(…continued from the first part…)

An entrance into a tabernacle covers one up. This is what God, the Head of the Church, does; He tabernacles us, His Christian children. Amen! Remember also that the Jerusalem Temple is adorned with two veils. At the entrance of the temple is the kalumma (2Corinthians 3:13-14), separating the Holy place from the outer court, and at door of the Holy of Holies is the katapetasma (kat-ap-et’-as-mah): ‘something spread thoroughly, that is, (specifically) the door screen (to the Most Holy Place) in the Jewish Temple’. The Church is a woman, therefore, the temple must veil her Head: God.

I remember when I first joined Household of God Church and I needed clarification on this scriptural issue. I approached one of the ushers, Brother Mike Igbokwe (now an SAN –Senior Advocate of Nigeria). His wife was in a hurry to go home after church service, but the man said, “I need to show him the scripture”. The SAN relieved me with verse 16, “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God”. Who are the ‘we’, are they not the apostles, on whose shoulders lay the teaching of God’s word? In fact, even the Church of the Living God has no custom of head scarf in worship of Jehovah. But verse 10, “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels”, continued to give me sleepless nights until the Pastor, Reverend Chris Okotie explained that the angels come to our homes on errands. They, the angels, understand authority and would not be pleased to see wives not showing proper respect to husbands. No wonder Rev. Chris Okotie would always say, “After all you do not see me on Tina’s head”, when explaining this issue. The truth about the reason why I can teach this topic is because I have sat down to study it thoroughly. The word ‘power’ is exousia, ‘a delegated authority, a right’; which is given by the husband, the head of the family. Do we not expect children in a family set up? Why does the word of God not say, “The head of the child(ren) is the gunē “, after all she nursed both their gestation and the eventual parturition? It is because God sees only one head of the Christian family. Why? There is only one Husband (authority), one Christ (Saviour) and one God (The Father) and of course, one Energizing Comforter (the Holy Spirit). Selah.

One of the six garments God Himself designed for priests included the mitre (Exodus 28:4; Exodus 39:28 & Leviticus 8:9), which is a head covering. Aaron and his Levitical children did marry, hence, husbands. Why would God, in His fashion consciousness, design a priestly robe that would be contrary to His Pauline inspired words of, “Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head”? We should not be forgetful of the fact that God does not support half measures. He operates with an uncompromising standard of principles. No excuses are allowed in the things of God. The reason for this is too crystal clear: God speaks eternal words. They never go archaic: always in fashionable season.

Mary Magdalene did kiss the Lord’s feet and wiped the flowing tears not with her flowing robe but her very hair (methinks the hair of a woman is to be tucked away from seeing eyes? -a la Deeper Life Bible Church of Pastor W.F. Kumuyi). This scenario is a perfect illustration of the Church in a lavish appreciation and worship of her Head. Mary was completely dead to sin, a walking cadaver, before Jesus brought her to life (John 3:16). She kept herself behind – an indication of a humble servant. She bent low in total worship. She kissed her Lord as in, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little” (Psalm 2:12); all because she had rather kissed the Lord Jesus and not Baal (Job 31:27; 1Kings 19:18). Still in the spirit of worship she wiped the wetness with her long free flowing hair (which she had hitherto used to enhance her prostitution business!). She was no longer the morally loose Mary, so, we cannot argue that she was being her normal laxity. Trust the, always firm, Lord Jesus who would not waste any time in telling her to put her hair in the proper tucked away religious principle. She, as a type of Christian, understands Song of Solomon 5:13, “His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh”; see also Song of Solomon 5:5 and Ephesians 5:2, which reads, “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour”. This woman, prophetically, anointed the Lord for His eventual burial; and all the while she had her conspicuous long beautiful hair flowing freely! Selah!

In conclusion, it is apropos to appreciate the fact that God sits majestically in heaven and has perfect headship control of all things. Whatever He tells man to do is what He has already established and superintends spiritually. Nothing, therefore, can obviate the verity of His visionary institutions. The reason why we echo or put His word into physical demonstration is to adumbrate His eventual stand. The only way to serve the spiritual purpose of Divinity is to establish a concrete mundane version of that reality. Agreeing with God is tantamount to walking with Him like we see of Enoch, Abraham, Paul, David, Moses etc. There is no way any one will walk with the Lord and will not be rewarded by God in a beautifully handsome way. The word ‘walk’ in Hebrew is halak which translates ‘lifestyle’. Dogmatic insistence on the physical covering of a female’s head in worship can only be borne out of a ritualistic performance of religiosity. At what point in every woman’s life is she not in God’s presence? Is it when she is in the toilet or the bathroom or sleeping in bed? Should she not be wearing scarf every second, and permanently? The head-covering of 1Corinthians is a spiritual matter. It is a family matter, intimating the wife with her subjection to her head i.e. the husband. It is about headship. The Corinthians, like many Easterners, were customarily head-covering people. Paul saw absolutely nothing wrong with the tradition. “There is a spiritual dimension to this head-covering custom that I’ll love to intimate you with”, was Paul’s reason for this teaching. There was a kalumma and especially a katapetasma to cover God’s presence so that worshippers would not look on the LORD with disrespect. Worshippers are the Christians, espoused to Christ, the same way the wife is married to her head i.e. husband.

(Concluded)                                                                              

Read the first part here.

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