What Is a Headcovering? — Dan Mast

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I trust that it's not hard this morning to shut everything else out and concentrate, bring our hearts and our minds together, allow the Lord to give us direction today. That's His heart. He wants to bless us.

He wants to fill us. I just wish to greet each of you this morning in the precious name of Jesus. I'm really glad to be here this morning with you all. I haven't seen you for so long and it's just good to see all of you.

I appreciate the tenor of the meetings this morning, just the consecration, the willing to do His will, His desires, just like that for an emphasis. It goes well with what the Lord's been putting on my heart the last weeks and what I would like to share on this morning.

I again would like to say this morning that what I want to share is not directed at anyone in particular. I'm not preaching to any one of you singly, but all of you together. And it's a message that I believe would be fit to preach on the street to anybody out there and anywhere in the world because it's God's word and God's word is always, it's for everybody.

It's not just for a few elect people, but the God's word, I believe, is to go out through all the world and that's God's heart that His will be known in all the world. And I would like to speak this morning again on the issue of the head covering.

The Head Covering as a New Testament Teaching

The title of the message is what is the head covering? And even though I speak on this out of first Corinthians 11, I do not, I found out it goes a whole lot deeper than the sisters. I have another message that I would like to preach to the brothers out of first Corinthians 11.

It is the, this chapter I found is just as big a challenge to me as it is to the sisters. And I want you to know that sisters, that this is not something that we as brothers are trying to put upon you to weigh you down.

Not at all. Or it's not a, not something that we want to put on you. It's not something of bondage. Matter of fact, Paul brings that out in this chapter. It's not something that is a domineering. It's not a domineering requirement.

Let's just part of God's order. And that's why we want to share on it. The other message that I had was preached several weeks ago was on headship, modesty, honor, and respect, which are three principles that I found in, in this chapter.

And so I would like to speak this morning on several things, actually. What is the head covering? When is it, when should it be worn? Who should wear it? And also what about the angels? Where does that come in?

And, uh, and what does nature teach us about it? And those are some of the subjects. And I don't know if we'll, I'm going to try to get through this this morning, but again, you may this morning not agree with everything that I share.

I don't know. And it doesn't matter to me. I just want to share God's heart. What I feel is God's heart. And if there's something that is my thoughts, I want you to know that I'll, I'll try to say it that way, that this is my thought.

When there are some things that may be just my thoughts and if they are, uh, take it for a grain of salt or don't, um, necessarily be offended by it. If it's just my thought, I want you to build, to take heed to the word of God, to especially take heed to what God says about it and try to get God's heart in the matter.

That is what we want to share this morning. In the past, perhaps you thought of the head covering as a prayer veil. I did. I've heard that term a lot. The, uh, sometimes you've may have thought as a veil, as something like in a wedding, you know, sometimes we see the bride with a veil, her head veiled with a real thin see-through thing that hangs over her head.

And, uh, some people have that in mind as a veil, that that is a veil, which that is called a veil. But I believe what the Bible actually depicts as a head covering is not actually alone a prayer veil, although I'm not going to throw that all the way out.

I believe it's more than that. I believe it's more than a prayer veil and it's believed that it is something that is, is, uh, for the, it is something that a woman should have for the purpose of covering, not for revealing.

It's for the purpose of covering, covering the hair. That is what, um, God's word would teach. The, sometimes we see or hear this that the head covering is a symbol of submission. That is not true, or that is not really what God's word would say.

We need to remember it's more than that. It's the covered head is the symbol. It's not the head covering. It's the covered head that is a symbol, if you would call it a symbol. Before I go into the message, I would like to, as an introduction, speak a little bit about the process of progressive revelation in the Old Testament.

Progressive Revelation from Genesis to Christ

And by that I mean, if we would go back to Genesis, in Genesis, we see some very, in the first chapter, in the first in the time of creation, we see some very basic truths in Genesis. And it's interesting to know that here in, uh, 1 Corinthians 11, he refers a lot back to Genesis and in, but in Genesis, we see basic concepts that blossom into beautiful revelations, uh, of the truth of God.

And that is revealed to mankind as, as time went on. For an example, in Genesis 3, 15, God speaks to the serpent and says this, I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed, and it shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel.

Now that is, uh, that is actually a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, but it's very big. If you would have heard that from God back in them days, you, you would have probably not understand like Adam and Eve.

I doubted whether they understood it, what God really meant. Maybe at least I'm thinking that way. And it's very big. It's, it's a big concept, but as we go on and we look in accidents, we see the Passover lamb there again was something of a symbolic of the, of the lamb that was to come the lamb of God in numbers.

And then we see the brazen serpent. We see the illustration of the brazen serpent there, how Moses raised up a serpent. There was another illustration of it. And then we go onto Isaiah 53. It seems like Isaiah almost saw it, at least what he spoke there.

It was, became very more explicit there. And then we go on into the new Testament. And here was John the Baptist preaching out there by the river Jordan. And he told the people, behold the lamb of God.

There he was, there was this, which was prophesied back in Genesis. And that was manifested right there before them all. And as we can see the process of progressive revelation there, how it, how through time God revealed more and more.

And so it is in, in many other concepts we could see in Genesis, the concepts of shame, nakedness and clothing. We see the concept of headship. We see the concept, concept of honor and respect there. The same concepts that we see in the book of Corinthians there in 1 Corinthians 11, on the concept of shame, the seed thought in that was, you know, the seed that was sown there was before sin, you know, they were both naked and after sin they hid.

Before sin, they were both naked and they weren't ashamed, but after they sinned, they both hid. Adam and Eve hid and sowed fig leaves to cover their bodies. It's the first, the first time we read about shame, how they became ashamed of their sin and God clothed them.

Now it doesn't say a lot about it. It doesn't say how he made the garment that he closed them with, but he clothed them with skins of animals. It says, but we know from that, that it was a shameful deed to it.

After they had sinned, it became a shameful deed to be naked. And as we go on, we could see more of it in numbers. There we read about the woman that the unfaithful woman and how it was shameful for her to be uncovered.

She was considered unfaithful. And then as we go on, we might turn to this one in Isaiah 47. I'd like for you just to turn to that. Take a look at this one. It's a picture of Babylon, Isaiah 47, the first three verses.

It's a picture of Babylon here. It says, come down and sit in the dust. Oh, virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground. There is no throne. Oh, daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

Take the millstones and grind meal. Uncover thy locks. Make bare the leg. Uncover the thigh. Pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered. Yea, thy shame shall be seen. I will take menageance and I will not meet thee as a man.

Verse five says, sit thou silent and get thee into darkness. Thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms. You know, there we see Babylon, a picture of rebellion. She had rebelled against God. And there we see the shame of her rebellion.

He says, come off of their throne. Sit down on the ground. Get down. And he says, grind in the mill. You're going to be brought down to slavery. It was a shame. She thought herself to be a virgin. Her virginity was gone.

He says, uncover thy locks. The tenderness is gone. The modesty is gone. You no longer are tender. The glory is gone. No more will there be glory. See, uncover thy locks. It was a shameful thing. Uncover the thigh.

It was shameful. Uncover the leg. Thy nakedness, thy shame shall be seen. Babylon. It's just, it's a picture there of shame. Again, we see how this, more of a revelation of shame. Song of Solomon. We read about the harlots there.

How the virtuous woman went out. And the virtuous woman was mistaken for a harlot. And the watchman took away her veil. And that, again, is a picture of shame. The virtuous woman was not to be out at night.

The virtuous woman is not to be out running the streets at night. That was where the harlots were. And we see that the continuity of thought all through the Old Testament of shame. And some points that we need to see, that I'd like for us to understand, which I believe is the reason that sisters should cover their heads even today, is that God's moral law assumed that a virtuous woman clothed themselves and covered their heads.

And unfaithful women would need to be uncovered. That was God's moral law. And in the New Testament, I believe that we can expect three things. Continuity of thought. Further development of the thoughts.

And no contradiction. I don't believe that you'll find contradictions from God's laws in the Old Testament that it would contradict itself as it comes into the New Testament. But only in the New Testament, I believe it's more exploded.

It's more, you can see it farther. You can see more of it. And when, as we look at these questions that we have here, I'd like for us to think about that. What was God teaching all through the Bible on these subjects?

What was God's heart? There's a continuity of thought. That runs through it. Let's turn back to first Corinthians. And we want to read the chapter here as we go on. First Corinthians 11. He followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. And as I was thinking on those verses there, I again realized that Paul, Paul was just simply bringing, bringing God's moral law back to them.

And in some of the commentaries, the thought was brought out that some of them even wondered why that Paul would speak on this subject, because it was the common practice in the world. It was a common practice in the church.

And why would Paul need to speak so much on this subject? But I believe God had it in his plan because God knew that down through time we needed to know, you know, this was something that the churches practiced.

It was a moral practice that they had all through time up to approximately 100 years ago is when it started vanishing. And today we see very little of it. That's why I believe that God's law didn't change.

It's that we people changed. And that's why that it has become an issue among many people. And sometimes people say it's not, it's a minor thing. And maybe it is. But if we stop to think of the moral value of it, I think we'll find out it is not a minor, but it is a more major thing than we realize.

Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote this chapter. And if we say that this part was just for the Corinthian church, which is what most of the churches teach nowadays, they say that this part is only for the Corinthian church.

What about the rest of the chapter? Is that also just for the Corinthian church? We'd have to, we may as well face it, we can't take half of the chapter and throw it away. The whole thing, God was inspired, inspired Paul to write the whole thing.

Headship and the Teaching of 1 Corinthians 11

Well, let's go on and read here. 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 prophesies 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 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.

And for this cause, that 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.

Judge in yourselves, is it calmly that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Does 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. All right, what is the head covering? Is it the hair or is it a cloth covering? What was Paul referring to? And why do we come to the conclusion that is a piece of clothing rather than the hair?

I would like to give you three reasons why I believe that it is a piece of clothing rather than the hair that he is talking about in the first part of this chapter. The first reason is because throughout the history of time from Genesis on up to this time, it was a moral law of God for women to cover their heads in respect and honor to their head and to their God.

And this was obviously a cloth veil. The Greek word for that is katakalupto. Katakalupto, I'll write it on the board here. You can see what the two words are that are used here. I didn't spell it quite right, I don't think.

That was the Greek word for the cloth veil. The second reason is because it doesn't make sense to explain verses like verse six with the interpretation being long hair. And if you would look at verse six with me, we will explain that.

For if the woman be not covered, let's say this was the hair. Say this is the hair. If the woman were not covered, okay. If the woman was not covered, I don't know how to do that, rather. Say this is the woman and she wasn't covered.

She has short hair or has her hair cut off. The word shorn and shaven both. Shorn is like, it means the same as sheep shearing. It means short hair. It means real short. Talking about real short hair here.

If she have short hair or she be not covered, then it says let her also be shorn. That doesn't make sense, does it? If it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. So you would say if it be shorn, you'd have to take more off, I guess.

I don't know where you'd get more. If you shave it off or shear it off, you couldn't take any more off. I mean, I don't know how else to illustrate it but that. It doesn't make sense to interpret that as hair for the covering, as long hair for the covering.

And the third reason that I believe that it's not the hair is because in verse 15, there is a different Greek word. And that word in verse 15 where it says, but if a woman have long hair, it is a glory for her for her hair is given her for a covering.

Notice that it says for a covering. And that word covering is parabolion. Let's spell that right. Parabolion, that's the second word that's given there. That word means, the first word, this word means, means something hanging down.

Actually the word kata, the first part of the word means intensive, kalukta means to cover. Intensive covering, intensive hanging down covering is what it means. Parabolion means something thrown around the body, a vesture, a mantle.

Something, in other words, this is talking about a natural, in this verse he's talking about a natural covering given by God that is like a vesture thrown around the body. And the other word is talking about something that you put on the head that hangs down.

That's what I get from the different word study books that I've read on it. And if you look into most of your commentaries, even the more liberal commentaries that you find, there's the biggest percentage of them all agree that it was a cloth covering that they wore.

And that is what he's speaking about. Those are the three reasons that I believe he's talking about a cloth covering. Because to begin with, it was a moral law of God for women to cover their heads. The second reason was because it doesn't make sense to interpret verse 6 as being long hair.

And the third reason is the difference in the words. The words themselves are different. So we, I trust this will help us to understand that it is speaking about a cloth covering and it's not speaking about hair.

I know when I was, I used to think myself, it was a question to me. Is it really a cloth covering? And I used to read these verses and it was confusing to me. And I know that it's a confusing thing to a lot of people to understand what Paul is saying here.

But I believe if we study it, we'll come out the same. We'll understand that that is what he was talking about, that it was two different coverings. The one is the natural covering that God gave, that nature gives us.

The other one is the one that we put on as a sign of subjection. Okay. When should it be worn? Well, some people believe that you should only wear it in a worship service or maybe in a prayer meeting or in your quiet time.

The Bible says when praying or prophesying, every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered dishonored his head, but every woman that prayeth or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonored her head for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

And I, I believe that it would be good to explain a little bit why the thought is there. That would be the same, even as if she were shaving, shaven, that was even the same as if her hair, she didn't have any hair on her head.

Now, if you would find a woman that didn't have any hair on her head, or did you ever see any that had her hair all taken off? It would, it's a shameful thing. I don't think this morning that if, if I would have a razor here and I would offer that you, that any sister that would want to have her hair cut off would come up and we'd just cut it all off.

I don't think I'd have any volunteers because it just isn't, it is a shameful thing. And Paul is just simply saying to not cover your head is the same thing. It is a shameful thing. And that's why she should cover her, her head.

Another reason I believe that he, he writes it this way is because the woman's hair is given her for a glory, which we'll talk about that later. Some also, maybe I should just leave that for later. But anyhow, when should she wear it when she's praying or prophesying?

When the Head Covering Should Be Worn

When should man uncover his head when praying or prophesying? The word praying in the Greek is pras, prasihumaya, something like that. I don't know if I can pronounce it right, which literally means to pray to God, to supplicate, to worship, to will, and to wish.

Looking at it from the principle of headship, when should it be worn? When should men be unveiled and women veiled? The word unveiled is this word. It just simply has an A in front of it. In Greek, that is unveiled.

And that is veiled. When should a man be unveiled? Well, when praying, we could look at it. He should be unveiled when he's praying. When should you pray? When should a man pray? When should a woman pray?

When shall we be praying? We should be praying all the time, shall we not? Shouldn't it be in our breath? It should be our breath. It should be our thoughts. It should be that which we do. And sometimes, maybe when we're working, God will bring somebody to your mind or something to your mind, maybe a need in your own life.

You should be able to pray. I remember visiting in a home in Massachusetts where the sister had just come to the knowledge that she should cover her head when she prays. And so she kept a towel or something by the couch.

She kept a towel in the kitchen. She kept a towel here and there. Different places where whenever the Lord would impress on her to pray, she would go and get this and put it on her head and then she would pray.

And it finally got to the place where she thought, well, I may as well wear this all the time. And really, Phil, it should be that way that we pray all the time. During the course of your day, you thought of someone.

God impresses you to pray. Do you wait to pray till Sunday comes or do you wait to pray till the prayer meeting or till you have quiet time? No, you want to pray now. And that's God's will that we pray when God brings someone to our mind.

Just like this morning, I kept, Tim kept coming to my mind and I believe it's God's will that we pray for Tim. I believe that we shouldn't push it off. But when God brings someone to our heart, let's pray for that.

I believe is is something that God wants his people to do to intercede for others, intercessory prayer and to be ready to pray instantly in season and out of season, be willing to pray, ready to pray.

So God wants us to be that way. Looking at the principle of another aspect of prayer is worship. How often does your heart well up with praise and adoration? How often does it well up with goodwill and appreciation for what God has done for you?

And maybe you burst out in a song and praise to God. I believe it's God's will that we be prepared for that. Praying and prophesying. Prophesying is another word. To speak, prophesying simply means to speak under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

So it may be that God gives you a word to speak. Maybe when you're visiting someone, maybe when you're testifying to someone, maybe when you're in a worship service, God gives you a word to speak. We need to be prepared at all times for that.

Remember that it's not just something you wear to church, but it should be worn all the time because you in the church assembly, this isn't the only place that we have church. Do you know that? It's not the only place.

You are the church. Do you know that? You are the church. When you're at home, when you're at the store, wherever you are, you are the church. And God wants you to be ready to prophesy, wants you to be ready to praise God, wants you to be ready to pray at all times.

I believe that's God's will. That's why he says that we should, when we pray or prophesy, we should be ready for that. So looking at it from the principle of godly headship, of honor and respect, we should be prepared in this way.

Sisters should have their heads covered, men should be uncovered, ready to pray at all times. The question may come to you, well, and I know it has to me already, and I'm not sure how I feel about this all the time, but as brothers sometimes we, in the wintertime especially, we wear something on our heads.

Well, is this wrong? Is it wrong for us to wear something on our heads for the reason of cold? I don't have much protection anymore, and so I wear something on my head for the purpose for a weather garb.

And I know there was a time that I was very conscious about that, and I still am. I still believe that as men we are created in the image and in the glory of God. And taking his Bible, opening his Bible, or sharing verses together, I still think it's best for men to not even have a weather garb on his head.

Even though I don't believe he does it for the purpose of covering his head, but more for the weather garb protection. But I think it's still honorable and right for a man to remove his hat, or his cap, or stocking cap, or whatever you wear when you speak about the things of God.

When you pray, is it not? It doesn't seem right to me for men to pray with their heads covered, even with weather garb. Even if you wear it for that purpose. It doesn't seem right to me. I don't know.

I'm open for that. Those are my thoughts. I'm not sure if I'm thinking right or not in that, but I'll be open for correction in those things. Looking at it from the modesty standpoint, when should it be worn?

I don't believe that there's any definite age given in the Bible. I can't find anything that definitely says that when a girl gets to be 10 years old that she should wear something like that. It doesn't give no specific age, but there's some things we could consider that might help us.

Let us think about it this way. When does it become a shameful thing for a young lady to be uncovered? When does it become a shameful thing? When should mother teach the young ladies to be shamefaced, sobriety, and virtuous, and honoring the father, honoring the mother, or honoring the man?

When should that be done? When should a young virgin keep her hair, which is her glory, covered in modesty? When should a young virgin do that? I think each one of us can discern that as we think about it a little bit.

We'll be able to discern when that should be, even though there is no specific age given. I know there's times when some believe that they need to cover their heads when they're just little girls already, or maybe babies.

I've even seen babies that were just born that they cover their heads. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but that little child doesn't understand, doesn't have no inkling why. I do believe that it's important that they understand why they do it.

So I believe that the Lord give us wisdom, the Lord give you mother's wisdom, as you discern that. When is the time? Some think that it should only be when they're converted, and when they give their hearts to the Lord.

And I really don't find that that that is what the Bible would teach. I see it more as a moral thing. I guess that's what I, in studying this, I found it more to be a moral issue than a sign of conversion.

And so I think we should look at it, that would be my feeling about it, that we should look at it from a moral standpoint. So, okay, now as we go on, let's talk about the angels. What about the angels?

Head Coverings, Authority, and Angels

In verse 10, it says, for this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. First thought I'd like to share with that is where there is honor, there is right relationship, glory and power, glory and authority or power.

Authority and power are interchangeable, I believe. And the Bible uses the word power. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. Where there is honor, where there is power on her head, where there is honor, where there is honor for the man for her head, there is power in her life.

Where there is honor, where the man honors Christ, there is power in his life. Where the woman honors man, there is power in her life. When a man honors Christ as his head with an uncovered head, there is glory and power in his life.

Man reflects God's glory when he exercises the responsibility of authority God has given him. And that is a particular point that I would like to share sometime more in detail in a message. Because God was created in the image and glory of, or man was created in the image and glory of God.

And when man takes his responsibility, what God has given him in the right way, he will glorify God. He will glorify Christ. And that is man. But there's some principles that we need to follow to do that in a right way.

Because authority is something that can get out of hand when it's not tempered with a right view, when you don't have a right view of it. When woman covers her head in honor and respect to man, they both reflect the honor and glory of Christ and God, to both men and angels.

So when you respect your husband, sisters, you are respecting Christ, you're respecting God. And when man respects, when the man is uncovered, the woman covers her head, unitedly they respect God as their creator.

And there's glory in their life. And the angels know it. The angels know when there's respect, when there's proper order and respect in their lives. And the angels are there as a protection to such. There are many angels, I believe we don't realize our lives are filled with experiences that involve angels.

And we oftentimes don't realize it. Things don't just happen. God orders them that way. And I believe God's angels are around many times when we don't realize it. But it gives the angels, how would you say, it gives the angels, God's angels, a special invitation or they realize that they are welcome in your life when you respond this way to God, to God's order.

Then God's angels are also welcome in your life. And there's power and authority in a woman's life to reject evil spirits or evil angels when she has her head covered. And then as we read in verse 8 through 12, I like to read those verses.

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. And skip down to verse 11. 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 man also by the woman, but all things of God. Now, why does Paul bring this in again? Don't we see a continuity of thought from Genesis as we look at these things?

We see a continuity of thought all the way through there. Well, I believe the reason that Paul brought these things in to the picture is because authority can corrupt. Like I mentioned earlier, men, there are men when they realize that they have authority, then it goes to their head.

And that's wrong. That's the wrong kind of authority. God does not want us to, if God has given you authority, if God has given you power, don't let it go to your head. It's not, that is not power or it's not God's power.

It's Ichabod. Men who let power go to their heads, exalt themselves and dominate others. We see that all the time, especially we see it in young men. Young men are much more prone to do that than older men.

Older men, somehow after all the knocks of life, they begun to realize that they really don't have much to say and they don't have much dominating power in their lives of their selves. But young men oftentimes have a dominating spirit when it goes to their head.

And that's not right. It's not right. The New Testament authority that that Jesus talked about is servanthood. Jesus said in Mark 10, verse 44, whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all.

If you want to be chief in your home, you be the servant. If you want to, if you want to order things around in your home, you'd be the servant. You'd be the one. Remember a certain man and his wife, he was a domineering man and he wanted to have a simpler lifestyle and all that.