As we enter a time in history where respect, authority, and submission are met with arguments and challenging debate, the question of the importance of a head covering seems to be a recurring theme, especially among the women. Is it still important today? Does the Father really expect us to cover our heads in worship?
I am writing from a woman’s perspective of wearing a head covering in worship to my Father. Yahweh is the King over all creation. Yahweh has placed Yahshua in authority underneath Him and then has created man to serve next in line underneath Yahshua. We see from Scripture that woman was created for man’s companionship and not the other way around:
Yahweh———-Yahshua———-man———-wife———-children.
Just as in a major company, there is a President (head), then someone next in line who serves the President and then there are managers who are underneath the Vice President and answer to him. If there are problems or issues in the chain of command, the one in charge is the one who answers to his boss, etc. When we wear coverings on our head, especially in our worship, we are acknowledging that there is someone in authority over us, that we are submitting, agreeing, and recognizing the authority line that He has placed in existence.
In Genesis 24 we read of the situation where Rebecca sought to cover herself with a veil when she learned it was Isaac (her soon-to-be husband/master) who was approaching them.
Gen 24:65, “…and she had said to the servant, ‘Who is this man walking in the field to meet us? And the servant said, ‘It is my master.’ So she took a veil and covered herself.”
When a sin or disobedience to Yahweh’s Word happened in the chain of command, we see in the following verse that the woman bore her sin alone and the husband was not responsible to account for her or bear her sin. Her covering/protection was removed and she would bear full punishment for her actions. Looking at the Scripture below, we surmise that if a woman was guilty of committing adultery or causing her husband to suspect her of adultery then she was brought to the temple and her head was “uncovered.”
Num 5:18, “And the priest shall make the woman stand before יהוה, and shall uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy, while the priest holds in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse.”
An important aspect that seems to be missing in the concept of the head covering is that a woman is protected underneath her husband or her Father. If her covering was removed or off of her head, then essentially her “protection” was no longer applicable.
Eph 5:22-27, “Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Master.”
Eph 5:23, “Because the husband is head of the wife, as also the Messiah is head of the assembly, and He is Savior of the body.”
Eph 5:24, “But as the assembly is subject to Messiah, so also let the wives be to their own husbands in every respect.”
Eph 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, as Messiah also did love the assembly and gave Himself for it.”
Eph 5:26, “in order to set it apart and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,” (Footnote: Rev. 19:8-9).
Eph 5:27, “in order to present it to Himself a splendid assembly, not having spot or wrinkle or any of this sort, but that it might be set-apart and blameless.”
Wearing a head covering shows that we respect the chain of authority that Yahweh has put in place since creation. The woman was made to serve the man and man was NOT made for the woman. The reason for the covering, I believe, is to know and understand that during worship we are in submission to our Creator and we are outwardly acknowledging that with our physical covering.
May YHWH be with you as you further your search for the truth!
– Luann Avalos