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    Chapter 3

    Truth or Tradition?
    A Closer Look at the
    Plural Wives Question
    by Andy Nonymousman

    Chapter 3. The Covering

    “But I suffer not a woman to teach,(1) nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve; And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” (1 Timothy 2:12)

    This was a mysterious passage to me when I was a young believer. I thought if the woman was deceived and the man was not then certainly he was more responsible than she was. Nevertheless the Scriptures indicate that she was in the transgression because she was deceived. That means she didn’t have to be deceived. She should have gone to her husband before making a decision.

    As they are being removed from the Garden of Eden God says to the woman “... and he shall rule over thee.” When the angel appeared to Samson’s mother and told her about her son which was yet to be born, she went and told Manoah, her husband. Manoah said if he appears to you again, you come and get me. When the angel appeared again she went and got Manoah, who came and tried the spirit. He asked to offer a kid. The angel responded that his offerings must be unto the Lord.

    Manoah then asked the angel for his name, saying that he would give him honor. The angel refused to give his name. Verse 21 states “Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.”

    The man is to serve as a protective covering for his wife (or wives). Genesis 20:16: “And unto Sarah he said ... behold, he [Abraham] is to thee a covering of the eyes.” In Revelation 5:6 we read “.. and seven eyes which are the seven Spirits ...” The covering is spiritual and it covers spirits (souls [1] are spirits in the sense that they are spiritual and not tangible).

    Samson was giving a natural covering, which was his hair. It was a type of the Spiritual covering, which is the Holy Spirit. As long as his hair was long he had great strength and easily vanquished his enemies. He could do so because he remained under the covering. When we are properly (that is, obediently) functioning under our God given coverings, we have strength and we gain victories against our enemies.

    When we refuse to be covered, or allow our covering to be removed (even as Samson’s hair was cut off), then we lose strength and we are defeated by the enemy. When Samson’s hair was removed (cut off) he was weakened, he was captured, and his eyes were put out (symbolizing that the Spirit was taken away).

    The man today is to be covered by the anointed one (Christ) and his anointing (the Holy Spirit).

    In 1 Samuel 16:13 we read “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.”

    Today when we anoint with oil, we usually just use a drop or two on a person’s forehead. After all, we think, we wouldn’t want to mess up the person’s hair or their clothes with a lot of oil. So we lose understanding of what it means to be covered by the anointing.

    Some must now wish to ask “if women are filled with or anointed with the Holy Ghost just like men and they confess Jesus Christ as Lord just like men, why do they need a man to be head over them?” Again the answers are in 1 Peter 3 and I Corinthians 11:10. They are weaker vessels and to protect them from fallen angels. Although some may have a desire to rebel against this, we must see things from God’s perspective and be obedient to Him.

    Footnotes

    (1) The Greek word here is didasko (1321 Strong’s #) which is related to the word didaskalos (1320) which is an instructor, doctor, master, teacher. This shows that the meaning here is the woman is not to be the master of the man [2].

    HEM Comments

    [1] Scripturally-speaking, a 'soul', a whole human being, consisting of spirit and body. In the English language the word 'soul' has evolved to often mean a 'spirit', i.e. only the invisible part of a person. (SBSK)

    [2] Specifically, her husband - see Women in the New Testament messianic Community. (SBSK)

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    First created on 27 September 2001
    Updated on 20 June 2016

    Copyright ©1999 Andy Nonymousman
    Reproduced by permission and with thanks by HEM, 2001
    Endorsement of this book by HEM does not necesserily mean
    endorsement of the author's other publications or views.