Thirsting Souls Bible Teaching

(1Co 11:13) “Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? (14)  Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?”  “Comely”: fit, proper, what is right. Notice the proof is drawn from the comparison to the man doing what we know instinctively (nature). My grandfather once said, “It is not that men do not know what it right. It is that they will not do what is right.”

(1Co 11:12) “For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.”   Yes, the man and the woman are each from the other (rib and birth), but it is God that gave each life. It is God that we are please, not ourselves, nor one another.

(1Co 11:11) “Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.”  This speaks of the oneness (body and spirit) resulting from marriage. Point is both need to fulfill their role before God. Whether they do or not affects their relationship to Him: fellowship, blessings.

(1Co 11:10)  “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.”  Our lives are to be a testimony of submission to God. A testimony even to the angels of God. The word “power” speaks to God’s authority. In other words, the length of her hair is worn in submission to God.

(1Co 11:9) “Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.”  The Bible says God made a “help meet” for man. That is, one capable of meeting the needs of man’s heart. God made man to need close fellowship. Physically, only a woman can meet that need. Spiritually, only God Himself can meet that need.

(1Co 11:8) “For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.”  Here we have reinforced to us the teaching of creation, how woman came to be. Amazing when you think of it: woman created from a part of man and yet was made to be the one who gave birth to men!

(1Co 11:7) “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.”  Our sin nature has so warped our (men’s) thinking, that we no longer consider we are in God’s image and therefore ought to glorify Him in all that we do. Surely those with a heart for God would conduct themselves very differently.

(1Co 11:6) “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.”  One motivation stands for obedience to any and all of the Word of God: how thankful that individual is for the price Jesus paid paying for their sin. Love prompted the sacrifice; love prompts the obedience.

(1Co 11:5) “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.”  Verses 14 and 15 explain that the covering referred to is hair. Notice she isn’t shaven, but her hair is now close enough to that of a man that in God’s eyes she just as well be shaven. (1Co 11:15) “But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.”  Her hair is her “glory”, not shame or symbol of being lower. Yet for both the man and the woman, they have a place of glory given them by God Who made them in His Own image!

 (1Co 11:4) “Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.”  Verses 14 and 15 explain that the covering referred to is hair. When we pray or teach, having hair like unto a woman’s, then we dishonor God: (1Co 11:7) “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God:” Consider then the Law of the Nazarite. Not cutting one’s hair was to humble them before God.