|
Because of the Angels |
|
1 Corinthians 11:10 |
|
Book Cover (1st draft)
|
|
Synopsis of Book ... it is my goal in writing this to wake the saints from their slumbers, to hold the deeds of those opposing Christ up to the Light of the Gospel, and to prepare the Bride of Christ for His second coming. May God be glorified in my writing and your reading. |
|
ABOUT THE BOOK
This book was written by a priest. No, I did not pick that title up from men. The Word of God in the second chapter of Peter’s first letter tells me I am a member of the only New Testament priesthood condoned by God. The popery who call themselves priests, pastors, reverends, Scribes, Pharisees etc…, opposed our Lord and Savior when He visited us in the flesh and their opposition continues to this day.
Jesus was not at all what the Hebrew nation expected. Thus many dismissed that Gentle Savior of the Bride of Christ riding on the foal of a donkey because they did not check their Scriptures to learn that His Words and actions were true and their presuppositions were false. In stark contrast, there was a group who listened intently to Paul as he explained these things then examined the Scriptures to see if what he said was true (Acts 17:11). That is what I ask of the reader. |
|
Email: Kojo4Him@because-of-angels.com
Phone: 360-263-5493
Cell: 503-701-7219
|
|
Foreword Have you ever pondered the phrase in 1 Corinthians 11:10b, “…because of the angels?” I have heard many Bible scholars make weak attempts at this verse and its context. But there is an inherent blindness among even the most astute clergy about this entire part of the Bible. Men who are normally able to speak about passages and their meaning with seemingly anointed clairvoyance become stammering fools in this part of God’s Word. For example, B.B. Warfield: “In the face of these two absolutely plain and emphatic passages [1 Cor 14:33-39 & 1 Tim 2:11ff], what is said in 1 Corinthians 11:5 cannot be appealed to in mitigation or modification. Precisely what is meant in 1 Corinthians 11:5, nobody quite knows.” The purpose of this book is to provide a new lens or fresh perspective to illuminate this and related passages for those who truly seek the Truth and expose the pharisaical blindness of the theologians who are causing multitudes to “…fall into a pit.” (Matt 15:14b) Note that all Scripture passages quoted in this book, unless indicated otherwise, are taken from: The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Because of the Angels A Synopsis You are invited to look with me through a new lens of a Spirit-filled member of the priesthood of believers (1 Pet 2:9): [Note that all Bible passages are taken from The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. 2001 Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.] Genesis 2 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
Genesis 3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
Note how the serpent mixed lies and truth to pull Eve away from a life of trusting and submitting to her husband and God. He states his question in a way that communicates a presumption to Eve that God told Adam, “You shall not eat of any tree in the Garden.” Eve may have wondered if Adam misled her and they had already violated God’s Will. Or maybe she forgot or was confused about what Adam said. Eve’s reply was a concession to the serpent – a weakness he could exploit. She inserts “neither shall you touch it” into what God told Adam. So, while Adam is silent, Eve is talking with the serpent and being seduced away from the Truth. Here was one of God’s creatures taking special interest in Eve. And indications are that the serpent was one of the more dazzling creatures in the Garden before he was cursed to slither on his belly and eat dust. We can only guess at Adam’s motives at this point. But it seems apparent that Adam was already inclined to violate the only constraint God had directly placed on him. Otherwise, he could have easily stepped in at any moment and simply uttered the Truth of what God had told him and thereby quashed the adulterous episode playing out in his presence. The adultery of this episode was two-pronged. Not only was the serpent seducing Adam’s “helper” but he was seducing the “Bride of Christ” promised “…before the foundation of the world.” (Eph 1:3-4) In essence, the serpent oriented his entire approach to subvert the role of woman, established by God. He engaged the woman in a matter of spiritual discernment and leadership. And we see Paul advert to this in his pastoral epistle to Timothy: 1 Tim 2
God was purposeful in His Creation. His Order of Creation was significant as was His Method of Creation. Everything else was called into existence from nothing by the Word of God. (Genesis 1:3,6,9,11,14,etc… and John 1:1-5) But Adam was “…formed…of the dust from the ground…” and all other living things were “out of the ground,” (Gen 2:9, 19) as well -- except Eve. She was formed out of Adam (Gen 2:21, 22). This is a facet of our likeness to God built into His Creation. We (men and women) were created for Christ and woman was created for man. Paul adverts to this very plainly in his second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11: 3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. 6 For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. 7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. “…because of the angels.” If you want to see the most eloquent and seemingly clairvoyant expositor of scripture be reduced to a stammering, equivocating fool, just utter this verse in his or her presence. And like the “… brood of vipers…” Christ rails against in Matthew 23, and like the viper in the Garden of Eden, the clergy of today are in total denial about the meaning of this entire passage. They have convinced generations of men and women this was all about wearing hats. Their idolatrous and adulterous lust has led the Bride of Christ to look on this timeless, key passage as anachronistic and irrelevant. The pieces of the puzzle all fell into place for me when one of these clergy preached a sermon about Revelation, Chapter 2 and proclaimed that the angels of the churches referred to were clergy. Bingo! Preachers are messengers or angels. Now, let’s go back to 1 Corinthians 11. “…the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” A metaphor is clearly presented – man is the head of his wife – her head is covered with his head. If her head is uncovered, she dishonors her head – if she is not under the authority and leadership of her husband, he is dishonored. Paul relates this relationship to the pride women take in their hair and to the short-haired look of the brazen women. Even today, most women who are considered glamorous and beautiful have long, beautiful hair. And my first thought when seeing a woman with short hair is that she may be a lesbian. Today many women, with the encouragement of clergy, “…glory in their shame” (Phil 3:19). They brazenly wear short hair and speak in church in clear violation of Holy Scripture. In fact, this had come full circle in the last institutional church I was involved in, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Men who spoke were clearly not considered to be speaking for wives or daughters or single women under their headship as an elder. If those women wanted to be heard, they had to get up and speak at church meetings where others besides the “pastor” were allowed to speak. The WELS and most other people who call themselves Christians brazenly and rebelliously cling to the reasoning of society and reject the clear teaching of Holy Scripture in this matter. And this role reversal was causally endemic to mankind’s first act of rebellion against our Lord. Look at the records of various kings in the Old Testament. One of the first things written about them was their record of faithfulness to God. Look at the rebellion of the people in asking Samuel to appoint a king (1 Sam 8:4-9). And see how God considered this rejection of Him. Look at how the entire book of Hosea is a metaphor for the infidelity of God’s people to the infidelity of a whoring wife. Now let’s go to the New Testament and hear Jesus relate that those who have faith in Him as their Lord and Savior are the Bride and He is the Bridegroom (Matt 9:15; Matt 25; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35). And see how Jesus refers to the clergy of his day as “…an evil and adulterous [emphasis mine] generation…” (Matt 12:39). Jesus taught that He is the Good Shepherd: John 10:11-12 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. Note that Jesus warns about shepherds who work for pay. And I have experienced the very thing Jesus warned about – the hired hand who ran when I was in trouble and needed help. Jesus also taught that we are not to call any man “Father” or “Teacher.” God is our Father and Christ is our Teacher. Matt hew23:8-12 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. God’s prescribed order is for man to be the head of woman and have nobody between him and Christ. But the order practiced in the church is the opposite of God’s Word – clergy-man is the head of lay-man and lay-men and women are supposedly treated equally by clergy. The reality is that to subvert God’s order and neutralize gender, the clergy marginalize men and apply their Pharisaical word-splitting to alter the roles of women. And this is akin to the serpent in the Garden in that the adultery is with both the bride of man as well as the Bride of Christ. The Roman Catholics are second to none in attaining to the adulterous Antichrist. This is a direct quote from an RC priest in 2009: “Catholic priests are encouraged to think of themselves as being ‘married’ to the Church – thus one of the reasons for celibacy.
This formal, institutionalized adultery with the Bride of Christ seems to have its origin in the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. Emperor Constantine moved Christianity into place as the state religion in the Roman Empire. To conform to the former pagan state religions, the pattern and practice of Christianity was migrated from a focus on a meal and fellowship of believers (Body of Christ) reminiscent of the Lord’s Supper and the Wedding Feast of the Lamb to an institutional presentation focused on the building and the presenter. “Because of the Angels” an•gel \ˈān-jəl\ n [ME, fr. OE engel & AF angele; both fr. LL angelus, fr. Gk angelos, lit., messenger] Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. Includes index. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, Inc.. An angel is a messenger. And a preacher is a messenger or angel. A preacher parlays the gift of pastor and teacher (the preacher may or may not possess these gifts yet they are attributed to him alone, by men, in accordance with his man-made position) into a title to claim a reverence (a la “reverend”) and position between Christ and man. This has been declared outright in the RC church and generally practiced in nearly all others. Lotario Scotti who became Pope Innocent III in 1160 AD declared himself, “Verily the successor of Peter, the anointed of the Lord, the God of Pharaoh set midway between God and man, below God but above man, less than God but more than man, judging all other men but himself judged by none.” 131 Christians Everyone Should Know. (2000). Broadman and Holman Publishers. Nashville, TN. Jesus and the Roles of Women One final point is that Jesus bolstered the proper role of women by pointing to the same law/tradition/Word of God as Paul. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he prescribed rules of worship and encouraged wide participation but by men only. 1 Corinthians 14 26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
Note that Paul cited “the Law.” And now consider the words of Christ when a woman shouted out in one of His gatherings: Luke 11:27-28 27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” If she was not familiar with what the Word of God or the Law had to say about women shouting out a teaching in a gathering of God’s people, there were plenty of Scribes and Pharisees tagging along trying to trip Jesus up that she would be able to be set straight in short order. Now, with an understanding of the adulterous and corrupting influence of the modern “blind guides” and the tools for the exegesis of the following passage from 1 Corinthians 11, I encourage you to read it again for the first time: 2 Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. 6 For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. 7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
|
