1. “A man ought not to have his head covered, since he is God’s image and glory; but the woman is the glory of the man” (1 Cor. 11:7).
Regardless of whether we are male or female, we are all out from God. He wants those who are male and those who are female to have distinctive functions. Therefore, He has a different arrangement for males and females. Under His arrangement He wants men to be His image and glory, and He wants women to be the glory of the man. For the sake of manifesting this arrangement, He uses the matter of head covering. Since the manifestation of men and women is different, He differentiates between men and women in the matter of head covering. Man is the image and glory of God; he is God’s representative. Consequently, he should not cover his head as a sign that he represents God as the head. The woman is the glory of the man; she is the representation of humanity. Consequently, she should cover her head as a sign that she represents human submission. The different representative functions of men and women do not come from human will or human teachings but from God’s will and God’s arrangement. This divine arrangement is the second basis for the apostle’s teaching concerning head covering.
1. “Man is not out of woman, but woman out of man; for also man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man. Therefore the woman ought to have a sign of submission to authority on her head for the sake of the angels...For just as the woman is out from the man, so also is the man through the woman” (1 Cor. 11:8-10, 12).
The arrangement of God’s will for men and women is different. In the order of God’s creation, there is a difference between men and women. First, He created the man, and then He created the woman. Furthermore, the woman is out of the man and for the man; the man is not out of the woman or for the woman. Although men are born through women, they are only “through” the woman, not “out from” the woman as the woman is “out from” the man. God’s creation of men and women is different, and God’s purpose for men and women is also different. According to His creation, the woman is out from the man, but the man is not out from the woman; according to His purpose, the woman is for the man, but the man is not for the woman. “Therefore the woman ought to have a sign of submission to authority on her head” (v. 10). She should have something covering her head.
God’s creation and purpose for men and women are completely different. Man is man and woman is woman, just as bronze is bronze and iron is iron. No matter how much people argue, they cannot make women into men, and no matter how the fashion changes, they cannot make men into women. Since God’s creation and purpose for men and women are different, the nature and function of men and women are also different. No one can deny this or overthrow this fact. This fact is the third basis for the apostle’s teaching on head covering.
1. “The woman ought to have a sign of submission to authority on her head for the sake of the angels” (1 Cor. 11:10).
The apostle does not want a woman to cover her head because of an ancient custom, as some suggest; rather, it is for the sake of the angels, as revealed by the Holy Spirit through the apostle. If he wanted women to cover their head because of an ancient custom, his teaching would not be worth considering, nor would it be related to people today. It could change with the age and be annulled by differing customs. Instead, he speaks of women covering their heads for the sake of the angels. This means we should be very impressed with this matter. Since this teaching is for the sake of angels, it cannot change with the age or customs. It cannot go out of date or be inappropriate for today. “For the sake of the angels” crosses time and customs. Regardless of the age or the custom, women should cover their heads for the sake of the angels.
What is the meaning of “for the sake of the angels”? This is deep and broad, and it requires many passages of the Bible for its interpretation. Briefly stated, this is the situation: When God first created the heavens and the earth, He appointed an archangel, a cherub, to govern the universe. This archangel lifted himself up because of his pride, and he rebelled against God, becoming Satan. When he rebelled, other angels followed him in his rebellion. All of this occurred before the creation of man. From that point forward, Satan and the rebellious angels who followed him did not submit to God’s authority, and they tried to overthrow God’s authoritative position. Therefore, God created man with the desire that man would submit to His authority and express His glory. Realizing this, Satan came to tempt man and to cause man to rebel against God and to follow him. He captured man. Through the Lord Jesus, however, God rescued us from Satan’s hand and made us the church. As people saved by God, the church should confess God’s authority and allow God to be the head. God wants us to have head covering to manifest this matter. We should practice head covering for the sake of the angels, showing them that created and redeemed men submit to God’s authority, confess God as the head, and allow God to be the head, even though they do not. We confess that God is the head, allow Him to be the head, and submit to His authority. This is the fourth basis for the apostle’s teaching of head covering.
Our practice of head covering glorifies God and, at the same time, shames Satan and the angels who followed him. Through head covering we confess that God is the head, and we shame them. This is one reason that God desires sisters to cover their heads. This is also the very reason that Satan causes people in the church to despise, neglect, and even oppose the matter of head covering. He knows that if the sisters cover their heads, it will be a shame to him.
Therefore, we should not consider head covering to be a small matter, and the sisters should not think that it does not matter whether or not they cover their heads, that is, whether or not they have a sign of submission to authority on their heads. If the citizens of a country fly their flag while their country is under enemy invasion, they are maintaining their country’s authority and defying the enemy’s invasion. Therefore, their flying of the flag is not a small thing. Head covering is the same because it displays a symbol of submission to God’s authority in a place that has been taken over by God’s enemy; it demonstrates our confession of God’s authority and rejects Satan’s illegal occupation. If we see the significance of this aspect of head covering, we will not have any dissension nor will we continue to allow Satan to have this as a basis for his continuing rebellion against God. We must allow God to thoroughly clean out Satan’s rebellious thoughts and life from within us so that our thoughts and ideas would be completely recovered from his deceit and usurpation and so that we would inwardly submit to God’s authority without the slightest dissension through our confession that God is the head. We should portray this kind of head covering before the entire creation, especially before the fallen angels (4:9), by confessing God as the head and allowing Him to be the head.
Oh, may we see that God wants the brothers to bare their heads and the sisters to cover theirs in order to obtain a practical portrayal in the universe—especially toward the angels—that we confess God’s authority for His glorification and deny Satan’s usurpation to his shame. If the brothers do not portray the head and instead say, “Why should we act as the head?” and if the sisters do not cover their head and instead say, “Why should we cover our heads? Why should we submit?” we would be invisibly overthrowing God’s arrangement for us, denying His authority, and making Satan with his angels happy. This must be something that the lovers of the Lord would never wish to do. If we truly love the Lord and see this matter, we should willingly submit to God’s arrangement, stand in our proper position, and portray the role that God has given us.