Chapter 10.6
Head Coverings
Skullcaps
– Ministering Angels – Giants; the Nephilim – Submission
Women’s
Liberation – Emancipated Women – Glory of Man – Glory of God
If head covering is important, why do we not observe it today?
First
Word
As a teenager I was
blessed to lead the music in the Baptist Adult Sunday School and all the ladies
wore hats. Mr. & Mrs. Eubanks always
made a “Late
Entrance” and set down front.
He had a dapper moustache, bowtie and a Movie Star suit. She looked like a Model and usually had a
different LARGE hat on every Sunday. Being the nut that I am; I welcomed them “LATE” into the service and would describe her HAT in detail with laughter coming from everywhere;
hats were in and I was a HOOT.
Customs
Fiction and Fact: Sometimes it is hard to separate Jewish Customs from Jewish Myths and
there is differencing opinions among the smart people; so my BS, my Belief System has pulled “my take” out of the commentaries,
letting the chips fall as they may.
In Talmudic times, women wore their hair long, braded and pined up and
covered their heads as a sign of modesty and chastity to avoid attracting men’s
attention to their beauty. Exposing a
woman’s hair was considered a humiliation. Outward dress
indicated inward humility and still does today.
The Jewish, Roman & Greek custom was for women
to wear veils during worship. The
Greek’s headdress consisted of nets, hair-bags, kerchiefs and sometimes a shawl
that covered the whole head. Greek women DID appear in
public without a head covering and apparently there were some exceptions that
existed for them in Church. A Jewish
woman ALWAYS wore a head covering in PUBLIC.[1]
Hair was considered a woman’s glory and it was
shameful for a Christian Woman to
cut her hair. Disheveled Hair or hair that
was hanging loose suggested that they were in mourning or perhaps gave the
impression of adultery. Interestingly in
Corinth, it was not uncommon for a prostitute to shave her head and put on a
blond wig signifying her availability.
Paul was urging the Church in Corinth to be obedient to the “local standards
of order” and to COVER THE HEAD and “keep the peace”. A woman without a head covering was actually
going against the social convention of the day which was distressing to some
and was actually disrupting the worship services.
Single women were not
required to have a head covering, making it perfectly clear the marital status of a woman and the authority that was over
her. I just can’t leave it here without
mentioning the “Gnostic
mindset”; that a woman was considered inferior to any man; her
father, brother as well as her husband.
Background
Paul is writing to a DIVIDED CHURCH at Corinth and
is addressing a number of issues desiring to calm the waters. Part of Paul’s letter dealt with “The Christian
Assembly” and was about “Submission”, that Christ is head of the Church,[2]
and not of some specific well known leader.
One particular issue was WOMEN IN WORSHIP SERVICES
WITHOUT VEILS.[3]
The custom of head covering was a
common practice among the Churches, but we do not know how far ranging this SOCIAL CUSTOM was practiced. Paul’s dissertation about women covering
their heads in submission is quite lengthy and controversial.
Since man was made in the image and glory of God, he should not cover his head when he worships; it would dishonor Christ. Men must not preach with their hats on; a
covering on a man’s head would seem to indicate another authority coming
between man and Christ.
Interestingly, a covered head seen in Church denoted that it was a “WOMAN” praying or prophesizing and if her head
was uncovered, it was symbolic of refusing to honor the source of her
existence; i.e. she was made from the rib of a man, and this brought dishonor
upon her own head as if it was shaven.
The head covering indicates the authority that
exists above the woman, yet she is still under Christ. Man rules; he is active – Women
ministers; she is passive.
Just as the moon is illuminated by the sun, the woman is illuminated
with “light
from God” that shines through the man. Woman was made through the medium of man who
was as if it were a veil between her and God. (I know you just totally rejected that
statement)
Interestingly, the first
woman came from man, and ever since, man comes from a woman. The woman without a head covering
symbolically throws off her token of submission;
reaching for superiority, not keeping the “Rank” that God has chosen for her. Woman was made for man, not man made for the
woman. (It’s in the Book)
Women were said to be the GLORY OF
MAN[4] and therefore
should be veiled in the presence of the GLORY
OF GOD;
God
alone should be glorified. A
woman is “the
glory of man” and as a sign of man’s authority over her should cover
her head during worship “Because of the Angels”. It was their common belief that “Ministering
Spirits”
(good;
un-fallen angels) were present at Christian assemblies.
Because of the Angels
I want to stop here for just a
moment to point out that the Torah has a record of the Angels coming down
from the heavens to earth and taking the “daughters of men” for their wives and they
bore children that were GIANTS; The Nephilim.[5]
With that being said, the custom was to cover the
heads of women so the angels would
know that they were “under the authority of a man” and would not
bother them. Other commentaries say that
a woman’s uncovered head symbolically is insubordination to the divine order of
headship or is a refusal to acknowledge the authority of their husband and is
offensive to the good “Ministering Angels” that attend the services.[6] I do not know how they could know
that. I can only say that it was a CUSTOM of the Church regardless of the reason.
Genesis 6:1-4 – Because of the Angels – Then
Nephilim; Giants
1 When men began
to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them,
2 the sons of God
(Angels) saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they
married any of them they chose.
3 Then the LORD said,
"My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days
will be a hundred and twenty years."
4 The Nephilim (Giants) were
on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God (Angels) went
to the daughters of men and had children by them. NIV
Husbands and Wives
Since Husbands, wives and
marriage is not mentioned in Paul’s discourse, I don’t think Paul is
talking about husbands and wives at all, but more about submission.
Desire to Rule: When Adam and
Eve sinned by eating the fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, God
said that the
woman would want to rule over the man, but she would not do so.[7]
The husband is not complete apart from God and the Wife is not complete
apart from her husband a wife CANNOT find
I’ve just got to say it. If the Husband lets God be the head of his
life, then the wife will have an AWESOME
RIDE,
an unparalleled marriage, and the two shall truly become one. They are both dependent upon each other and TOGETHER dependent upon God.
Women’s Liberation Movement
In my “Belief System,” I embrace that Jesus had sent a silent
message; that Women had the same right as men, to listen and to be a part of Spiritual
Matters. The kingdom of God
was for
PERHAPS the disuse of the head dress was because
of the desire to abolish sexual distinction
and provide spiritual equality
between the woman and the man while in the presence of Christ.
Hold on now; don’t
get upset;
even Paul said that when someone comes to Christ, they are a
man and woman are equal in
the Lord and mutually dependent.[10]
From the time of Paul’s conversion to Christianity and his entrance as
an Apostle was a period of some three years in which the Church had grown in its
diversity of converts.[11] I think it’s somewhat missed, that it was
Paul that was called to the Gentiles as Peter was called to the Jews.[12] So the Church was composed of mixed cultures.[13]
Evidently some “emancipated”
Corinthian women had dispensed with the wearing of the veil in public worship. Paul is addressing headship or authority
starting with addressing that God is the head of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ
is the head of man and man is the head of the woman.
Men’s Head Covering
The “Tallith” came along
AFTER the apostolic era and should not be confused with the Skullcap. The Tallith,
traditionally made of wool is
a Jewish prayer shawl placed over the head that has special
twined and knotted fringes known as “astzitzit” attached
to its four corners,[14] it
was traditionally worn to show one’s unworthiness and sense of reverence for
God.
The Tallith was actually
more than a prayer shawl, but an outer wrap or mantel; when spread over another
person it meant they were taking them under their protection. This is seen in scripture when Ruth asked her kinsmen-redeemer Boaz to spread his garment over her;[15]
to come under his protection. The fringes of the Tallith were made of 32 skeins
which is the numerical value of the Hebrew letters that spell “HEART”. I give you my heart.
Skullcap
In the earliest of times
there was no established practice or law for a man to cover his head; but in
Babylonia, the Jews would get up in the mornings and place a handkerchief on
their head while they recited the blessing; “Blessed is He who crowns Israel with glory”.
The Talmud speaks of “Fear of Heaven” (God) and “The Shekinah (God’s glory) is above my head.” It associates the covering of the head as
reverence and respect for God’s glory.
A RESPECTED fifth-century scholar
said “I never walked four cubits with an uncovered head,
because God dwells over my head”. As time moved on “Scholars” would cover their
heads to identify themselves as “God Fearing”
and this quickly spread to the common man.
This practice in Babylonia was not observed in Palestine. However some Church leaders
supported a PREFERENCE of praying with the head
covered and thought that without it would be frivolous and disrespectful.
CHRISTIANS were observed
going to Church bareheaded and the Jews often avoided the practices that were
common among the Christians; therefore the Jews thought it best not to go
bareheaded.
In the middle ages it was the German custom to doff your
hat to a government official, so
the Jews wore a small skullcap called a “yarmulke” under their hat so their head would
not be uncovered for even a moment when they doffed their hat. (The Jewish book of
Why)
The skullcap has no religious
significance in “Jewish Law”; therefore a non-Jew can wear a yarmulke in a
Jewish service. TRADITION and CUSTOM
sometimes
trumps the scriptures and you may find practices that are; just because “they always did it
that way”.
TODAY Orthodox
Jews
believe the head should be covered at all times.
Conservative Jews believe the head
should be covered just during prayers and many other
Jews believe it’s just optional.
The Take Away
a)
The Father and Son are united in the Godhead, but
the Son is answerable to the Father, so the man and woman are both united in
God, but the woman is answerable to the man.
b)
Man was created first to be the administrative
head and the woman was created to be the helper wife. Women have a place, but
it is not the man’s place. Woman was created for man; man was not created
for the woman, however man was not complete until God gave him a woman.[16]
c)
God has established the man and woman as equal,
but with different God given positions and special functions; treating each
other with mutual respect and admiration.
d)
Neither a man nor a woman is an “independent
being”; the origin of both comes from God. They were made with
distinct sexes that are physically observable and that are mutually dependent
upon each other. A woman should not try to look or act like a man and vice
versa. The distinction is not to be
blurred as we see with Lesbians
and Homosexuals.
e)
God is the God of order with peaceful decorum in
worship and as well as in the daily life.[17]
f)
Man made in the image and the glory of God SHOULD NOT VEIL THAT GLORY in his act of
worship.[18]
Paul was writing to a Church that was surrounded by licentiousness,
advocating that the Christian should exhibit modesty, humility with actions
that are fitting and orderly with the Christian social customs... Paul has laid out the SYMBOLISM for the CUSTOM and ends his
dissertation by making this statement; Judge
for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head
uncovered?
It is Paul’s opinion that the LOCAL
CHURCH can make that decision.
In my BS,
it seems unfair to me to apply the TRADITION in Corinth to
our culture today which has no such custom
of head covering, and
therefore would not yield the same result.
The veil
or HAT is not the important thing anyway, but
it’s the subordination for which it symbolizes. Today women wearing hats in the sanctuary is
still a sign of the headship of Christ, but few would know of its origins.
Our Salvation is not based on
how long ago we accepted Christ as our Savior. Salvation is based on IF we have accepted Him. It’s not how we were baptized or how we are
buried or if we covered our head during worship services; it’s Salvation in Jesus Christ plus nothing else.
That’s the GOOD NEWS of the GOSPEL.
7 A
man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping,
for
man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory..
1
Corinthians 11:7 (NLT)
[1] Isaiah 3:16-17 – Women’s
covered heads are a symbol of modesty & chastity
[2] Ephesians 1:22-23 – God
made Christ the head of the Church
[3] 1 Corenthians 11:3-13 – Women should cover their head in worship
[4] Genesis 2:21-23 – A Women
is the GLORY
of her husband.
[5] Jude 6 – Some ANGELS left their assignments --
Genesis 6:4 – There were giants in the earth in those days that came in unto
the daughters of men, and they bare children to them
[6] Hebrews 1:14 - ANGELS are ministering spirits in
the assemblies
[7] Genesis 3:16 – The wife will desire to rule over her husband
[8] Ephesians 5:23-24 – The
Husband is the head of the wife -- Ephesians 5:24 – Wives
submit to your husbands
[9] 2 Corenthians 5:17-18 - If anyone is in Christ, he is a
[10] 1 Corenthians 11:11-12 –
Man and woman are equal before God
[11] Galatians 1:17-18 – Paul
starts his ministry some THREE years later.
[12] Acts 28:28 – God's
salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen
[13] Romans 3:29 – God is the God of the Jews and the Gentiles
[14] Deuteronomy 22:12 –
Tassels on the four corners of the cloak
[15] Ruth 3:9 – Spread your
garment over me
[16] Genesis 2:18 – God gave
man a helper; a wife, a woman
[17] 1 Corenthians 14:40 -
Everything should be done fitting & orderly
[18] 1 Corinthians 11:1-34 – Paul’s Belief System; Men do not cover their head in Church 1Follow my example, as I follow the example of
Christ. 4 EVERY MAN WHO
PRAYS OR PROPHESIES WITH HIS HEAD COVERED DISHONORS HIS HEAD. 7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman
is the glory of man. 16 If anyone wants to be contentious
about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God. (NIV2011)
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