For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head . . . because of the angels.
In the last few decades there has risen much confusion around this particular verse, as well as the whole of the subject matter being addressed here by Paul to the Corinthians. All the same, this verse is part of God’s Holy Word and is intended to be both informative and instructive, though tucked neatly away here in a very illuminating passage of scriptures.
Since it is part of God’s Word that never changes, believers today are still obliged to give the utmost prayerful consideration as to its application to their lives. For we are to be as lights in the midst of this dark and blind world; and are also called to properly “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things,” both in what we say and do, in order to give the glory and honor due to the Blessed Name of our Glorious Savior Jesus Christ.
Nonetheless, for a variety of reasons, “believers” nowadays simply choose to ignore Paul’s 298 instructive words in this particular passage, (counted in the King James prior to verse sixteen) and have imprudently conclude “we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” In so doing, they treat Paul’s instruction here as completely irrelevant to them, as if it was written without reason, and were a complete waste of Paul’s time and parchment.
Nevertheless, up until the last half-century or so, the majority of “the churches of God” did keep the custom of women wearing head coverings to some degree. This shows that most believers in today’s Church have lost the very attribute for which Paul was praising the Corinthian church in the first place, “I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
So, what was Paul saying, “we have no such custom, neither the churches of God?” Well, what was the beginning of that verse?
1 Corinthians 11:16 – But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
What this verse is saying is simply this, as believers and members of the Body of Christ, we are not supposed to be contentious, for only by pride comes contention.
Though Jude said to “earnestly contend for the faith,” that does not mean we are to be contentious or belligerently quarrelsome. There is a big difference between earnestly reasoning the perceptual truths of God and argumentatively rejecting them out of personal preference or ignorance.
Still, many discard parts of God’s word simply because they don’t understand them and therefore don’t feel they are important, or that it doesn’t apply to today’s church. These poor servants of Christ would miserably fail to follow what has been called “the Gospel of Mary,” when she told the servants at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, “Whatsoever He says unto you, do it.”
The Gospel isn’t a smorgasbord buffet-style religion where everyone gets to pick and choose what they want to do. They who would come to Christ, hoping to have the atoning blood of the Lamb of God applied to their lives, must do as did the Jews in Egypt; they must consume ALL of the sacrificial Lamb WITH its bitter herbs . . . not just the choice tender desirable parts.
Exodus 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roasted with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning you shall burn with fire.
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin..
To refuse to do “whatsoever He says unto you” leaves one as guilty as those preachers failing to keep the Great Commission, “Go you therefore, and teach all nations . . . to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
So, as I stated before, until recently the majority of “the churches of God” faithfully kept the custom of women wearing head coverings. Therefore, one would do well to ask, “Why then, and not now?” What is different? Are today’s liberal churches more enlightened? Or have they simply moved further from the faithful application of God’s perceptual truths, to now abusing the liberty they have from sin’s dominion through grace as an unwarranted liberty of the flesh?
We do well to remember what Paul said to the church of Corinth, “I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.”
What were the ordinances? Perhaps an even better question would be what exactly is an ordinance? A simple way to find out what Paul meant is to study how the Greek word which was translated “ordinances” in this verse was translated elsewhere in scripture. For out of the thirteen times the word was used in scripture, only this one time was it translated “ordinances.” The other twelve times it was translated “tradition” or “traditions” as seen below-
- Matthew 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
- Matthew 15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
- Matthew 15:6 And honour not his father or his mother, [he shall be free]. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
- Mark 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash [their] hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
- Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
- Mark 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, [as] the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
- Mark 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
- Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your traditions, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
- 1 Corinthians 11:2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered [them] to you.
- Galatians 1:14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my fathers.
- Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
God used the Apostle Paul to deliver ordinances, or traditions, which he intended to be observed by the Church. However, while some at Corinth kept them, others had elected not to. This division in keeping the observance Paul had commanded had led to a contention between them, and that is not surprising since the true foundation of this subject matter is that of spiritual authority.
It is evident Paul had some who were strong resisters of his authority in the Corinthian church as testified by scripture-
1 Corinthians 9:11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? 12 If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:2 But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
2 Corinthians 11:12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
Paul was trying to set things in proper order and lay a firm foundation for their understanding of order and godly authority in the Church. Hence Paul wrote, “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.” It is evident here that Paul was rehearsing the divine structure, or order of authority to them, which is established further by the phrase “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.”
The Bible in Basic English states it this way, “For this reason it is right for the woman to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels.” So, we readily see that the woman ought to have her head covered while praying or prophesying, i.e. teaching the things of God. But what does it mean “because of the angels?” Just what does a head covering, or the covering of the hair, have to do with the angels?
Well, let us look through a window provided by scripture into the throne room of heaven-
Isaiah 6:1 – In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.
Here we can see the angel’s were using two of their wings to cover their face, which meant they held their wings over their heads so as to conceal their faces, and with two they covered their feet. But why?
The answer is simple, they did not wish for their God-given beauty to detract from the glory, honor and praise due to God alone. This will become more evident as we continue, for in the scriptures there is a detectable similarity between the gifts God gives to the woman and those He gave to Lucifer before he fell from God’s grace.
Ezekiel 28:13 – You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the turquoise, and the emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your tambourines and of your flutes was prepared in you in the day that you were created. 14 You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I had put you in the holy height of God where you were.; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you.
What do we see in these verses here?
First we can see that God gave to the anointed cherub a glorious apparel to complement the position in which he was placed in God’s creation. His garment, or covering, was a divine gift of a majestic adornment given to honor him.
What about the woman? –
1 Corinthians 11:15 – But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
Who gave this “glory” to compliment all women? The Creator did. Doubtless when God created Eve that she was given long hair as an adornment to complement her God-given beauty.
As we can see from both passages, both the jewel-studded garment of the anointed cherub and the woman’s hair are said to be given by God as a glorious “covering.”
Still, that does not answer the question, “What does women wearing a head covering have to do with the angels?” Perhaps we should review what happen with Lucifer and what caused him to have his negative conversion and to fall out of God’s graces.
We can see what happen to Lucifer in Ezekiel’s prophetic words against the king of Tyrus, who by pride of position, wealth, power and beauty, became more and more covetous. The king of Tyrus foolishly sought to go beyond the bounds of what was lawful for him, and being covetous had sinned, and therefore God was going to cast him down. For this prophecy of Ezekiel concerning the king of Tyrus in his pride is merely a repetition of exactly what Lucifer had done and reveals how sin first entered God’s holy creation.
Ezekiel 28:2 – Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
The king of Tyrus had exalted himself in his own eyes, but his pride did not change in reality what he truly was; a mere man who because of his pride was going to die as a man –
Ezekiel 28:9 – Will you yet say before him who kills you, I am of the gods? But you are a man, and not God, in the hand of him who kills you. 10 You shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers. For I have spoken, says the Lord Jehovah.
Now God could have ended this prophecy here. It conveyed all it needed to about the king of Tyrus sin. Yet God continued to reveal more through Ezekiel for our admonishment and understanding of sin’s induction into creation.
Ezekiel 28:11 – And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 12 Son of man, lift up a lament over the king of Tyre, and say to him, So says the Lord Jehovah: You seal the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the turquoise, and the emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your tambourines and of your flutes was prepared in you in the day that you were created. 14 You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I had put you in the holy height of God where you were.; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you.
In these passages it is revealed how the king’s personal life and pride was, as it were, a prophetic mirroring of Lucifer’s prior to his fall. This can all be safely determine by the following statements –
- “You have been in Eden the garden of God” – The king of Tyrus was never in the Garden of Eden . . . but Lucifer was.
- “the day that you were created” – The king of Tyrus was born, not created . . . but Lucifer was.
- “You were the anointed cherub” – We see in verses 2 and 9 that God clearly says of the king “thou art a man.”
There are other parts that could be expounded on here, but before we do, let’s look through another similar prophetic window of scripture at the fall of Lucifer, the anointed cherub.
Isaiah 14:4 – you shall take up this song against the king of Babylon and say, How the exacter, the gold gatherer has ceased! 5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers 6 who struck peoples in wrath, a blow without turning away, ruling the nations in anger, a persecution without restraint. 7 All the earth is at rest and is quiet; they break out into singing. 8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since you have fallen, no woodcutter will come up against us. 9 Hell from below is moved for you, to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you, all the he-goats of the earth. It has raised from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All of them shall speak and say to you, Are you also as weak as we? Are you like us? 11 Your pride is brought down to the grave, and the noise of your harps. The maggot is spread under you, and the worms cover you. 12 How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart, I will go up to the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. 14 I will go up above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. 15 Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the Pit.
Above we have anot prophecy against a king, this time the king of Babylon. And again, he is going to be brought low and judge by the God of heaven and earth. Why? Because of his pride, his life as well has mirrored the pride of Lucifer; having extended himself beyond God’s given and lawful boundary of rule and influence.
But what do we see in Lucifer’s heart by this prophecy of Isaiah? We discover his intention to rise up out of his place and to usurp the authority above Him, even God.
Isaiah 14:13 – For you have said in your heart, I will go up to the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. 14 I will go up above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. 15 Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the Pit.
What was it about Lucifer that he allowed to deceive him and into thinking he should be, and thus could be, “like the Most High?” This is where it is helpful for us again to return to Ezekiel’s prophecy.
Ezekiel 28:7 – Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you.
The anointed Cherub Lucifer’s heart was lifted up because of his beauty and he had corrupted wisdom by reason of his brightness.
What does this reveal? It reveals that God had given to the anointed cherub a perfect and beautiful countenance that radiated with the glory of God. But when Lucifer began to take pride in his countenance and his beauty he “corrupted wisdom.”
What does that mean, he “corrupted wisdom?” What is it that phrase is trying to tell us? First we need to understand what exactly is the foundation and heart of wisdom.
We know that wisdom finds application in all areas of life and relationships from parenting, friendships, business, economics, from following to leading. Yet the greatest relationship one must be concerned about is by far their relationship with God. What do the scriptures tell us?
Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 4:7 – Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Proverbs 14:27 – The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
The foundation of true life-preserving wisdom is “the fear of God.” Yet by scripture we can see how in the heart of the anointed cherub, that when he became prideful over his God-given beauty, it stirred his heart to covet the very position of praise and honor reserved for the Most High Himself alone. He foolishly cast off fear and wisdom, by reasoning within his own heart as to why not he too should share a place of equality with God and thus began plotting to ascend to the positioned reserved for God alone.
Isaiah 14:3 – For you said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Gazing upon his own beauty and brightness, Lucifer compared himself to the manifested glory of God and foolishly believe he too was worthy of the worship of the rest of the angels. Instead of having humility with his gift of beauty, he felt he was deserving of the majestic apparel God had given him. And so, Lucifer rejected his position in the spectrum of authority by attempting to usurp the authority of God, seeking to steal the praise that God alone is worthy of.
It is “for this cause” ought the woman to have power on her head, because of the angels. God has given the woman her hair to be a natural adornment of beauty. Why else do most men have a natural admiration for long hair?
However, when we who are the creatures of our glorious Creator gather together for prayer or worship or the reading and speaking of God’s word, let the woman with humility cover her head, as do the angels in the very presence of God, willfully concealing her “glory” lest it detract from the glory due God. Likewise a man should not cover his head, “forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God.” To do so would be to dishonor his head, i.e. Christ Himself.
Each of us, whether male or female, have been given positions of honor and gifts from God, yet we must learn to be faithful in the place which God has given us to serve Him, being fitly joined together serving Him while we adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. The woman is to submit to the authority of her own husband “as unto the Lord.” The husband is to love his own wife, “as even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Thus we adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.
Yet when a woman refuses to submit to her husband, the angels shutter with fear as they recall with utter clarity Lucifer’s introduction of sin into God’s holy creation. This is why the scriptures plainly teach that women are not to usurp the authority of God has given unto men as He holds them accountable for the family.
Now having shared all this, I must clarify that I do not feel a women needs to wear a head covering constantly. As the scripture says, “bodily exercise profits little, but godliness profits withal,” and unless the heart is right it matters little what one does outwardly. But if a woman wishes to go on to a “more perfect way” of walking in the light of God’s word, then as the scriptures say, while “praying or prophesying,” she should prayerfully consider keeping” the ordinances” Paul delivered unto the churches. I would also further clarify that I feel “prophesying” implies also the instruction or teaching of God’s word to the younger women so that they too might learn how to adorn the gospel of Christ in all things.
I must admit, I have had many women express to me that they do not “feel any unction of the Holy Spirit” to begin covering their heads. I would answer that with pointing them back to what we all do have, the written word of God. Isn’t that enough? Are we one moment to be defending the scriptures as “the Word of God” and then the next minute failing to acknowledge what is written?
Honestly, most of the time I do not feel “any unction of the Holy Spirit” to do many things, nor do I need such an “unction” if the Holy Scriptures has already given me light and a path for me to walk in. It is simply my duty to walk in the light . . . while I have the light.
John 12:35 – Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walks in darkness knows not where he goes.
Ephesians 5:8 – For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light.
Mark 4:23 – If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 24 And he said unto them, Take heed what you hear: with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. 25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
I pray this may be a blessing to those seeking to glorify of Lord in all things. Remember . . .
Proverbs 13:10 – Only by pride comes contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
1 Corinthians 11:16 – But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
For those interested, I had addressed the distinct roles of the man and woman in my post “Why God Created Us Male And Female.” Peace.
Gates of the City 