The WOFOYO Podcast
The WOFOYO Podcast
What's In Your Ark? Part 2
This episode takes a deeper look at the Ark of the Covenant and its significant symbols, particularly the tablets of the law, that inform our understanding of morality and spiritual authority. We reflect on the balance between knowing scripture and experience through the Holy Spirit, emphasizing the necessity of both in a believer's life.
• Unpacking the symbolism of the Ark of the Covenant
• Examining the relevance of the Ten Commandments today
• Exploring the relationship between the written word and living revelations
• Discussing spiritual authority derived from service, not position
• Reflecting on Jesus's temptations and His use of scripture
• Understanding the process of building a relationship with Jesus
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Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the Wofo Yo podcast with C-Dub and Bones. In our last episode what's in your Ark, part 1, we talked about what the ark symbolizes, how it can also symbolize the throne of God, as well as the human heart and what's inside us. Then we began to refer to the three things that were put in, that are referenced in Hebrews, as well as Exodus and Numbers. Last episode we discussed the pot of manna and Aaron's rod that budded, and in this episode we're going to get into the significance of the tablets of the law and the law, the book of law, the Ten Commandments, the Torah. However you want to translate, it is placed in the Ark in Deuteronomy 31, 26. Before it had been put to the side of it. But it is the word of God, the parameters, the.
Speaker 1:A lot of people don't like the, the word law, and some of your Jewish scribes. Well, they liked the word teaching, teaching the instructions. Well, they like the word teaching, teaching. Yeah, the instructions, the instructions or commandments. And these are what establish you as a person as well as the society. They're longer lasting than just the rhema word of God. This is logos, this is what goes up, must come down. This is the laws of the universe, that unless you have some other supernatural aspect, these things you're not going to defy them.
Speaker 1:They're set in stone, they're literally written in stone yes, so you have these things and one of the things as I kind of entered the wilderness. Every now and then I go to a church that wasn't really a full gospel church, but what I respected was the word. Was the word that's right? Was the word was the word that's right? And let's be honest, in some of the full gospel circles, we can rely too much on gifting, to the point where we become flaky and we don't balance it out. However, if all you do is rely solely on Scripture, then you're missing out on a lot, and you can miss out on what God is doing at the current time and that's been demonstrated throughout history, on the stability that the written word produces, as well as the right now moment and the importance of that, what you should be doing, that the rhema word produces. You have to have balance.
Speaker 2:Right, this should be your moral compass right here, and I think that was a big reason for it being in the ark, being in your heart. Jesus said that I will no longer write my law upon tablets of stone, but I shall inscribe them on the flesh of your heart. I think that's what he said. Anyway, this is your moral compass. If you, if you ever have any question about your morality, about your moral compass about, uh, if you're ever becoming a little indifferent, uh, things of that sort, god's word is a good place to go back, to go back into the old testament. Start reading god's Word. You'll start seeing number one. You'll see the law. Not that we need to go back and be bound to the law, I'm not saying that at all but you need to go back and look at the law because you'll also see why God gave us these parameters to live by, and that's very important that we not lose sight of that.
Speaker 1:I always found it interesting that as you read the law Holy Spirit, what's the intent? And simply, you'll get an answer or you won't. And what has been amazing to me is that sure we're not measuring out shekels of flour and oil, we're not splitting doves in half, we're not doing animal sacrifice or any of this other stuff. However, we're not wearing tassels on the edge of our garment, unless you got like a buckskin jacket or something like that. Some of those look cool, though. Macho man Randy Savage.
Speaker 2:Actually, they do serve a purpose, but not a religious purpose.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you will ask what the principle behind it is, what the reason behind it is, you'll be amazed at how the Holy Spirit will open up the word to you.
Speaker 1:And you look at the intent, and you mentioned Jesus talking about this in Jeremiah.
Speaker 1:One of the things he says and this is the mission of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord, for this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord, for this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people, and no longer shall they teach, shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother. Saying know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin. No so the whole intent of knowing the law.
Speaker 2:I just heard that they will no more teach their neighbor to know the Lord. But they will know the Lord. The idea there is you won't have to teach anybody. There will be no more head knowledge.
Speaker 1:That's what. John the Revelator says that's what John the Apostle says it will be all experiential and revelatory knowledge. You have a nonction from the Holy One? Yeah, you have no need that any man teach you.
Speaker 2:Yep, they hate it when you say that. In Sunday school though, oh, they do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there is value in teaching kids young Mm-hmm, but man, should I step in it?
Speaker 2:well, I was going to say you know, because we, we are very, very adamant about learning god's word for yourself, getting into the word for yourself. You don't need a teacher to teach you. You, you got the Holy Spirit to do it with you, okay, however, fellowship with other believers and bouncing things off each other is not a bad idea either. It is not. It's because that that that keeps you accountable. It's, it's, you're not. You're not double checking the Holy Spirit or anything, but for me, it was always a matter of double-checking my flesh to make sure that I wasn't ignoring something that I shouldn't be.
Speaker 1:And it was good checks and balances, because, as we've said several times me, you and Darrell Coulson man we was getting the same word within a week of each other, and if we went to work and got to talking, we'd be finishing each other's sentences or bringing in another aspect that one of us hadn't gotten the whole thing, but one got part, the other one had the rest of it, and vice versa, and sometimes there'd be like the trifecta, and it was just one of those things we were supposed to be communicating, and it because the lord was doing some similar things, and I can't tell you the amount of encouragement that that that that provided, but it helped get the written word in our hearts. And then there will be times of testing too, to where it's going to get tested, and we'll talk about that here in a little bit. But you know, I look at that and I go, the word being in you. You're going to have to read it, but you're also going to have to pray.
Speaker 1:There's something about having the Holy Spirit teach you, though, and I remember learning that from Benny Hinn and reading that book Good Morning, holy Spirit and talking about it. He didn't give me any personal instructions in the book, but just the fact that he goes. I spent time asking the Holy Spirit to show me the word and oh, if you do that, it won't look like everybody else's, but it ain't going to. He's not going to lead you to violate scripture. Sure, there'll be some imposters, there'll be all these other things that have come, and again, we're getting ready to talk about that. But the Holy spirit will show you the word, I'll show you the word and he'll show it to you in a way, and sometimes he might stop showing it to you so you can walk it out, and then that's when it gets in your heart.
Speaker 2:Sometimes the imposters or the things that you think that you got wrong or that might not be right is when the Holy Spirit shows you the right thing and then you go back and you talk to other people and they say, no, that's not right, that's not. You know, you got to be careful with that because they may have it wrong, they may have it incorrect, they may have it incorrect. No-transcript. Someone else is chatting with a grain of salt and say you know, I'm going to go with what the Holy Spirit said. I mean, I know you got a doctorate degree. I know you've been to seminary. I know you've been to here and there and beyond. I know you've been to Jerusalem three or four times, you know, with the ministry trip.
Speaker 2:But, dan, that just don't sound like what the Holy Spirit told me. So I'm going to stick with the Holy Spirit. That takes strength to do that, and that was one of the first things I heard when I got saved within a matter of a week or two was I'm going to teach you everything brand new, but you have to unlearn some things. You have to unlearn what you've already learned. And not everything that I learned was wrong, but a bunch of it was. It was just incorrect.
Speaker 1:And it's painful, it is. It's not a process without pain, but it's just like going to the gym If you're not willing to experience any discomfort, you'll never physically improve. And, man, and I can tell you, one of the big temptations for me was this thought and, looking back, I've got to be real careful about how I say this and the main thing is I don't want anybody breaking their phone or throwing something at their computer screen when we say this. There was a time that I go. I think I've outgrown my pastor. Yeah, I can see that and that's ego.
Speaker 1:And looking back on it, I see how it was, in one way, ego out of check. It was not crucified. However, also, looking back on it and being honest and going through the wilderness experience, I now realize that part of the reason for that was putting the pastor on such a pedestal that I couldn't conceive that. In some ways I had, because and then in a lot of ways I hadn't but he was a man, flesh and blood, going through the same exact things. That looked maybe a little bit different, but the same exact issues I was going through. My pastor wasn't immune to that Bingo, nor the next one, yep.
Speaker 2:We've been taught that though. Yeah, we've been taught that though. Yeah, we've been taught that. We've been taught that, oh you, you can never outgrow your pastor. Uh, you can't outgrow your leadership. But the lord won't take you any higher than that we've been.
Speaker 2:We hear that come from the pulpit. Uh, we, we hear that come from our, our ministerial leaders and stuff like that, and I guess it's meant with good intentions and everything, but it's really just not scriptural. And the reason I say that is because the idea of outgrowing and becoming more spiritual than someone else is not scriptural. Amen. So, but because we fell into that, because we bought into that, you know we can't outgrow our pastor. Then we start feeling that we outgrew our pastor. You know, yeah, that is ego, because it's unscriptural.
Speaker 2:The truth is we're all on the same playing field and we may all not be in the same boat, but we're in the same storm. And that's what we need to realize that that pastor has been through some stuff. Maybe we just don't know about all of it, maybe I've got it harder in some areas than he does. Whatever the case may be, he's had his wilderness, I've got mine. But when we start to get to this point where you know I feel that I'm better or I'm greater man. That's a dangerous area to be Very much so. I've been there, I'll admit to it, especially when I was younger, been saved for a couple years and God was filling me full of knowledge and His Word and everything. Knowledge does puff up. Even knowledge of the Scripture puffs up. The Scripture does not distinguish between any knowledge. It doesn't say this knowledge over here will puff you up, but this don't. It says knowledge puffs up. It does. It inflates you a little bit. But yeah, be careful, we're all in the same storm, just maybe in different boats.
Speaker 1:It took a lot of wilderness. I'm going to say humbling. It wasn't really that. It took a lot of wilderness, I'm going to say humbling. It wasn't really that realignment. Yeah, we don't recognize it as that realignment. It is really what it was, because it used to bug me to sit in a pew and listen to somebody preach from a pulpit when I knew that I knew I knew more than they did. Oh yeah, concerning the word Big ego issue. And now, since God has realigned me through the wilderness process, I go. They're serving their purpose and in reality, there's a lot of things that they know, a lot of areas where they know more than I do. There's a lot of areas where I know more than they do. But we're supposed to work together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I realized that there's like you say, there's places that they, they're stronger. I don't want to go sit beside someone's hospital bed with the family while they're while their dad, while they're while their patriarch or matriarch is dying. Person that does that has got strength that I just I don't have. It's not a lack of compassion on my part, it's just I would be a crying, snotty mess during all that too. So, yeah, they, we've all got our different strengths and giftings. I also realized, too, that it wasn't about me. The message today that the pastor or the preacher is speaking ain't just about me. The whole church experience today ain't just about me.
Speaker 2:Maybe, if I know more than the pastor does right now, if I've heard this sermon a hundred times, if and this has happened to me a bunch more times than I could probably list if I'm sitting here and I'm listening to this message and I'm going, oh Lord, this is what we've talked about this whole week. You know me and you in prayer and meditation. We've, you know we're reading each other's mail here. Well then, I can kind of free myself up and meditation. We've, you know we're reading each other's mail here.
Speaker 2:Well then, I can kind of free myself up and pray. I can pray for the pastor, the preacher, I can pray for the congregation. Now, there's other things that I can. Uh, kind of let myself go from the message because God's already given it to me. Now I can. I can do other things I can. I can cover people in prayer. I can, you know, attack strongholds, different things like that. There's other things, other functions for you to do. The big thing is to recognize that it's not all about you there today. Amen, because that's what ego will do.
Speaker 1:I ended up going to church, got scheduled deviated this week, got a little range action going on Nice and oh yeah, a little range action going on Nice and, oh yeah, trigger time is happy time and ended up going over to Colson's church and I'm not going to say exactly what it was, but he said something. The Lord gave me pretty right assessment of an overreaching thing and he had already alluded to it, but I knew it. Also, I wasn't supposed to get up and say it and a big part of it is, given what that was, given Daryl Colson's area of employ and what he does for a living, if I just relayed the message to him personally, he was going to get a way deeper revelation than I would have ever got. He's going to get a deeper revelation and he knows exactly what it means for the body of believers that he pastors. Not about my ego, it wasn't about me, it wasn't about but there were some things that he goes, man, if we got this and this going on, there's probably a spiritual aspect and I'm going. Well, there is. And okay, lord, okay, I see, see what it is. Old me brother, I have a word. Yeah, you know the heck with that. No, let let him go and do what he does best. Cause I'm like you, given my line of employ, I can have a very, very hard shell and, given past jobs I've done, there's a lot of things that affect me and there's a lot of things that don't. And just so happen. You talk about praying with somebody in the hospital.
Speaker 1:You know, my old man had a mowing business and one of the things he did commercial mowing, and so he would get to mowing these cemeteries and all this stuff. Well, guess what went with that? Or you know, digging graves, burying the caskets and all that stuff. And I've either personally dug them by myself Not no backhoe, three levels with the tile spade, one with a round point shovel yeah, I've done Doug or assisted well, over a hundred graves in my lifetime I've seen.
Speaker 1:I've been around so much death that my viewpoint is people go, oh, you don't care, it's not that, but I just know what it is, I've been around it, it don't. It's like you can get around enough pepper spray where, yeah, it affects you, but it it ain't affecting you near as much as the person who ain't been around it. Right, like to be a pastor and especially having to do like the hospice stuff or any man. There's a buddy of mine that works over at. He's a service manager over at where I get my mechanical work done, you know tires and oil and all that, and man, he's a great guy but he feels called to be a hospice pastor. You know, and I'm going, god bless you sir. Yes, sir, because, brother, that ain't definitely what I want to do.
Speaker 1:But being a pastor of a church isn't something I want to do. I never say I'll never do it, because then the Lord will go. Oh yes, you will and I'll go. Well, I guess I will, and I don't want to have that conversation. And I'll go well, I guess I will, and I don't want to have that conversation.
Speaker 1:But I'll tell you one other thing about the pastor being put up on the pedestal Is, if you have that improper thing, if you have that improper alignment, is, if we didn't put pastors on so high of a pedestal, maybe we'd exercise a little bit more grace toward them when we find out that they're human, amen, especially as a body. If you didn't make the pastor the be-all to end-all and everything runs through him. If you catch him having a glass of wine with his meal, you wouldn't rat him out and fire him Right, dig that skeleton out of the closet, which happens. You might exercise a little bit of grace and say hey brother, you see that sign on the wall. Yeah, you represent us as well and you just could have had that conversation rather than have a big old tizzy, and especially by folks who ain't willing to take that job. Yeah, so let's, uh, let's, round this out with one, one little thing. We, we alluded to it as we're wrapping this up.
Speaker 1:As I was looking into these things, these three things in, you know what's in your ark. As I looked at you know the errands rod that butted, as I looked at the manna, as I looked, the commandment of God, the logos, I go, huh, this has a familiar theme and I go back to the temptation in the wilderness. After 40 days of fasting, the devil comes to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. He's been fasting 40 days and nights, right off the bat, command these stones to be made bread. And so here's the man of temptation right here, and Jesus replies man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, he said in other places my bread is due the will of him that sent me Tells that to his disciples. Oh, we forgot to take bread. He said no, I have the hidden man. I have bread to eat that you know not of. Did he take some bread? No, my manna, my bread, is to do the will of him that sent me.
Speaker 1:So man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. By bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So, as this and as you internalize the word, one of the other things is it as you internalize that rhema word, which is what Jesus? Because really the last word that Jesus hears audibly before going to the temptation is this is my beloved's son, in whom I am well pleased Hear him. That's the last rhema word that he gets, other than the unction to go into the wilderness by being driven by the Spirit into the wilderness. But the last rhema prophetic word is his conversation with John and then the Father bearing witness. This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. He said that's enough to live on, that's enough to go 40 days, 40 nights, that's enough to know that I don't have to do things your way. I got hidden manna, as it says in Revelation.
Speaker 1:So then the enemy tries to get him to misuse the written word of God, the logos, as a way to tempt the Father. He tries to get them to jump off the pinnacle of the temple. Quote Psalm 91. They shall bear thee up in their hands lest you dash your foot against a stone Talking about the angels, which is true, but ain't the way that that thing was supposed to be used? Again, getting the word inside of you is more than memorizing scripture, although it's a good tool. It helps. It's a good tool, but knowing how to use it properly. You know you can hammer a screw Right, you can do it. But that ain't the best way to get that screw to stick, because eventually that thing's going to work loose and it's just harder. Hammer and nail, use a drill and a screwdriver to put the screw in. The right tool for the right thing. Use the wrong screw and find out.
Speaker 2:Oh boy, this is something I love the analogy Wood screws. If you try to use drywall screws where wood screws are appropriate, your project turns out horribly. Your wood pulls apart from each other as you screw everything together. Wood screws have, uh, a slick sleeve, a slick part of the of the shaft up towards the head. It's not threaded all the way up to the top and it's done like that so that, uh, as this, as you screw through the first piece of wood and goes into the second piece of wood, there's no more screw, no more thread biting into your first piece of wood. So as you're screwing, it actually pulls the wood together.
Speaker 2:Well, if you use a drywall screw or a sheet metal screw or some other screw that has threads all the way up the shaft, they'll actually push each other apart. So the same way here with God's word. If you use the wrong word God's word incorrectly, it will push you apart rather than pull you closer to him. Yeah, I just made that up. That works. It just came to me like that. That's why these conversations are so cool, folks, you don't know that up.
Speaker 1:That works. It just came to me like that. That's why these conversations are so cool, folks. You don't know, this is like real time. When we have these and I don't edit much I got to say something really stupid or get really tongue-tied, or say it four times and forgot I said it the previous three for me to edit it.
Speaker 1:But this is what fellowship looks like. We've had these conversations for 24 years now and one of the reasons that we trust each other is we know we're not going to agree on everything, but if we end up talking about something the Lord wants us to talk about, we're going to get some nuggets here and there that we're going to be able to operate with, and we really hope and pray that you find that person or persons or group that's going to bring that out of you. Man, it makes that walk a lot easier. It does, yep. So you will get the problem as you internalize it, as it gets in your arc. You will learn to internalize the written word so that you use it properly because it's powerful, because it's powerful, the last temptation in the wilderness the devil offers shows Jesus takes him on a high mountain which represents, you know, a kingdom. Kingdom, yeah, authority, authority. It shows him all the kingdoms of the world at once. All these have been given unto me. If you will just bow down and worship me, I'll give it to you now.
Speaker 1:Well, the goal of Jesus is to get these kingdoms, but it's not the proper way. So therein is the temptation. So, if you will, you can just get it like everybody else. You just take it. You got the power right. If you're the son of God After all, isn't that what God said? Didn't he say you were his son? The whole thing if your rod is going to bloom, if your authority is going to bloom and blossom and bear fruit, you have to be a servant. And Jesus goes, nope, he just goes. Get thee behind me. He said you shall serve the Lord, your God. Him alone shall you serve.
Speaker 2:He offered Jesus the wrong staff.
Speaker 1:Yes, the rod that will subdue and all this. There's a time for that, but it's earned through the rod of service. Correct, his authority comes through service and so, as Jesus passes these tests that's why he could walk in kingly and priestly authority as test, that's why he could walk in kingly and priestly authority. As Jesus passes this test, he exits the wilderness. He's ministered to by angels. What is he doing? He starts preaching, all of a sudden, the gospel of the kingdom.
Speaker 1:At that time, jesus began to preach, saying repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So, as you internalize this authority, as you internalize being willing to serve and that being your aspect of being willing to face down evil and use that authority to confront and overcome evil, is, as you Utilize that to exercise proper judgment. It all comes from this idea of serving God and serving people. That allows you to have the authority to judge properly. That allows you to have the authority to Basically overcome and rule, because your motives are right and you're going to do what God says. So the bottom line is, if you're wanting to be established, whether as a person, to establish a throne, a kingdom or even a society, these things are needed. These things have to be present within that throne, whether it's God's kingdom in your heart, you know, and Jesus being your king and master, and you being able to. Isn't there a thing where Paul says you can rule over yourself? Yeah, so this is part of it, this is part of being mature, and but you have to have these aspects of it. If that throne is going to be righteous and just and going to be a lasting kingdom, you have to have, you have to have the fresh word, the written word. You've got to have authority that comes from serving and not just for your own ends.
Speaker 1:So, you know, my thing is this We've talked about this and if we look at ourselves, we got to ask are we lacking in any of these? Doing this study, I had to ask myself okay, lord, what area am I lacking in? And then, if we're lacking these, can we truly say we're walking in kingdom authority? And then again, what do we do to make sure we're not lacking we authority? And then again, what do we do to make sure we're not lacking? We already told you the answer to that. It's called relationship. But what do we do to walk in that authority?
Speaker 2:Let's talk about relationship for just a second. Maybe we'll walk our way out of this. Yeah, in the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden is a pretty good place to start. We talk about modeling.
Speaker 2:The Garden of Eden is, I think, god wants to bring us back to the Garden, or at least that fellowship, that relationship he had with mankind before the fall and everything. But anyway, when we see man and woman there in the garden, he refers to him as a, you know, man needing a helper, a help meet, help mate, stuff, like it says the two shall become one. Okay, it said, shall become one flesh. So the two shall become one. Now I was reading through that not too long ago. Um, so just from that relationship right there, the uniting of man and woman, you can pull all kinds of symbology out of that as far as, uh, israel, the church, man, god and mankind. You can pull all kinds of symbolism out there if you want to. And there's also the very plain interpretation of man and woman becoming one through marriage. But the word that jumped out at me was that word become, they shall become. It didn't say they are one flesh, it says they shall become.
Speaker 2:There's the implication that this is going to take time. It's a process. It's a process. So, just as husband and wife, their relationship takes time, and it takes time for them to become one and to be unified as one. It takes a long time for that to happen. Well, our relationship with Jesus is not unlike that. It takes a long time. It takes a while for us to become one with the Lord, and so we just have to understand that we have a promise.
Speaker 2:You mentioned in a podcast here the other day you talked about I think it was long-term, short-term, but you talked about doing things without a promise. We've got to have a promise when we're doing things. God's Word. We have the Bible for God's Word, but what brings God's Word alive when he tells us to go forth and do something, is having a promise. So having a promise from God that our relationship with Jesus will flourish, we will become one, having those promises should give us faith to stay with it.
Speaker 2:Just stick with it, just keep plugging it out. Some days you're going to feel like you're scratching and scraping for every inch of ground in that relationship, and then some days it's going to feel like it don't take nothing. It's just easy as can be. It's an easy day. Tomorrow may not be better, but it'll be different. So, just if you're struggling with that relationship with Jesus, just keep plugging away. Just keep plugging at it. If your relationship with Jesus is looking great, praise Him and keep plugging away, because tomorrow may not be so great, but it's not going to be over, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:Amen. Hey everybody, Thanks for listening. We hope this challenges you and causes you to grow. You can always check us out at woefoioorg or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Audible, or check us out on YouTube. Remember, folks, if you're going to grow, you got to woefoyo. Get in the word for yourself.