HEAD COVERINGS IN THE
CHURCH OF GOD
To the remnant who in Jesus Christ are preserved unto the
dawn of the morning, greeting.
In these last days, when the fulness of the gospel has
emerged from the dark ages, and the joyous revelations of
the Sardian and Philadelphian eras have
unfolded in the churches, now the gross darkness
prophesied by Isaiah which is covering the earth is
being embraced to near total blindness by the angel of the
church of the Laodiceans. Through covetousness, liturgy,
and vain tradition the churches have fulfilled that which
was spoken by the Lord, saying,
"This people draweth nigh unto me
with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but
their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
This is without a doubt the very
thing that angered our Lord the most when he came in the
flesh, and still does today. This epistle will deal with
just one of the many ways that God's people are disobeying
and dishonouring him in his own house this very day.
Let those who love the word of God hear, and reject the
errors of men to embrace the truth of the
scripture, that God Almighty may be honoured and
glorified in his own house, and his people beautified
with salvation.
Amen.
1 Corinthians 11:2-16
2. Now I
praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all
things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them
to you.
3. But I
would have you know, that the head
of every man is Christ; and the head
of the woman is the man; and the head
of Christ is God.
4. Every man
praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth
his head.
5. But every
woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head
uncovered dishonoureth her head:
for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
6. For
if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn:
but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or
shaven, let her be covered.
7. For a man
indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he
is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the
glory of the man.
8. For the
man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
9. Neither
was the man created for the woman; but the woman for
the man.
10. For this
cause ought the woman to have power on her head
because of the angels.
11. Nevertheless
neither is the man without the woman, neither the
woman without the man, in the Lord.
12. For as
the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by
the woman; but all things of God.
13. Judge in
yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God
uncovered?
14. Doth not
even nature itself teach you, that if a man have long
hair, it is a shame unto him?
15. But if a
woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her
hair is given her for a covering.
16. But if
any man seem to be contentious [by
teaching or practicing another custom], we have no
such custom, neither the churches of
God.
Many in the churches today are under the impression that,
since a woman's hair is given her for a covering (v.15), that she need
not cover her head when she prays or prophesies. This is
not only a very dangerous error (misunderstanding
of scripture), but if I may say so, quite a ridiculous
one! A simple reading of the entire passage (which is
founded in the whole Old Testament) will reveal very
clearly that the covering that the apostle was
referring to in this passage was not hair!
Let's take a closer look.
First of all, in doing so, let us not pervert the
word of God with "theology",
and try to change the meaning with pretended knowledge of
the Greek language. Such is the case with a demonic
booklet entitled, "The Double
Covering Controversy", which has been
injected like a virus into the churches in order to
confuse the people by witchcraft
(the manipulation of words for the purpose of
distorting the truth), even as the serpent beguiled
the woman in the beginning (Genesis 3:1-6).
Isn't that...semantic...?
Let's just read the word.
"All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof,
for correction,
for instruction in righteousness..."
(2 Timothy 3:16)
Verse 2 reveals to us that what we are about to read is
one of the ordinances that came
from the apostles of Christ Jesus our Lord to the
churches. The words of the apostles are
the words of Christ.
"As thou hast sent me into the world,
even so have I also sent them into the
world.
And for their sakes I sanctify
myself, that they also might be sanctified through the
truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on me through
their word..."
(John 17:18-20)
And, Paul, though chosen later, was still an apostle, and
spoke the same
things as the others, because they all
got their revelation from Jesus Christ personally.
(See
Galatians 1:1, 11, 12) This is part of the apostles'
doctrine, which is the same as the doctrine
of Christ.
Let us remember what the apostle said of the doctrine of
Christ...
"Whosoever
transgresseth,
and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ,
hath not
God."
(2 John 1:9)
Now, let us continue. In verse 3, Paul
establishes the order of headship,
or subjection. Then, in verses 4 and 5, he gives his
commandment concerning the honouring of headship for men
and for women. The way a man is to honour his head
(Christ) is to have his head uncovered when he
prays or prophesies. This is because he is the image and glory
of God (verse 7). This has nothing to do with
his hair.
The church at Corinth already understood the difference
between a man's hair and a woman's hair...That is evident
by Paul's exhortation to judge in themselves (verses 13-15). They already
knew that it was a shame for a man to
have long hair, or for a woman to shear or shave hers.
That's not what he was talking about in verses 4-6.
What he was talking about
was the man, being the image and glory of God, not
dishonouring his head (Christ) by covering his head while
praying or prophesying! It is just that simple. And, in
fact, the consciences of men bear witness to their
knowledge of this truth (Which shew the work of the law
written in their hearts-Romans 2:15), when they
remove their hats in the house of God or before praying.
And nothing has changed as we move on to
verses
5 and 6. Paul in fact took what we call two
verses here to explain about the woman (in contrast to
one concise verse about the man-verse 4) so that we
could understand exactly what he was saying.
"Every woman that prayeth or
prophesieth
with her head uncovered
dishonoureth her head...".
If her hair were her covering
here, then the man's hair would have to be as
well in verse 4. So, he
would have to shave his head to avoid
dishonouring Christ. But that is just not the case. It is
obvious that in both of these verses, and virtually this
entire passage, the covering Paul is referring to is something
other than hair. The rest of verses 5 and 6 make this point
abundantly clear...
"...for that is even all one as
if she were shaven. For if the woman be
not covered, let her also
be shorn..."
What does "as if"
mean? It doesn't mean that her state of praying uncovered
is because of her hair being
shaven--it means that her state of praying uncovered is (the
same as if) she were shaven!
That is two separate things.
One is the thing she is doing (praying unto God
uncovered-without a veil), and the second is a thing her
disobedience is being likened unto (shaving her head).
What does the word "also"
mean in verse 6? It means, "in
addition" (Webster's Dictionary).
Again, we have two completely different things being
spoken of.
"If the
woman be not covered, let her also
be shorn..."
Now why would Paul say, let her also
be shorn, if she was already shorn, and her short
hair was causing her to be praying unto God uncovered?
That would be nonsensical! But Paul is saying, "...let her also
be shorn" to say in effect, "If
you think it is all right for a woman to pray unto God
uncovered, then why don't you just cut off her hair, too?"
Paul
said this because he knew that the recipients of this
letter knew very well that it was a shame
for a woman to cut her hair; and he was illustrating to
them that, in the same way, it is wrong for
a woman to pray unto God uncovered. So this
phrase uses the knowledge of their own conscience to
testify to them that, "if it be a shame
for a woman to be shorn or shaven, (which they
indeed knew that it was)-let her be covered".
Period.
If
you women in the churches today think it's all right for
you to pray unto God uncovered, then why don't you just
go all the way with your rebellion and shave your heads,
too?
What?
Is it a shame
to shave your heads? Why? God told Jerusalem to do it when
she was rebellious (Jeremiah 7:29)! He told Israel his
bride that their wicked heads
would be bald (Isaiah 3:24)!
Why not yours
in the churches
of the
Laodiceans?!
("Laodiceans" means
"people of my wrath"
-Isaiah 10:6)
You say that you love God, and you don't want to shave
your hair off?
Then obey his word, and cover your heads when you pray or
prophesy!
When you refuse, you dishonour your head, which is your
husband, and also Christ himself (is he not your husband,
Christian woman?).
Your
long hair is a glory to you. It is given to you
by God so that nature itself may teach you that you must
cover your head with a veil
(not a hat-
a hat does not
cover your head
like your long hair)
when
you pray unto God. Stop dishonouring your
husbands, and Christ, in his own house. Obey the apostles'
doctrine, which is the doctrine of Christ.
The flaming sword
that turns every way keeps the way of the Tree of Life. There is only one
way to get past it. Obey the word.
The whore of Babylon and all of her harlot daughters will
know only torment for eternity. "Come out of
her, my people..." saith the Lord... Just look at
the women of God in the scripture--
...Their veils were a part of their everyday
clothing. Why? Paul explained it in 1 Corinthians
11:2-16...so that their honour for the
headship of their husbands would be made manifest before
God, angels, and men. It was written in the law
(Genesis
3:16)
and confirmed in the writings of the New
Testament.
It is my earnest prayer that this epistle will reach the
true remnant who have ears to hear, and humble hearts;
and who are more ready to please the Lord Jesus Christ
than to adhere to the vain traditions of men.
Oh, that the people of the living God would give all
diligence in these last days to be washed from
the filth of the doctrines and commandments of men,
and worship him in spirit and in truth...
Farewell.
This online tool is added for your
benefit and convenience: always remember to use the King
James Version!
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