Angels in Assemblies
As I was studying 1 Corinthians in regards to authority and submission I stumbled upon a wonderful little gem of truth.
1 Corinthians 11:10, “That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.”
The symbol of authority was referring to why women in the church of Corinth should wear a head covering when praying or prophesying. This was a cultural out-working of the authority structure God created. If you want to read more about that please read my posting “Authority and Submission”.
The part that I really want to focus on is, “...because of the angels.” Again, I will be taking some excerpts from David Guzik’s commentary. I will put the link at the bottom where you can read a lot more about this.
One reason why God established male headship in the church is because of the presence of angels in corporate worship. Angels are present at any assembly of Christians for worship and they note any departure from reverent order. Apparently, angels are offended by any violation of propriety.
Passages such as this remind us that our struggle is bigger than ourselves. God has eternal things to teach the universe through us. John Stott has a great way of explaining this broader idea: “It is as if a great drama is being enacted. History is the theatre, the world is the stage, and the church members in every land are the actors. God himself has written the play, and he directs and produces it. Act by act, scene by scene, the story continues to unfold. But who are the audience? They are the cosmic intelligences, the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.”
Matthew Poole, in regards to this verse, “And so it teaches us, that the good angels, who are ministering spirits for the good of God’s elect, at all times have a special ministration, or at least are more particularly present, in the assemblies of people for worship, observing the persons, carriage, and demeanour; the sense of which ought to awe all persons attending those services, from any incident and unworthy behaviour.”
I think the next time we attend church we should realize that we are not just worshiping God as individuals, or even as one body in Christ, but that we are surrounded by the presence of angels all worshiping together as we eventually will for eternity.
What translation is that, I wonder? The ones I use all have 'woman' and not 'wife', which is the right word for 'gynē', I think.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the passage is talking primarily about the church gathering, which you also picked up on, and yet John Scott's quote seems to miss this and jump straight to a global context. The 'drama' in fact has to start in the Church itself, which is why it is liturgical. 'God himself has written the play', and so the earthly liturgy must be a reflection of the heavenly for this chapter to make sense... not to mention Hebrews and especially Revelation!
It's also worth noting that the church building itself has a physical 'head' and a 'body', that is, the altar and nave, which correspond to heaven and earth in Genesis 1. Women aren't permitted in the altar or 'heavenly' space, which is by definition masculine, whereas even the priests wear a head covering at times to demonstrate their relative 'femininity' in relation to the heavenly realities they are in proximity to while serving. So this works itself out fractally all over the place! And the end result of it all is the union of heaven and earth, male and female, in the sacrament, with all the accompanying sexual undertones of becoming 'one flesh'.
DeleteSt Paul is less concerned with head gear, I think, than with the spiritual reality that is iconographically represented on all these different levels harmoniously (or not!)