Deu 21:10
When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,
Deu 21:11
And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
Deu 21:12
Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
Deu 21:13
And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
Deu 21:14
And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.
1Co 11:5
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.
1Co 11:6
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.
1Co 11:7
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.
Paul begins with:
1Co 11:2
Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things,
and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
These same ordinances come from the OT, except what Paul does is expose another deeper meaning, spiritual behind the "letter" .
1Co 7:10
And unto the married I command,
yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from
her husband:
1Co 7:11
But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to
her husband: and let not the husband put away
his wife.
1Co 7:12
But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
1Co 7:13
And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
1Co 7:14
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
What is it about either the husband or the wife that allows this sanctification to "cover" the unbelieving one?
Is it not Faith?
So then:
1Co 11:5
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.
In the OT the woman is seen as a captive. We could say captive to sin, a sinner.
How can a woman pray or prophesy if she is an unbeliever? Wouldn't this bring shame upon her husband?
But the believing husband is her covering. Or even the believing wife is her unbelieving husbands covering.
And then:
1Co 11:7
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.
So what is this saying?
If a man has faith and is believing, he is covered by Christ. He has submitted his life to the will of God.
A woman submits herself to the man. (ouch, this don't go over so well with the women libbers) It's what makes us seperate from the world.
But yes, the man is the head of the household and the woman is his helper.
That's how God designed it from the beginning.
Gen 2:18
And the LORD God said,
It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
The woman is the man's glory on earth. She makes him look good by her willingness to let him lead.
Who can find a virtuous wife?
Her submission to him is her virtue. (submission is such a hard word, it gets a bad rap)
There is no easy way to say any of this without offending somebody. That's just their ego foaming at the mouth anyways.
So consider this:
No woman being unmarried or an unbeliever aught to pray or prophecy with her head uncovered.
She has no authority whether through marriage or through faith to preach on behalf of the church.
But if she be married then her husband is her covering or if she has faith then Christ is her covering.
Either way she is covered unless she is lacking either of these.
An unbelieving husband is covered by his wife's Faith.
An unbelieving wife is covered by her husband's Faith.
Deut chapter 21. The woman is taken captive. If she was taken captive then she must have been under the authority of another.
A pagan culture. One that does not know God.
The shaving of the head and pairing of the nails is her leaving behind her past life. Her glory no longer belongs to another.
She shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her. She must repent.
She is given 30 days to mourn her old life and her old ways.
Kind of like when Israel was taken out of Egypt and a lot of them kept saying.. remember how good we ate?
Num 11:5
We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
Num 11:6
But now our soul
is dried away:
there is nothing at all, beside this manna,
before our eyes.
They were in mourning.
So the woman who is taken captive is also given time to mourn. It's an act of grace.
and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
The husband has now become her saviour through his faith in God.
He is now her covering.
I don't believe Paul is speaking about material coverings... it's just not his way.
But he is trying to teach spiritual understanding by using material things to make a point.
Jhn 3:12
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you
of heavenly things?
And this he spoke to Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel.
Just an observation I bring to the table.
Bon apetit
Hugs
