Meanwhile, I know of a ordained women who had expressed interest in being the senior pastor of a church not far from here. She is qualified and gifted. Apparently the search committee felt so as well, but expressed sadness that since her husband was not a minister he could not be her covering and thus the senior pastor position was closed to her.
And just last week I read an article about Rev. Jack Hayford, someone I admire. He is a church leader whom many in the Pentecostal/Charimatic part of the Church could emulate. It was a great article, except for when the author (who should know better) referred to the man being honored as "our spiritual covering." He was speaking of how Hayford had long been a trusted mentor and advisor for him and his wife. That is a good thing. Thinking we need a "spiritual covering" is not.
May I recommend this article by Gay Anderson? It is from "God's Word to Women" and was written 13 years ago. I would have thought it was no longer an issue. Apparently it still is for many people.
DO WE NEED A "COVERING?"
It all began
in the Garden of Eden. As we look upon the two fallen ones, gripped by the guilt
of sin, and faced with a broken relationship with the Creator God, we declare:
How great was the fall of man! The consequences of disobedience are in full
view, for we see Adam and Eve attempting to hide and to cover themselves with
fig leaves. They had lost their covering! Created in His image
after His likeness, spirit people covered in his glory, filled
with His power, shining in the likeness of His person--holy, but now, they stand
in a covering produced by their own hands. The candle of man, his
spirit, has been snuffed out. The likeness in which they were created is
tarnished, no longer holy--Ichabod! The glory of the Lord is departed! What
deception to ever imagine they could provide a sufficient covering
for their sin!
We see the
heart of a loving God reaching down, coming to make provision for the highest of
His creation. The Adamic Covenant is the covenant God made with Adam and Eve
after the entrance of sin. Here they lost their relationship with God, corrupted
their character, lost the dominion they had been given, and caused their
children to come under the dominion of sin and death. (I Cor.15:45-49 and Romans
5:12). Their merciful Creator came to reveal His provision and to restore that
which was lost. Often called the "book of beginnings," Genesis is the
beginning of the covenants of a redeeming God.
What a
forgiving God, coming to provide the way back to Himself! He slays the animal
and makes coats of skin to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness. No man-made covering
could meet the demands of a holy God. Man could never provide an acceptable
covering for his sin. The blood of an innocent animal was slain,
which introduces a substitutionary death to cover man's sinfulness. This
covenant sacrifice was the first of all blood sacrifices for fallen man and
pointed to the New Covenant sacrifice at Calvary-- the body and blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Within the
Body of Christ today a doctrine has crept in, teaching that we all need a
"covering" in order to minister in our gifts and callings. The
question is continually set before us," Who is your covering,
and under whose authority are you?" Again, "To whom are you accountable?"
Indeed, we all must be accountable, but that is specifically and initially to
the Lord Jesus Christ, who causes us to walk in the light as He is in the light.
Shouldn't our response be that the blood of the Lamb covers us? Men without a
covering are labeled rebels having "Ahab" spirits. Likewise, women are instantly
placed in the "Jezebel Camp" with all the unsubmissive, controlling,
manipulative and usurping ones possessed by a Jezebel spirit. What a sad
estate.
In Exodus
26:15, 29 and Exodus 36:20, 34, Moses is told to overlay (cover) (1) the boards of shittim wood in the tabernacle with pure
gold. Is that not what Jesus did for us when He grafted us into Him and we
became living stones in the temple of the living God? Wood is a type of
humanity. The gold suggests that God covers (clothes) us with His own nature.
Surely we are made partakers of His divine nature and are clothed, covered in
His righteousness. When a principle is established in Scripture, why must we
succumb to a doctrine of man, which Jesus hated? (Revelation 2:6,15)
When Aaron
and his sons were called by God to the Levitical priesthood, they were commanded
to wear white linen trunks to cover their nakedness. (Exodus 28). Now, we see
the final and last priesthood, which is the Church of Jesus Christ! In
Revelation 19:8, His bride is clothed and covered in fine
(radiant) linen--dazzling and white, for the fine linen is. . .the righteous
deeds of the saints. Ephesians 2:10 tells us these deeds (works) were prepared
for us (by God Himself) to walk in before the foundation of the world was laid.
Tell me, where did the idea ever come from that we need any covering
other than the Lord Jesus Christ Who called, covered,
confirmed, ordained, sanctified and commissioned every believer to be His
representative king and priest on this earth?
One isolated
passage in I Corinthians 11:5-6, which was and is based on Jewish
law,
| 5. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head; for she is one and the same with her whose head is shaved. 6. For id 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. 1 Cor. 11:5-6 NAS |
will
not suffice for those who have become sons and daughters of the free
woman.(2) In Galatians 4: 21, Paul asks: "Tell me, you
who are bent on being under the Law, will you listen to what the Law (really)
says?" Read on and savor what Calvary purchased for every blood-bought child of
God! The
Apostle Paul wrote the church in Corinth that he did not come to take dominion
over anyone's faith (II Corinthians 1:24). Many saints have been hindered by
false teachings on covering and have not been permitted to go forth into
the work of the ministry. God forgive and set us on a new path of liberty in His
Spirit.
God's word to
Moses in Exodus 33:22 reads: "And while My glory passes by I will put you in a
cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand until I have
passed by." The word cover here signifies: to cover over, to
protect, defend, hedge in. God covered the tent or
tabernacle (Ex. 40:34) with a cloud, which was His very Presence. In Psalm
91:4, the Lord's care, protection and love flows out as He promises to
cover His people with His feathers. Psalm 105:39 tells us He
spread a cloud (His presence) for a covering.
Tracing and
highlighting the words cover, covered, covereth, covering in the
scripture, God, the Almighty, reveals Himself as The One Who
covers. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our covering, and His presence
in, upon and over all believers is sufficient in every respect. The blood
covering provided for every believer, whether Jew, Greek, slave,
free, male or female, far surpasses the blood of bulls and goats, which only
covered sin in the Old Testament. But now, the blood of Jesus does
more than cover. It completely washes all our sin away.
Beloved of the
Lord, male or female, we must return to Biblical foundations.
Jesus said, "And when one is fully
taught, he will be like his teacher." Who do we want to be like? Do we wish to
be like a person or institution that takes the place of Jesus, or to become like
Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit resident within us?
Some years ago, I chose to receive the
Lord Jesus Christ as my complete COVERING. May I share with you
how the Lord brought me under His covering? For many years I
taught Bible studies in my home and in the church. I'm sorry to say that I
taught a mixture of God's Word and the doctrine of men. A deep desire to please
my husband and those who were supposedly my covering brought me to
the realization I was walking in a futile attempt to serve two
masters.
Once I was invited to teach in a church.
When I approached the pastor, who was our covering in a home Bible
Study group, he saw no problem in my going provided my husband went along to be
my covering. My husband said he felt no responsibility for that
church and declined to go. Therefore, I told the church I could not come.
Needless to say, the Spirit of God within me was deeply grieved, and I began to
seek the Lord for His wisdom and light. This hunger to know truth began to
expose the error and bondage in which I walked. How lovingly and gently He
showed me Covenant love and that He alone is my
covering.
I heard my Lord, my covering,
ask clearly and distinctly, "Who called you to teach?" My response was,
"Lord, You did." He replied, "Then go teach." That is exactly what I've done
ever since in total liberty and joy! My soul escaped out of the snare of the
fowler. I had to follow up with those to whom I had taught error through the
years and ask their forgiveness. I removed a number of books and articles from
my home and never embraced or taught from them again.
Knowing that He has called and overshadowed us with His mighty
love, that He alone is our covering, and that He has set us under
His holy name to give account to Him, let us walk in the liberty of the
wonderful COVERING of His presence devoid of all
flesh.
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1. In
Hebrew, more than one word is used for "cover." The word used here is defined in
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance as: fill up hollows, to cover (for
clothing or secrecy), clad self, close, clothe, conceal, cover self, flee to
hide, overwhelm.
2. See
Galatians 4:21-31.
