Why I Cover

The symbol representing that Adam was created first, then Eve; that the man was not made for the woman but the woman for man is the hair on a woman’s head, with long hair on the head of the woman disclosing to humans and angels that the woman understands she remains, in or out of marriage, as a disciple’s body is to its inner self. Therefore, since the woman’s long hair relates to the relationship between the inner self and the body, the fabric covering with which the wife covers, or should cover her long hair shows that the wife is under the authority of her husband.

Two coverings, one physical, one spiritual, with both coverings on the head of the woman where they function as one covering.

Because outward circumcision made the head of a male naked, short hair on a man’s head represents circumcision of the heart; for the foreskins of hearts—the sack holding the heart—cannot be removed and the person still live. Hence, a man’s short hair and a woman’s long hair, both, symbolize that these two Christians desire to be obedient to Christ Jesus, their spiritual Head. But the hair on neither the husband’s nor the wife’s head says anything about the wife being obedient to her husband as the body is to obey its head, the inner self. And for this reason, the wife is to have a fabric covering that covers her hair.

As the Lord God communicated with ancient Israel by giving or by withholding rain in its season (Deut 11:10–15), the Lord communicates with Christians through both the groaning of the spirit and through giving or withholding blessings—and a man communicates with the Lord through both his hair length and through his desire to keep the commands of God, whereas the woman communicates by her hair length and by whether she chooses to obey her husband, disclosed to all by the woman covering her hair with a fabric covering.

This symbolic garment of grace …

The Apostle writes that his people, natural Israel, stumbled, that through their trespass salvation could come to Gentiles, with salvation forming a new nation of Israel (1 Pet 2:9-10), one reckoned not through physical descent but through spiritual descent, so as to make natural Israel jealous (Rom 11:11, 14).

Pause for a moment: how will worshiping on Sunday and eating swine’s flesh make natural Israel jealous? All either will do is repulse the natural Jew, causing him to look with distain upon the poor goyim who are so foolish as to think they have favor with God through their disobedience. Only by living as a Jew without being physically circumcised and without having descended from the patriarchs will the natural Jew feel jealousy.

Today, even the goyim that live by the commandments of God, keeping the weekly Sabbath as well as the high Sabbaths, do not make the natural Jew jealous for these goyim have no love, no “works,” no spiritual fruit; plus, they eat cheeseburgers. They are spiritually dead (not because they eat cheeseburgers), collectively a corpse that utters words without understanding. Nor do these Sabbath-observing goyim make Anabaptist Christendom jealous, for the women of these Sabbatarians do not cover their hair. Their women look like the world and act like the world. They might as well be the world.

Question: would a Sabbatarian wearing an Amish cap make the Amish jealous? How about wearing an Old German Baptist cap, or a Mennonite mesh cap?

Grace is the “covering” of Christ Jesus’ righteousness, put on daily by prayer as if His righteousness were a garment. A woman’s attire and her head covering are symbolic of this garment of Grace through which the sins of the disciple are not visible to the Father or to the angels. A garment of grace made from mesh would not hide the lawlessness of the disciple.

If Christians are to be lights to this world, what sort of lights are bare-headed Christian women to Muslim women? A light of liberation? Or a light of rebellion against the authority of God?