To Cover Or Not To Cover That Is The Question ❓
Peace & Joy in the Lord and His spirit of obedience in putting within me the need to cover my head as he asked of me and led me to.
I pray that our Heavenly father reveal to all brothers & sisters the deeper things of His truths and in the growing of walking in spiritually maturing in Him.
This was something Heavenly father personally taught me and i would not ever tell or put on any other sister to do this, nor imposing this upon anyone else, for it is Jesus & His spirit whom will lead you, convict you if he does so and He & His spirit is the one whom humbles us into all understanding and obedience. I pray this may bless anyone reading this and opens more of your spiritual depths of understanding and a way of an opening for discussions surrounding what has become sadly a much misunderstood and contentious if not to many today an embarrassing issue.
I would like to point out that legalism and controlling others is wrong and becomes a form of spiritual abuse. A Spiritually abusive system can be in a family, ministry or church organisation & it's leadership wield only authoritarian power and not genuine spiritual authority.
If Heavenly father has convicted us in some personal way concerning matters pertaining to our own lives, that are not necessarily salvational issues but instead matters of obedience pertaining between our own interpersonal intimate relationship of growth and maturity with our walk of faith with our father in heaven, (e.g not having a TV, or not going to certain questionable places, not watching films, not listening to secular music etc) we do not then need to impose that upon anyone else. When someone asks us about it we are to absolutely answer them with grace, gentleness and deep respect with much humility & by God's word too, that it's an inward heart transformation of the inner workings of God Himself in our own lives, what He has done & doing in us that indeed has and may very well show itself outwardly and in the choices we make & how we live our lives in Jesus Christ in our everyday lives in & with Him, and being prayerfully & holy spirit led.
And yet also those who are not spiritual may have a difficult time understanding or grasping why Heavenly father would convict me of such truths. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor 2:14-16 I had to discover the reasonings behind why many may criticise or get angry or mad at the way God is teaching & leading us in our own personal walk with Him in abandoning and forsaking worldly ways is actually a reflection of their own insecurities. Yes, we are to encourage our fellow brothers and sisters to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. (2 Thessalonians 3:15)
We always must speak father in Heavens truths in love & life spirit giving transforming power & that we be living consistently in spiritual authenticity, being straight and honest with others, and if they ask us why we are choosing decisions and certain ways in our own lives to give an answer to anyone whom asks but with gentleness and deep respect.
Many caught up in legalism have never experienced the character of God's grace, love or the joy of God's kingdom in their own lives, instead having only merely a spiritual performance, their labour being all in vain and have sadly never heard from God themselves. We all are not beyond correction. Imposing rules regulations, external prohibitions, constraints & control upon others is contrary to God's truths & God's living words. It is the way of the pharisees & is living a lie before God. It only drains the lifeblood out of you. To look good or be right is a trap we can all succumb & fall into and not the reasons why we live out our love to our father in Heaven. Our love to him is demonstrated in its actions, is it not true that when we actually love & profoundly love someone intimately understanding them it is shown and then demonstrated through our actions to them? The same is true when we love our abba with our whole heart, mind & soul with our whole strength, and in loving our neighbours as ourselves, treating them as we would like to be treated.
A woman's glory is her hair and it is given to her as a glorious covering, that when she ministers to the Lord whether in prayer (or exhibiting other spiritual gifts), she is to veil her glory out of a sense of respect for God. She is, in essence, submitting her fleshly "glory" and veiling it in HIS presence and that this act is witnessed by the angelic beings. This shows the angelic beings that she is bowing herself down and showing reverence and respect for God's Order of things; that being, the man as head, Christ as head of the man and God being the head of Christ. The veil is actually a sign in the spiritual realm that the woman has submitted to God's Order. When she submits to this, she is actually given authority in the heavenly realm (this is where the angels come in). This would be the authority of God to speak prophetically as well as any gifting that she has been given.
Interestingly sisters in valuing and understanding Heavenly fathers arrangement had always veiled their heads but from the 2nd world war era to the rebellious sixties feminism gradually crept in, what with burning bras, it wouldn't surprise me if some women burnt their head coverings alongside with their underwear?! And so sadly did on the other end of the scale creep in of the religious legalism and enforcement a tactic of the devil & appealing to the carnal flesh again of looking “righteous” and both ends usurping the heart of Heavenly fathers arrangement He had put in place. Heavenly father would rather us do things in obedience to Him with a willing joyful heart filled with understanding rather than doing something that has not been written or inculcated into our own hearts by and through Him. Jesus being the author and finisher of our faith and writing within our hearts his ways, teachings and commandments.
In many countries around the world inclusive of eastern European & Mediterranean countries to this day women still veil, especially the far more mature older women, and widowed women in their day to day life, but the meaning to them has been lost, forgotten and not understood and seen more as a traditional cultural aesthetic than a true perception of grasping the Godly given and biblical meaning & understanding. If you want to do some intense research and study on it from the early disciples of Jesus & from the Hebrew & extending out to the women of the nations as believers, the sisters and how it actually protected them from unwanted immoral worldly men's advances. It actually was very well understood by the early believers and a very normal practice. I would urge anyone thinking it is somehow inane or silly and antiquated to pray about it and our Heavenly father and his spirit will lead you and guide you in to all understanding and ask Him what He thinks about it and why is it even important to Him, if at all.
In scripture it is stated that If she does not veil her glory, then that automatically brings dishonour to her head who is the man since she is the glory of the man. He caused me to understand that what is not said is that she has brought dishonour to herself as well. Conversely, the man does NOT veil his head because he reflects the glory of Christ. (I Cor. 11:7).
This caused me to understand that the devil had come in and tweaked the emphasis that the church has put on this and made us to think that the whole emphasis is only submission when the emphasis is really how the woman can manifest God's glory (which must be expressed in divine order just as Christ submitted Himself to the Father, even though He is God) rather than her own glory, and thus brings honour to father, herself and her husband if she is married. (Single sisters of adult or mature age or widowed etc are in effect married and set apart to the Lord as a holy husband and as their head) It was meant as a positive thing for a woman to veil her head rather than a negative thing that it seems to have become.
Finally, the point Paul is trying to make is that since the woman's hair is her glory, if she doesn't veil it in Almighty Creator God's Presence, then she is to be shaved which is extremely shameful. He is drawing the parallel that it is extremely shameful for a woman to be uncovered in the presence of God Almighty.
Veiling has made me feel protected in a way I have not known before. It has made me feel cherished by the Lord rather than being thought of as a "second class citizen" in the kingdom.
I had asked the Lord to show me the prophetic picture of the veil in the Old Testament. He reminded me of the story of Rebekah. So, went back and read the story in Genesis 24. When Rebekah learned from the servant who was escorting her that she was about to meet the man she was betrothed to (Isaac), she took a veil and concealed herself with it. (Bride + Bridegroom.)
I see it as an honour, and a blessing, humility & love to the Lord to keep what He has asked of me and His commandments. You will notice in the verses below something that is not evident in some more careless translations.
There is a different Greek word for covering than veil. Plainly stated below, the hair is given for a natural covering, which IS TO BE COVERED WITH A VEIL. If a woman is not veiled she should be shorn. This covering is at least for the purpose of praying or prophesying in the assembly, home or wherever. VEILING HER GLORY IS A SIGN OF SUBMISSION TO HER AUTHORITY & MAKING FATHER LORD IN ALL AREAS OF HER WALK OF HER UNDEFILED LOVE DEVOTION CONSECRATION SANCTIFICATION DEDICATION, ABSOLUTE SUBMISSION & ALLOWING DEATH TO SELF and the carnal flesh of any areas of prideful vanity in this area. Being willing to not succumb to conformity by others due to fear. (I truly do empathise & sympathise.)
1 Corinthians 11: 2
Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.
3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.
5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved.
6 For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered.
7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man.
9 Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.
10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.
12 For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.
13 Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
14 Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?
15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
May father give all His servants the ability to stand bearing the ridicule for all He asks even if we stand alone only with Him & His empowering bold spirit! By practising this as a sister in Jesus Christ is experiencing the immense privilege of visually proclaiming fathers order of creation to His body called out & to the angels. Restoring Gods truth.
Wonderful historical evidence that delves deep into what the early Christians believed and practiced about head coverings, from not only biblical writings but from other very early Christian writings:
Thank you for reading. I hope you learnt something new and you have been blessed by it.
Aaw bless you thank you so much sister Constance M. Thank you for your encouragement in keeping on with how our Heavenly father has asked of us as his set apart daughters. May He continue to bless you, strengthen you and fill you from the fountains of streams of living waters from his very throne of heaven itself.
I was very struck by this passage you shared: When Rebekah learned from the servant who was escorting her that she was about to meet the man she was betrothed to (Isaac), she took a veil and concealed herself with it. (Bride + Bridegroom.)
It is so interesting that most all women wear a veil when getting married. Why is it that they all accept this custom with no fuss and proudly wear their veil before God and their husband, yet become so offended by a woman also going to the house of God wearing one? This passage helped me reconcile the 2 approaches as the same, therefore should be look at with as much respect and celebration as does a bride being married before God. I think it could also be a good way to explain the beauty of being veiled before God, to non orthodox Christians.
Thank you so very much for the time and effort you put into this essay, on behalf of women, and God.