Why the Christian Woman's Veil?

I greet you in Jesus' name this morning. It's a blessing to be gathered together and worship our Lord together.

For a message this morning, I felt the Lord wanted me to share something that I've thought about a good bit in the last year or so. Probably been more than a year. Something that I've been convinced of, but when things happen, then sometimes we question where we're at on this subject. And I'd like to talk about 1 Corinthians 11, the first part there where it talks about the Christian woman's veil.

Paul's instruction to the church there in Corinth. For a title, I've chosen I was thinking, how would you title this? But I thought, why the Christian woman's veil? Why? Why do our sisters wear it? Why do we believe it's important? Do we believe it's important?

And I'd just like to say I'm thankful to be part of a brotherhood, a church body where we practice that, and would like to thank you sisters for doing that. I think it's a blessing, and it's either a I'm not sure if we can call it it's a doctrine that I believe Christians have taught throughout history. And the way I understand it, it's only been in the last since the 20th century that it has been largely lost in many evangelical Christian circles.

And it can be lost very quickly, it seems.

In 1 Corinthians 11 here, there's two ordinances or doctrines that he talks about here. One is the head covering, and the other one is communion. These are ordinances, or it's something that's established. It's something that the apostles taught. I'd to think of a doctrine as something that is taught or a principle presented for acceptance or a belief, a policy.

An ordinance could also be a belief or practice, a custom established by long usage. And Jesus established communion. Jesus didn't say anything about the Christian woman's veil, but Paul mentions it here. And sometimes the argument is given, well, since Jesus didn't teach it, we don't need to practice it.

And there's some verses in 1 Corinthians 14 I'd like to look at a little bit. Just close here. It's where it seemed like people were questioning Paul here as well. And 1 Corinthians 14, verse 37 says, "If a man thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord."

And then in verse 40, the same chapter says, "Let all things be done decently and in order." It's part of God's order. Sometimes it's called the headship order, headship veiling.

And I believe it's a symbol of submission and order. It's a sign of subjection. And I also believe it's a powerful testimony to the world around us.

And like I said, I'm thankful to be part of a body, a brotherhood, a church, called out ones where we practice this. And I had to think of the verse in Peter where it talks about being ready to always give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that's within us, with meekness and fear. And I think we need to know why. Why do we practice this? Why is this important?

It's my conviction that it's important, and I trust it is yours as well. But do we have an answer? Why? And a lot of times we might just say, well, 1 Corinthians 11. Well, what does 1 Corinthians 11 say? Chapter 11.

And a lot of these thoughts are things I read about, the things that I'm sharing, or messages that I've heard. Sometimes I think I should be able to generate more of my own ideas, but a lot of my convictions and the things I believe is from what I've learned and read, heard others talk about. And we think about it, and we embrace it as truth, or else we reject it. And so a lot of these thoughts are not necessarily original with me, but I believe them to be true and want to share them with you all.

I'd heard of several brethren that attended an evangelical ministers' conference, and I'm not sure how long ago this was. This could have been several years ago. And at this conference, their theme was wave watching, taken out of Ephesians chapter 4, where it talks about not being tossed about with every wind of doctrine that comes around. And kind of as a subheading, they also had a title of part of the theme for this conference was cultural sensitivity and theological integrity.

And that was kind of the purpose of this meeting. And then they had a panel discussion, and someone brought up 1 Corinthians 11, why don't we practice this anymore? In those settings, it pretty much was lost. And the answer was given, because of cultural sensitivity, we can no longer practice this. The culture around us doesn't practice it, and it is such a sensitive subject that we can no longer practice this doctrine. So that was the reason they gave for not doing it. Because it's a sensitive subject, and the culture around us doesn't practice it anymore. It kind of goes against their title of watching the waves being tossed around with everything that comes around.

I believe the early church taught it, taught and practiced it. I didn't look at a lot of those writings, but it's only been in the last 100 or so years that it's been largely lost by many people that call themselves Christians. But even through that, there's still people, especially thinking of the Anabaptist people, who have felt this is important and continue to practice it.

I'd like to look at 1 Corinthians 11 now and read it, the first 16 verses. In verse 1 there, Paul is talking to them, and he says that you can imitate me. You can follow me as I follow Christ.

He wants them to take an example of his life. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, "Be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you.

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. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesyeth with her head uncovered, dishonoreth her head, for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

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. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head for as much as he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man.

For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman, but all things of God. Judging yourselves, is it commonly that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God."

We'll stop reading there. The rest of the chapter he talks about the communion service.

If we notice in verse 2, it looks like apparently he had addressed this before to them. It says that he praises them, that they remember him, and keep the ordinances that he had delivered to them. Get the idea there that he had talked to them about this before.

I'm sure we don't have all of Paul's teachings and writings, but he's saying here, "I had written this before unto you."

There are three different aspects I'd kind of like to look at. I've kind of divided it into three different parts here.

Number one is the Christian woman's veil is a sign of headship order. We often use that phrase, headship order. And if we notice in verse 3, it says, "The head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God."

And he wants us to know. I would have you know. And what does knowing mean? If we know something to be right, if we are persuaded of something, or if we know something, and the idea here would be to perceive or discern, to come to a complete and full knowledge of something that we don't even question.

And I had to think of the example of breathing.

We don't even think that we are breathing.

Most of us don't.

But we know we are if we are alive. And I think this thing of headship should be such that we know it to be right. We don't question it, as it's laid out here in verse 3.

And then there's two aspects of this order.

One is a positional order, and another is in a relational order, is the way I'm going to word it here.

If we look at Hebrews chapter 1, verse 6 and 8, thinking of a positional order,

Hebrews chapter 1, verse 6 and 8, talking about God, let's notice how he says that God, God the Father, God the Son are equal. Angels are lower.

Hebrews chapter 1, verse 6. And again, when he bringeth the first begotten into the world, he saith, "And let all the angels of God worship him." And of the angels he saith, "Who makeeth his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." But unto the Son he saith, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom." Jesus is equal with God.

Jesus is God.

And then if we jump over to Hebrews chapter 2, verse 6 and 8, it says, notice how men and women are equal there. But one in a certain place testified, saying, "What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the Son of man that thou visitest him? Thou madeest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory and honor, and didest set him over the works of thy hands. Here, man is over the works, over God's works.

Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see yet all things put under him." This is talking about man, including men and women. But his creation is below, is under man.

And also, I'd like to notice that he says, "Thou madeest him a little lower than the angels," God's positional order.

Man is lower than the angels, but over his creation, thinking of God's creation, the animals, the earth as we know it.

Another verse in Galatians chapter 3, verse 28, talks about this equality that the human race, that we as humans have with God. There's no respect of persons. We're all, whether we're male or female, whether we're bond or free, it doesn't matter what our race is, what our position is, whether we're rich or poor.

Galatians chapter 3, verse 28 would bear that out. It says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

And I think as Christians,

we value human life. We don't pay more attention to a rich person than we do to a poor person. We are equal. Men, male, and female are equal when it comes to our position before God.

Our salvation experience is equal. And sometimes, maybe we brethren might think we are strong, and because of that, we lose out spiritually, where our sisters tend to be more sensitive to the Spirit and sense more of a need for God. We really have nothing over our sisters when it comes to our position before God, our walk with the Lord.

We are all one in Christ. And thinking of this headship order, then the relational order,

Jesus, as God's Son, came to this earth. Jesus told the people listening to him, he told them that when you see me, you see the Father, and there's different times where he says that they are one. But it also says that Jesus was obedient unto God, his Father, and obedient even unto death.

And so I believe that our sisters are not inferior to men. When she is in subjection and submission, this is not an affront, and this blesses me, that this is not an affront to equality, but it's the splendor of divine order. It's an order that God has put in place, this relational order.

It's not an affront to the equality that God has created in man, but it's a divine order that God has put in place.

And as sisters, you women have in your hand the power to submit to a divine order as you submit to your head, the man. This is God's design from the beginning of creation. If we look at verse 8 and 9 here in chapter 11, it says, "For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man."

This is a creation principle. It's not something that came about because of the fall. This is how we were created. This is how the relational order that God has put in place in creation before the fall of man has nothing to do with the fall, this order.

But it's a creation principle.

It's just part of an order that God put in place. And in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 33, where Paul says that God is not the author of confusion or of disorder, but of peace.

Going back up to verse 4 and 5 here, it says, "Man dishonors his head when he prays or prophesies with his head covered." And a woman dishonors her head, the man. A man would dishonor his head, which is Jesus, praying with a covered head. And the woman dishonors her head, the man, when she prays with her head uncovered.

And if we look at Ephesians chapter 5, where it talks about marriage there and how it talks about Jesus and the church, Jesus being the head of the church there, Jesus as the groom and the church as his bride, ultimately, if the woman's head is not covered, she also would dishonor Jesus as her head.

The woman's honor comes as she submits. The man's honor comes as he provides leadership and submits to his head, which is Jesus.

And some might say that, and I'm not sure if this is what was happening here, that they would have maybe covered their heads, but maybe didn't know why they do it.

Maybe they're not submissive. Maybe they don't understand it, but they still wear it.

And I believe this can send a mixed message to those looking on. If a woman covers her hair and yet it's not in God's order, it's not in submission. And I believe the opposite is true as well. When a woman says, "Well, I'm going to glorify God and yet not cover my head," I believe it sends a mixed message to the world around us, to those looking on.

So the first aspect is the headship order.

And the second one is we are to be a manifestation of the glory of God. And that glory of God is to come shine out from us to a world around us, is to shine out from our lives. It's to be visible.

Man, the glory of God. Woman, the glory of the man. And then it says, "Hair is the glory of the woman." And this word glory means dignity, honor, praise, worship, splendor, radiance.

And to explain it simply would mean a visible manifestation of an inward nature to glorify God. And verse 7 and 15 in this chapter would talk about that. Verse 7 here, it says, "For a man ought not to cover his head for as much as he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man."

And then verse 15 says, "But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her for her hair is given her for a covering."

We are to glorify God. We are to be, in some ways, we're to be an image of God, like an icon, maybe.

We're a small representation of God. We are to radiate his glory, something that's bigger than ourselves.

And this glory comes as we, as men, provide leadership and lead out. And the woman, as she submits and is in subjection.

It says, "The woman is the glory of the man." And I had to think, especially those of us that are married, we have an opportunity to take care of our glory.

Do we want God to take care of us the way we take care of our glory, our wife? I think that could be a challenge for us, to take care, to nourish and cherish our glory, our wife that God has given us. Let's do a good job of that.

And then in verse 15, it says, "The woman's hair is a glory to her, and she is to take care of her glory." And it is to be covered.

In Isaiah chapter 6, verses 1 to 4 there, where Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, and God is very jealous of his glory. He said, "His glory, he's not going to give to anyone or anything else. It's his glory."

And this cherub there that was flying, it said it had six wings. And it said with two, he flew, and two, he covered his feet, and he covered his face too, I think, this cherub that was flying there.

He was covering some of that glory.

And I'm not sure why that all is, but we believe that the woman's glory, her hair, is to be covered, lest it become a distraction. If we observe the way many women do their hair, it is a distraction.

It says here that it is her glory.

Another example that I heard given once was in Ezekiel, where Lucifer fell. It says he was the covering cherub. He was covering something. I'm not sure what he was covering. Was he covering some of God's glory, or was he it called him the covering cherub there, and that he had a lot of beautiful things that were his covering, and that he was beautiful. And maybe I'll just turn to that a little bit, get a but it seems like he started uncovering himself and flaunting some glories or something that were to be covered.

In Ezekiel 28, verse 14, it calls him the anointed cherub that covereth. And it says, "I have set thee so. Thou wast on the holy mountain of God and hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created to iniquity was found in thee."

And then in verse

talks about him, verse 16, just get a phrase there where it talks about him being cast out. God told him that he's going to destroy him, but he was the covering cherub. He was covering something.

And I don't know how that all fits here, but he was covering something, and somehow he wanted to uncover some of the beauty or something that was to be kept hidden, and he became proud and became lifted up. And he was cast out of heaven because of that.

And I like the thought that in verse 15 here, it's, "For a woman to have long hair, it is a glory to her for her hair is given her for a covering. Lest it become a distraction, let it be covered."

We are to be a manifestation of the glory of God. Man, as he leads out, the woman, as she covers her head and submits to the man. The third aspect I'd like to look at, and this is the one that I really get inspired about, is here in verse 10 where it talks about, "For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels."

And I think there's a lot in this verse that I a lot of times didn't understand. Why angels? What are angels? What is this power?

The word power, if we look at the definition, the way it's used here, it would be a sense of ability, privilege, a force, or capacity, competency, freedom, mastery, token of control, delegated influence, authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength are all definitions of this word power.

It says a woman is to have power on her head because of the angels, freedom, delegated influence, authority, a symbol of authority.

And it's because of the angels. Why because of the angels?

In the Bible, angels are two things.

One, they're often sent from God to give a message to his people. I had to think of in Acts there where Philip was sent to that Ethiopian on the forget what, to Gaza or that road there. It says an angel came up to Philip and said that, "Go to this certain place and join yourself to this chariot." God had sent him with a message.

Zacharias, when he was offering sacrifices there in the temple, an angel came to him and told him that he would have a son, Mary. An angel came to her and told her that she would have God's son.

That's one of the things that angels did or else they were ministering to someone's needs. Jesus, when he was in the garden of Gethsemane, it says angels came and ministered to him.

And also in the Old Testament, in Genesis 18, where these angels came to Abraham, when he was getting ready to God was getting ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, these angels came to him and told him what he was going to do.

And then also angels went and pretty much pulled Lot out of Sodom before they destroyed it. So angels are not God, but they are sent from God.

And I would

I don't know everything about angels, but I would tend to believe that someone has said that they're not divine. They don't know everything.

They're not omnipresent like God is. They're not God. It says in Hebrews chapter 1 there, we read that they're lower than God is.

And it seems that angels need signs and symbols.

One example of that would be in Exodus chapter 12, where the death angel came through and destroyed the firstborn in every house, and God had told them that they're to put this blood on the doorpost of their house. And he said that, "When I see the blood, I'm going to pass over you."

There was a sign. It was a symbol, this power on her head because of the angels.

And I think our sisters have a tremendous privilege to symbolize to angels your submission. As angels see your covered head, they need that sign to see the relational order. And it's not only the heavenly angels, but it's also when we know when Satan was cast out of heaven, he took angels with him.

And we often refer to those as demons.

And also in Ephesians chapter 6, where it talks about putting on the whole armor of God, it talks about we're not wrestling against we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world.

Power on her head because of the angels, a symbol, a symbol of authority, a symbol of freedom, a symbol of power, something that covers.

And I believe as these angels see that, it says here, because of the angels, they know they can know where you stand.

See your submission and see your humility. And there's many testimonies where

because a woman was covered, maybe someone had some evil intentions or something, and they felt like they couldn't touch a woman that had her head covered. And I think that's a blessing. It doesn't mean that nothing will ever happen to us, but we are in submission to what God has to God's plan, his hedge of order.

And I think our motives need to be important. I think it should be something that covers

because it seems it's something that can be so easily lost. And I think it's interesting. It always blesses me to hear testimonies of a couple or families when they come to the Lord and they realize they need to make some changes. They need to make changes in the way they've been doing things, the way they've dressed.

And it often seems the head veiling seems to be one of the last things that

is practiced. But it always blesses me how the Lord brings that to pass. I had to think of I think it was Daniel Willis was here when he shared their testimony, how they came to the Lord. And they were missionaries in China there, and the group they were with. And he was feeling like his wife should maybe wear a veil, and he wasn't sure how to approach it. And at the same time, God was working in her heart and also in the hearts of the believers they were ministering to. And they were able to together start practicing this practice. And that just blesses me how the Lord brings that to pass.

And it also seems when an individual, a sister, kind of has a desire for the things of the world or a lack of submission, it often seems that is one of the first things that tend to disappear.

And

I guess we can ask ourselves the question, when does it cover? When doesn't it cover? And I guess that's one thing I've been thinking about in the last when we have family members who think it's no longer important. And

maybe it doesn't need to be visible anymore. We just maybe wear a piece of lace or something like that. I don't think that's adequate. I think we should it should be visible. It should be something that now I think also it should represent our local body that we're a part of. I don't think it should just be anything that we come across. It might need to be that if we start out, but it should be something that as a brotherhood, as a body, we work together on and practice together.

And it is a powerful symbol to the world we live in, in the world we live in. And I don't think it's something you need to be ashamed of. And I think as brothers, I think we should also be nonconformed. We shouldn't be trying to follow the world's fashions. There's a little story and this actually happened that I had come across a young man had taken and I'm not sure where this happened, but had taken his girlfriend out to eat somewhere. And when he went up to pay, she was wearing a head covering.

And the man at the register asked, "Well, now how does this work?" And the young man asked him, "Well, what are you talking about?" And he said, "Why are you with this girl? I mean, this is a Mennonite girl here. She covers her head," but he couldn't see anything, any evidence of anything that he represented, any kind of church or anything. And so he asked him, "Well, why do you represent why are you there like that?"

We're not to be conformed to the world, but we're to be transformed, have our mind renewed.

And I believe there's nothing more beautiful than a woman who is content and is committed to obedience to God and his order. And I believe it brings peace to the individual. It brings peace in a home, in a marriage, and also in the church. I think when we practice this, I know why we do it. We don't just do it because we've always done it, but we know why we do it. We do it as part of God's hedge of order.

It's something that we believe the Bible teaches. And just again, like to say, I'm thankful to be part of a local body, a brotherhood where we practice this. And we practice it literally like we do communion. It's not just something we think about or kind of a thought we have about, but it's a literal practice. It's something we practice.

And I'm just thankful for that and just want to hope it can it's interesting how the Lord brings things my way. When I start questioning something, then I'll hear a testimony or a teaching on something. And it happened to me for this subject. It's like, well, where do we stand on this?

But I think it should be our conviction. We don't just do it. We should know why so that we have an answer to give to those that ask us a reason of why we do what we do.

So I'm just thankful for God's order as we submit one to another, submit to God as our head, and strive to practice what we know as we live our life and serve our generation.