Restoring Kol Israel Series – Page 4

Restoring Kol Israel: The Role of the Husband

As we continue our headship study we need to keep in mind that the Scriptures are almost completely opposed to our modern cultural understanding of family structure, morals and responsibility. One major aspect of this is the role of a husband in this thing we call marriage.

While we generally assume that ‘husband’ means ‘male spouse in a marriage,’ the older definitions, and especially the verb forms are quite instructive:

From Dictionary.com,

noun

a married man, especially when considered in relation to his partner in marriage.

British. a manager.

Archaic. a prudent or frugal manager.

verb (used with object)

to use frugally; conserve: to husband one’s resources.
to manage, especially with prudent economy.

Archaic.

to be or become a husband to; marry.
to find a husband for.
to till; cultivate.

Husband, in its purest form is a manager of resources or cultivator. One might specifically call to mind a vinedresser, or one who guards, prunes, trains and harvests from a vine.

Vision and Restoration…

Why are you alive? Fifty years after you die, what will have been the value of your life? How will people remember you? Will they remember you?

While ultimately, life is not so self centered as to be about my or your existence, few of us think deeply enough about our reason for being or living.

Recently, my wife and I, along with our eldest, attended a retreat focused on Biblical headship and patriarchy, our third such with this group. It was a refreshing gathering of believers from a number of different Christian/Hebraic backgrounds with the common passion for understanding marriage and headship from a decidedly Biblical perspective. Besides the interesting fact that is was fun to rub shoulders with Christians who don’t see or understand Torah as necessary while decidedly rejecting feminism and matriarchy based on the ‘old Testament Law,’ it was cathartic to hear from others who have experienced rejection from friends and family because they choose truth over tradition in this area. But, I digress.

Musings re: Headship and Numbers 30-31

Headship and the Biblical order in both family and nation has been a recurring theme in our fellowship. Over the last few months we have been intensely challenged by the Father to consider HIS model for how men/women/family/clan/tribe/nation are supposed to function and operate. Yesterday was no different. While we had a ‘double portion’ in Mattot and Massei, we never actually got out of the first two chapters.

I thought I’d share a few thoughts that came out of our discussion as it directly relates to the ongoing series on this blog regarding the restoration of kol Israel and the roles of men and women. Consider them food for thought or discussion as we did not fully develop them, nor am I attempting to share every detail of our conversation…

Numbers 30:

Restoring Kol Israel: (Re)defining Terms, Marriage, Husband and Wife

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For most, the transition to Torah from typical Christian doctrine requires a major retooling or correcting of understanding regarding basic terms and ideas. As an example, most have been taught that the ‘Law’ is bad and therefore needs to be removed or in some way minimized so that we are freed from it. The revelation, early in the Torah walk, that ‘Torah’ means ‘instructions’ and not ‘law’ begins to reform, or re-form, our understanding of God’s loving expectations and desires. As we pursue this, we learn that the Father has specific ways that bring blessings when we understand them properly and apply them in our lives in the way He intended them.

In the beginning parts of this series considering headship and patriarchy, we have seen that God’s Word clearly reveals a particular plan for how families are supposed to operate in order to rightly reflect Him and His glory as well as the particular relationship between Him and His people. To paraphrase Paul in Ephesians 5, ‘the covenant relationship between man and woman should be a reflection of the Messiah and the Qahal/ekklesia/congregation.’

In other words, this thing we call marriage should be an exact representation of Yeshua and His people. The challenge is that so much false teaching and understanding at the hand of the enemy has led most Christians who claim to have ‘Biblical marriages’ to an understanding that is decidedly UNbiblical. We hear terms like ‘partnership,’ ‘egalitarian,’ ‘co-equal,’ and ‘mutual submission’ which are all radically contrary to Scripture from beginning to end. Rather, these are the very essence of the influence of feminism in the church, tendrils which trace to the Garden of Eden.

Does man delight in what God delights in?

This morning, as I commuted to my job for the day, I was listening to YouVersion read me the book of Job. I’m part of a small group listening through the Chronological Bible plan with some light discussion as we go. (If you care to join us in that plan, drop me an email and we can connect on YouVersion then I’ll add you.)

Anyway, as I’m listening to Scripture, because Jeremy and I are co-authoring a series on Biblical headship and family, I am hearing from a different perspective…. headship!

So, I’m a couple days ahead of schedule right now and was in the last section, beginning at chapter 38, wherein Elohim is dressing Job down for speaking presumptively. God begins,

Restoring Kol Israel: Covering

As we continue our headship study we will continue with the writings of Paul. Previously, we looked at 1 Corinthians 11:3, 7-10. Here we will consider the verses in the middle, often ignored or minimized as simply being about a cloth head covering.

Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. [5] But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. [6] For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. [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.
1 Corinthians 11:4-7 NASB

As pointed out in the opening post of this series Paul upheld and taught the Torah. I believe we do ourselves and this passage a disservice when we only focus on the literal cloth head covering debate and ignore the deeper truths that Paul is teaching us in this passage. Remember, foundationally, a woman was always to be under the headship/authority/covering of a man. From the beginning, when Eve stepped out from under her covering, we see that she becomes vulnerable. The headship/covering is articulated over and over in Torah through numerous examples demonstrating that a girl was to be under the covering of her father until he released her into the protection of a husband.

Restoring Kol Israel: Creation Order

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.

Restoring Kol Israel: The Family (Introduction)

The restoration of Israel, all Israel: it occupies my every thought and is prominent in every prayer. It is a factor in every major decision I make, and most minor decisions. I continually ask the Father, ‘What does it look like? How will it function? What is my part?’

Over the last couple years He has repeatedly brought me back to the basic building block for any society: Family. And, as I have studied. He has again and again taught me lessons regarding the many parts, but the most foundational, Biblical manhood and headship, keeps coming to the fore. He has also brought or connected me with other men who have various parts of the answers and together we have discussed and emailed/texted/phoned hundreds of hours. We have read and processed books and teachings as we’ve dug deeper into what a true Biblical family looks like, how it functions, the roles of each member, etc.

I count it a special blessing to share one of these resources over the next few weeks or months as together we assemble some lengthy posts covering aspects of this topic. Truly, many books, can and have been written on the topic, but so many, maybe most, have a significant amount of tradition and inherited falsehoods that do not lead us to correct conclusions or results. Our desire is to spark a conversation within the Messianic/Hebrew roots community about what Scripture really says about the family, headship, patriarchy, man’s role, woman’s role and marriage.