Let’s talk about women’s head covering since you brought it up in your post above.
Please understand this.... The context of the entire passage of 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 is submission to the God-given order and “chain of command.”
A “covering” on a woman’s head is used as an illustration of the order, headship, and the authority of God. The key verse of this passage is 1 Corinthians 11:3 “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”
The implications of this verse are found in the rest of the passage.
The order is: God the Father, God the Son, the man or husband, and the woman or wife. The veil or covering on the head of a believing Corinthian wife showed that she was under the authority of her husband, and therefore under submission to God.
Within this passage is also verse 10: “For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.”
Why is that important to angels? The relationship of God with men is something that angels watch and learn from (SEE 1 Peter 1:12). Therefore, a woman’s submission to God’s delegated authority over her is an example to angels. The holy angels, who are in perfect and total submission to God, expect that we, as followers of Christ, be the same.
This covering not only means a cloth but also can refer to a woman’s hair length. How can we say that? We must take this verse in the context or the setting in which it is presented. “Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering” (1 Corinthians 11:14-15).
Therefore, in the context of this passage, a woman who is wearing her hair longer marks herself out distinctively as a woman and not a man.
The Apostle Paul is saying here that in the CORINTHIAN CULTURE, when a wife’s hair was longer than her husband’s, it showed her submission to his headship. The roles of the male and female are designed by God to portray a profound spiritual lesson, that is of submission to the will and the order of God.
I’m sure you are going to ask : But why is hair an issue in this passage?
Understand again Paul is addressing an issue related to the CORINTHIAN CULTURE that was being allowed to disrupt the church.
For a woman to have a shaved head was a disgrace (and, in Jewish thinking, a sign of mourning, Deuteronomy 21:12). Her hair was her “glory” (1 Corinthians 11:15).
In the Corinthian culture, women normally wore a head covering as a symbol of their submission to their husbands.
Paul affirms the rightness of following that cultural mandate—to dispense with the head coverings on women would send the entirely wrong signal to the CULTURE AT LARGE.
Thus because of this, Paul says that, if a Christian woman refuses her head covering, she might as well shave her hair off, too (verse 6).
A woman who refused to wear a covering in that culture was basically saying, “I refuse to submit to God’s order.”
Therefore, Paul is teaching the Corinthians that hair length or the wearing of a “covering” by the woman was an outward indication of a heart attitude of submission to God and to His established authority.
IN SUMMARY:
God’s order is that the husband is the head of the wife as God is the head of Christ, but there is NO INEQUALITY or INFERIORITY implied.
God and Christ are equal and united, just as the husband and the wife are one. This is not a passage that teaches the woman is inferior to man or that she should be submissive to every man in every issue (even when the man is wrong).
It is teaching God’s order and spiritual headship in the marriage relationship. In the Corinthian culture, a woman who covered her head during worship or when she was in public displayed her submission to authority.
Whether you and I like it or not doesn’t change this.
Now, I can anticipate your next question -— WHAT ABOUT TODAY IN THE 21st CENTURY, ARE WE SUPPOSED TO TELL WOMEN TO COVER THEIR HEADS TOO?
In today’s culture, we no longer view a woman’s wearing of a head covering as a sign of submission. In most modern societies, scarves and hats are fashion accessories.
A woman has the choice to wear a head covering if she views it as a sign of her submission to the authority of her husband. BUT THAT IS HER CHOICE.
So, it is a PERSONAL CHOICE and not something that should be used to judge spirituality.
The real issue here is the HEART ATTIRUDE of obedience to God’s authority and submission to His established order “as to the LORD” (Ephesians 5:22).
God is far more concerned with an attitude of submission than an outward display of submission via a head covering.
Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
And what did Yeshua say about Torah? This is not the (most) obvious answer...
Revelation 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’
So what is this Tree of Life? Glad you asked...
Proverbs 3
1 My son, do not forget my Torah, But let your heart keep my commands;
2 For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you.
Proverbs 3:18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her.
Torah is the Tree of Life...
And Yeshua said...
לׂא כִּי־אׂמֵר אֲנִי לָכֶם אִם־לׂא תָשׁוּבוּ גַּם־אַתֶּם כֻּלְּכֶם תּׂאבֵדוּ׃
http://www.sarshalom.us/resources/scripture/asv/bible.html
Luke 13:3 I tell you, no; but unless you Teshuvah you will all likewise perish.
Teshuvah, return, to Torah...
Malachi 3
Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)
3:19 For, hinei, HaYom bah (the day cometh), that shall burn as an oven; and kol zedim (all the proud), yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and HaYom that cometh shall burn them up, saith Hashem Tzva’os, that it shall leave them neither shoresh (root) nor anaf (branch).
20 But unto you that fear My name shall the Shemesh Tzedakah (sun of righteousness) arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 21 And ye shall trample down the resha’im; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in HaYom that I shall do this, saith Hashem Tzva’os.
22 Remember ye the Torat Moshe Avdi, which I commanded unto him in Chorev for kol Yisroel, with the chukkim (statutes) and mishpatim (judgments). 23 Hinei, I will send you Eliyahu HaNavi before the coming of the great and dreadful Yom Hashem; 24 And he shall turn the lev-avot to the banim, and the lev-banim to their avot, lest I come and strike the earth with cherem.
18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the tzaddik and the rasha, between oved Elohim (him that serveth G-d) and him that serveth Him not.
Yeshua fulfilled Torah, to follow Torah is to follow Yeshua.