What conditions apply to this “covering” and what authority does this “covering” give us?
I’ll begin with a brief recap of part 1.
In Leviticus 16 we see that Aaron the high priest, entered the holy of holies once a year and sprinkled the blood of the sin offering seven times upon the mercy seat, which was the lid of the ark of the covenant. He did this to make atonement for “all the congregation of Israel”.
The Hebrew word for atonement kaphar kaw-far means to cover
In sprinkling the blood seven times the sins committed by Israel were completely covered.
Then in Hebrews 9 we see that Jesus, our high priest, entered the “tabernacle not made with hands” (vs 11) and sprinkled his own blood to purge our conscience (vs 14).
The blood of Christ represents his Spirit thus it is the Spirit that purges our conscience, in that it transforms us into a “new creature”.
2 Cor. 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.
On the basis that are old man has passed away through repentance and we’ve been transformed into a new creature by the Spirit, our past life of sin is “hidden” and “blotted out” meaning it’s forgiven and forgotten by God (James 5:20 and Acts 3:19).
The Hebrew word for atonement kaphar kaw-far also means to coat or cover with pitch linking the Ark of the covenant to Noah’s ark (Gen. 6).
Just as blood was sprinkled seven times upon the mercy seat, pitch was generously applied inside and outside Noah’s ark to save eight people from the great flood.
Hence both the ark of the covenant and Noah’s ark point to the fact that abiding in a covenant relationship with God through the Spirit not only “covers” our past sins but protects us from eternal destruction.
Let’s further expand upon these ideas by looking at where, in the new testament, the word “covering” is used.
1 Corinthians 11
8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
1 Corinthians 11 describes the relationship between a husband and wife.
It says in these verses that long hair is given to a woman “for a covering”. This covering both distinguishes her from the man and symbolises her submission to him.
Now, the focus of this article is not wether or not a woman should cut her hair, rather the symbolism behind long hair and what it tells us about the church’s relationship with Christ.
Ephesians 5
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Just as the husband is the head of his wife, Christ is the head of the church.
the church is “covered” by the blood of Christ whilst in submission to him.
SUBMISSION is the CONDITION
As long as we remain in submission to Christ, our past life of sin is “covered”, meaning forgiven and forgotten by God thus we are protected from spiritual death.
It is important to note that if we commit wilful sin, we are not in submission to Christ and are therefore, not covered by his blood.
The blood of Christ does not “cover” ongoing wilful sin. It covers our past sin once we’ve repented. It does not cover past, present and future sin.
If we are committing wilful sin we probably have yet to experience genuine repentance.
2 Cor. 7:10
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Genuine repentance is not something we do over and over again. If it has to be repeated it wasn’t repentance, possibly the result of worldly sorrow rather than godly sorrow.
Just as Adam and Eve sought to cover their nakedness with fig leaves, people will always twist the scriptures and try, in vain, to hide their ongoing sin from God.
They turn “grace” into a “magic cover” for wilful sin but God sees through it. He sees the true state of a persons heart and he judges their deeds.
I want to bring your attention to a verse in 1 Corinthians 11 that has always puzzled me.
10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
I’ve heard this verse used to warn women against trimming their hair, as though it will open them up to demonic attack.
Is that what this verse is really saying?
Let’s go back to the ark of the covenant.
Exodus 25
17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold…
18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings…
21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony…
Notice how on top of the mercy seat are two cherubims.
Cherubims keruwb ker-oob are angelic beings.
Notice also how they are covering the mercy seat with their wings.
The word covering here cakak saw-kak means to hedge, fence about, shut in, to block, stop the approach.
What were the cherubims blocking access to? That which was within the ark, the ten commandments upon tablets of stone.
This leads us to a similar scene in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Keep shamar shaw-mar means to guard
Now that we’ve mentioned Genesis lets go all the way to the other end of the bible, Revelations 22 which describes the “New Jerusalem”
1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life…
Revelation 21 states that the new Jerusalem has…
12 … twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels…
In all three examples wether it’s the Garden of Eden, the Ark of the Covenant or the New Jerusalem, angels guard the way of the tree of life. They block the approach of those wishing to access it.
Remember in the tabernacle of Moses the holy of holies was a scary place, only the high priest could enter it once and year and had to wear special garments “that he die not” and a golden plate on his forehead inscribed with the words “holiness to the Lord” (Ex. 28:34-36).
Now lets swing back to 1 Corinthians 11
10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
Power here exousia ex-oo-see-ah means power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases, the power of authority and right
This takes my mind straight to Hebrews 10
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
When crucified with Christ through repentance, our hearts are sprinkled from an evil conscience meaning we are transformed into a “new creature” who obeys God from a heart of love and on that basis our past sins are remembered “no more”.
In this sense we are “covered” by his blood and the fact that we are “covered” gives us authority to enter the holy of holies and right to the tree of life.
Hence when “covered” not only are we forgiven from our past life of sin and protected from spiritual death but we partake of spiritual life, through the Spirit.
In conclusion:
Just as a wife being “covered” by hair is a sign of submission to her husband. Being “covered” by Christ’s blood is a sign that we are in submission to him.
As long as we remain in submission to Christ, by faithfully living and walking in the Spirit we are forgiven of our past sin, protected from spiritual death and partakers of spiritual life.
Through the “sprinkling of an evil conscience” we have “power on our head” that is, authority to enter the holy of holies and right to the tree of life which is found in the the church, the New Jerusalem.
This covering is not a “magic cover” that hides on-going wilful sin from God. Christ’s blood covers our past sin from which we’ve repented, not present or future sins.
To abide in a covenant relationship with God we must be in a state of submission to him.
SUBMISSION is the CONDITION
