Man is a body, soul and spirit and God has dealt with mankind on the levels of the body or the natural, the soul and the spirit.
God first manifested Himself to man through the natural realm. Man’s access to God was a natural one. To make atonement for certain sins, certain sacrifices were made. As seen in Abraham’s life, the faith by which these rituals were performed made them effective.
The promises of God at that time were for natural blessings. Wars to gain a natural kingdom taught men to press toward the fulfillment of those promises. They fought enemies of flesh and blood and learned valuable lessons of obedience and thoroughness in purging out the enemies to the fulfillment of God’s purpose and promises.
The temptations to sin against God were more in the natural realm during this period. The gods of the surrounding nations, which were acceptable in the eyes of mankind, were symbols of acceptance. The Jews wanted to be like the other nations and have a king and to serve these gods that could be seen and handled.
To comprehend a God who is a Spirit by natural methods left a margin for misunderstanding. Rituals and traditions of men were built up around the teaching God had given them.
After 4,000 years of dealing with man predominantly on the natural realm, God began to deal with the realm of soul and manifested Himself to man on the level of the soul. The establishing of the Church taught men to believe God for the fulfillment of His Word. Those who believed did not always see on the natural the evidences for which they believed and even suffered.
The whole world shifted from the natural worship of idols and turned to a perverted version of worshipping God on the plane of soul. The world has always reacted conversely to the method God uses to manifest Himself to His children. Now in this day, God is revealing and manifesting Himself on the plane of spirit. Again the world is shifting to a spirit emphasis. The occult and mystic religions are speaking to the youth. Drugs are a door to psuedo “spiritual” experiences that young people are seeking. The spirit of rebellion and of lust are driving people to acts not even contemplated in a different age.
The Word of God is being revealed on a spirit plane and is creating a spirit-walk with God for men today. Man as a body, soul and spirit could misinterpret God’s Word when it was expressed on the planes of the natural and soul for God is a Spirit. But when He deals with us on the spirit plane, He is manifesting Himself in His own realm.
This means all the commands and rituals contained in God’s dealing on the natural and soul planes, take on new depth and meaning when revealed on the spirit plane. A deeper knowledge of God is imparted to our enlightened understanding. This is important to remember when we read I Corinthians 11:2–16.
Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who has anything on his head while praying or prophesying, disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, disgraces her head; for she is one and the same with her who is shaved.
For if a woman be not covered herself, let her also shear herself; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to shear herself or herself shaved, let her be covered. For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake.
Therefore the woman ought to have authority on her head, because of the angels. However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman is from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things are from God.
Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering. But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor have the churches of God.
Here Paul is revealing a truth of deep spirit—significance to a people who were receiving a revelation of God on the plane of the soul. I do not know what ritual or practice arose in the early church but I do know that much diversity of practice has risen in the churches in recent history. This has ranged from a bonnet worn continually to scarves thrown over the head in the sanctuary to complete ignoring of the Scripture entirely.
In I Corinthians 11, the need for a covering for the woman is clearly shown. The word used is “covering” except in verse 10, where the word is “authority”.
In spite of the warning in verse 16, there is much contention concerning this custom. Such contention is only natural for each group interprets the Word in their own way. All are sincere in their own interpretations.
In this present move of God there is a deep hunger to walk in the Spirit in all the fullness that God provides. Many Scriptures have been opened to us on a plane not revealed to us before and so we find ourselves in a constantly growing and deepening but nevertheless changing concept. Many doctrines about which we held dogmatic views only a few years ago have been revealed on such a deeper, richer plane as we have grown and changed in this walk of the Spirit that we now realize God must do a work in us before we are able to hear many of His Words.
We hold God’s Word in our own limited understanding. What we have been taught, how we have been taught, experiences and circumstances influence our understanding. Our hunger for God and our openness in the Spirit have an expanding effect on our understanding.
There are two ways to see God’s Word—with man’s reasoning or with the revelation of the Spirit.
Several years ago, the Spirit began to open our understanding to the tremendous truth of submission. Over the years, as we walked in the light we had, obeying each progressive revelation, we began to see the great provision God had made in this seemingly simple thing of submission.
The pattern God has established for the home is His provision for our growth into the fullness of God’s purpose for us. God is creating man in His provision for our growth into the fullness of this life—abundant life—has been made. If we can see in God’s Word not just rituals and rules for this life, but a pattern for growth into His Life, we can know the glory He has ordained for those who follow Him.
There is covering in the spirit where there is submission. True submission places us under responsible divine authority and gives us protection against deception.
The fifteenth verse refers back to the natural covering of long hair. Any physical covering of a hat or long hair etc. should only be a symbol of the spiritual covering of true submission. Verse 6 mentions the natural covering of long hair as being distinct from the covering admonished. You can rely on a natural covering of a hat or you can rely on nature’s covering of long hair and it is still possible (and even probable) that you will miss what God is saying.
A covering is necessary. But it must be one that is effective in the realm where spirits are threatening and where prophecy and prayer are made effective. To be clothed with a spirit of submission is to be clothed with a covering that is both a protection with authority and a glory.
Many a woman relying on a natural covering knows nothing of the spirit of submission that actively believes God to fulfill His purpose in her husband’s life and submits to God’s dealing in his life. If she relies on the natural realm, she will use natural methods such as nagging and aggression to push her husband into what she considers the best path to follow.
To seek a spirit of submission as a covering means to submit to the Lordship of Christ over your life. To see your husband as representing Christ, and to acknowledge in everything you do, no matter how trivial, that it is done unto the Lord, is a freedom that must be attained by the grace of God.
We are not ignoring the covering. But we realize we must have a covering that will be more effective than the mere cloth of hair. We cannot be content with symbols of submission without the true spirit of submission. We must have the spirit of submission crowning our heads with glory.
There is no greater treasure in life than true submission in the grace of God. It opens doors of authority and protection and provision that can never be opened in any other way.
If your faith in this covering is activated by wearing a veil, a scarf, a bonnet or a hat, or by long hair then let it be by faith. But don’t let these be a substitute or a mere symbol without the reality. And don’t ignore this portion of Scripture. In God’s eyes an uncovered woman is as bad as a bald woman is in the eyes of man. Her glory has been taken away.