As explained in the introduction to this series, the most basic building block for the restoration of all Israel is the family. To begin understanding how this basic building block is supposed to work, we need to begin to understand the creation order, and for that, we begin in the writings of Paul.
But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. [7] For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. [8] For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; [9] for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. [10] Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
1 Corinthians 11:3,7-10 NASB
We know that Paul upheld Torah so have you ever wondered where Paul is getting this from? I think we do this passage and ourselves a disservice when we only focus on the literal head covering debate. Paul is using a physical example to teach some very important spiritual truths. He is clearly teaching headship and authority structure and he references creation so we should be able to pick up on what he is talking about if we go back to Genesis.
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:27 NASB
Notice two related statements here with a very specific pronoun used in the first statement. I realize that the word man (Adam) can refer to mankind sometimes in scripture but I do not believe that it does in this verse. Also notice that Paul in 1 Cor. 11:7 very obviously leaves out the image when speaking about the woman. So Man is the direct image bearer and woman is indirect because she was made from man. From this we can see that Yah begins to reveal the headship structure even in the process of the creation.
This thing we call marriage is intended to be a reflection (image) of the relationship between Yah and his people. This begins to be revealed right here when we are first told about the creation of Adam and woman. The teaching that both man and woman are the direct image bearer is not supported by scripture, and it breaks the model that we see played out throughout the rest of scripture. We as men are supposed to glorify Yah by imaging him and by pointing others to him. We should be in awe of him to the degree that we talk about him constantly and we are so in love with him that it just spills out of us in every conversation we have. We should be continually pointing others to him and his word. This is the same manner in which a woman should be in awe of her head (man).
In verse 8 Paul points to [8] For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. [22] The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. [23] The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
Genesis 2:21-23 NASB
This is yet another reason why a woman needs a man’s authority (covering) because she is “of the man” literally made from his bone. She is to be a part of him and assimilate to him as such. Notice that Adam named her gender as well in the same manner that he named the animals. I think we miss the importance of this in our western mindset. Naming power carries a huge amount of authority and it assigns a specific duty or trait to the person or thing being named. We don’t think of it in that way within our western mindset but this principle is evident all through the scriptures and we see examples of it over and over again even in English translations. I often wonder how much of this we miss if we are unable to read it in the original language, such as the name Yeshua, possibly our best example.
In verse 9 Paul points out [9] Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” [20] The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
Genesis 2:18,20 NASB
So the original (and continuing) purpose for the woman is to be a suitable helper for the man. What exactly is she supposed to help him with? Well it is none other than the original point made in the beginning of this post. She is to help him complete the picture of imaging Yah. Men are to be subject to their head (Yeshua) in everything. Woman is to be subject to her head (man) in everything. The complete picture is all about imaging Yah.
So, to sum up this opening thought regarding the creation order and Yah’s (not man’s) authority Structure, Paul says, ‘God → Messiah → Man → Woman.’ He makes no apologies for it and he does not attribute it to culture or some ancient time and place. Rather, this is firmly rooted in Yah’s plan and purpose.
Pete’s additional comments:
Indeed, while this is not a popular idea in modern western culture, Scripture is clear. In fact, Tom Shipley, in his excellent book, Man and Woman in Biblical Law, presents six ‘proofs’ from the creation story evidencing the very point Paul makes in I Corintians 11. While I will simply list them here, he takes several pages explaining and further supporting each.
Consider:
- The woman was made for man.
- The woman was made from man.
- Temporal sequence of creation of man and woman. I.e., Adam created first.
- Adam’s naming authority and his naming of woman, both in her generic and personal aspect.
- God’s act of bringing the woman to the man and presenting her as a gift.
- The name of ‘Adam’ itself.
We will be considering this more in depth as this series develops, but in this post we have much to begin processing as we understand the most basic element of the family: the authority structure.
Selah!
11:3 Restoration 
Shalom Pete, I did read your article and I am sure it took you some time to make it, However I think there is a problem. If we start comparing scriptures we need to see the full picture, with that I mean context. Men and Woman are created Equal, Yet have different roles given by their creator. To talk about Adam means to talk about Men and Woman. When a Man and a Woman make a covenant they become Adam (like oneness), When Sha’ul was talking about so called Head covering he was not referring to Men or Woman being Superior and Inferior in Authoritative manner, He was talking about CUSTOMS being practiced! As he continues.. ”11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in YHUH.” ”15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of Elohim.” To me undervaluing a woman sounds like Radical Islam, because they believe Woman are only suitable to be sex slaves and objects to abuse, But Yah created Woman to have her purpose in life to be a Woman of Valor, not some object decorated with gift package, EVERYTHING needs Context, in defense of the Word, Scripture sniping can only be rightfully used when using the appropriate context, Being a man myself I know we have our weaknesses that’s why we have to work on finding solutions instead of blaming Chava of eating the Apple, we can Heal and Start the restoration of both men and woman.
1 Cor 7:3-4 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. 4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. 5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
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Shabbat shalom, Yahnathan. It is good to hear from you.
Interestingly, I was sorting through old voicemails two days ago and stumbled on a message from you that I had never played… I have no idea why. Anyway, you were asking about the Pesach AniYosef.com trip. I am really sorry I did not hear the message as you would have been welcome and continue to be so. Hope to see you in Jerusalem at Sukkot!
Regarding your comment. Thank you for taking the time to interact. Much of what you state here will be discussed in future posts as this is a very large topic that will require a good bit to accurately dig down to and reveal what Scripture actually teaches on the matter. We have been reared in Western cultural Christianity that is steeped in egalitarianism and feminism entirely opposite the teachings of Scripture from both Torah and Apostles. This is an area that we need to study out and bring ourselves into alignment with the Word because we will not be allowed to carry false doctrine and baggage into the Land. So, I welcome your comments and challenges. Let’s wrestle this thing out.
While Paul uses head coverings as his illustration, he is absolutely talking about authority, echoed in all of his marriage and leadership passages. 1 Timothy 2:9-15 is a clear example wherein Paul says, ‘I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man…’ Hard words for our tender Western ears, but they are no mine… Another is Ephesians 5:22-33 wherein Paul, specifically discussing the husband/wife relationship compares it to Messiah and the Qahal/Congregation. He says, ‘For the husband is the head of the wife, as Messiah also is the head of the qahal, He Himself the Savior of the body.’ Do you think the Messiah and the Body are equal in authority? Do you think the Body can negotiate with the Messiah or tell Him our opinion on how poor a job we think He is doing? Do you think for even a moment we can get our way or be the leader in the ‘family?’
Clearly, Scripture teaches that man is to care for, protect, love, cherish, etc his woman, but Scripture never teaches that they are equal in authority. To compare Scripture to radical Islam is a gross mischaracterization and an inflammatory red herring.
Regarding blaming Chava for eating the fruit, I have done no such thing. In Genesis Elohim did not address Chava, he addressed Adam and held Adam accountable for not being the authority in the situation. Adam committed two sins: he ‘harkened to the voice of his woman’ and he ‘ate of the fruit.’ That, my friend, is an authority structure. It is the lie of the enemy that whispers ‘ancient cultural custom’ concerning the headship of man in Scripture.
A final comment regarding 1 Cor. 7:3-4… You say context, so let me share with you verse 2… ‘Nevertheless, because of immoralities, let every man have his own (heatou) woman and every woman is to have her own (idios) husband.’ Paul uses two very specific Greek words with regard to ownership: heatou – He owns her. She belongs to him. This is master-servant language, exactly like Messiah and the qahal. idios – she belongs exclusively to him, but he is not her property exclusively, as in ‘each went to his own (idios) city. (Matt 9:1; Luke 2:3) They belong to the city, but the city does not belong to them. Again, a hard concept for our feminized Western ears….
To be clear, the husband is to care, protect and provide for the woman (we will cover this in detail), but he is not beholden to her for any authority. He is the head and she is to follow and complete him in the carrying out of his calling.
We will discuss roles and responsibilities in coming posts, but first more ground work and some definitions.
Blessings.
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Shabbat shalom Yahnathan,
Not much to add to what Pete said above however I do want to emphasize something he touched on. Nowhere in my post did I say anything relating to the fall or who’s fault it was. I actually do not place the blame on woman. I believe the scripture is clear that the blame lies squarely on mans (Adam) shoulders. I definitely take issue with words or intent being read into what I wrote to imply that I am promoting something remotely close to Radical Islamic oppression of women.
As Pete already pointed out this is a big topic and we will be addressing many things along the way as we embark on this series. Stay tuned and be prepared to be deeply challenged about what the scriptures actually teach. Most of this is almost 100% diametrically opposed to what the current culture promotes. (including the conservative or religious parts of it) I expect to learn a lot along the way and I by no means claim to be perfect. I can tell you that employing these truths in my relationship with my wife over the last 6 years has yielded incredible blessings and oneness. That’s not just my opinion it is also hers. Our older children (teens) have noticed the change and have expressed their thankfulness for how our family operates as opposed to others they see, such as extended family, and others, as well as compared to how things were prior to 6 years ago in my own family.
Blessings to you and yours,
Jeremy
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