and crying and dogs barking and the like. So he would need a guide. He offered money when Judas hesitated, for he wanted to have a private talk with the Lord. The man was grey bearded and older and his soft voice was reassuring. So Judas took the money and told him that the Lord was staying in the olive press cave. And immediately another man stepped out of the doorway and Judas knew he had overheard all he had said. He threw the money down and said, “No, don’t come.” And the men knew they would need no guide to find the cave with the olive press as it was very prominent in the garden on Olivet.
And Judas was making his way back to Gethsemane, being downcast and alarmed, and he passed by the council house. And he saw the place lighted up and many officials assembled there. Judas knew that on the eve of the grand feast of Passover, the officials would not normally be gathered in the council house at night. And he asked someone standing by, “Why are the officials gathered in the council house at night in this way?” And they answered that they did not know and also wondered why. And as Judas was making his way back to the press room through all the sleeping people, he heard noises and people coming rapidly behind him in the dark. And they had no lights and there were only about four or five of them. And they came thus so as not to cause alarm among the multitude who camped there, because many of them had chosen that place to camp to be near the Lord and the Apostles. And as they approached to come near the cave, Judas ran forward to warn the Lord, but he was too late. The Lord was already at the cave entrance asking them, “whom seek ye?”
And I see the face of Judas. He is terrified and he looks with expressions of utter dismay upon the Lord. And he starts to speak but the Lord puts his hand on his arm and says, “There is no need to speak.” And Judas cries, “Oh Lord, I have been betrayed!” And I saw in his little round face complete and terrible anguish. And they quietly took the Lord and made their way to the council house. And when Judas saw where they were going he knew they had planned it all along and were prepared in their council to destroy his Lord. And Judas fled into the night.
And I saw, but could not say to the scribes what I saw Judas do, for the sorrow of it. For he went to the far side of the Garden of Gethsemane and there was a very old olive tree and it was split in half. And one half of it was dead and very stiff. And there on a dead limb he hanged himself.
And I could see that none of the other Apostles knew what had really happened, for they were inside the press room and even unable to witness Judas and that which exchanged between him and the Lord. All they knew was that he had divulged the resting place of the Lord to those who crucified him. In their eyes he had always been above reproach. But the story was spread abroad about him and became known to all the multitudes. Perhaps that is why the Gospels and Acts portray him in such prejudicial terms.