Numbers 27

Today's reading covers two subjects - the inheritance laws among the Israelites (how it is to pass to sons, then daughters, then other relatives in a certain order) and the passing of leadership from Moses to Joshua, which was a similar inheritance of authority specified by God. It is interesting to note that Joshua, and likely other leaders after him, were no longer to speak to God directly as Moses had. The instructions God gave this time were that they should go through the high priest, who would use the Urim to determine God's will. This is another of the very few references to that device, which was mentioned earlier as a possession of the high priest. I very much wonder what it was, along with its companion item (the Thummim) - but it seems to be a mystery lost to the ages.