Tag: angels

  • Christian Roles in Christian Worship – 1 Corinthians 11

    Christian Roles in Christian Worship – 1 Corinthians 11

    You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.

    1 Corinthians 11:1 Berean Standard Bible

    Now there’s a tall order seemingly impossible for any worshiper: Imitate an Apostle. But the humble Apostle Paul addresses the different roles of men and women in prayer and worship of the church.

    Roles of men and women

    Maintaining the Traditions

    Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you.

    • 1 Corinthians 11:2 BSB

    Paul compliments the Corinthian church for remembering him in everything, including his teaching as an Apostle of Christ, from going back to when he ministered personally to the Corinthian church.

    The apostle specifically addresses what he expects of the Corinthian believers.

    Yet centuries later we may wonder:

    To what ‘traditions‘ is Paul referring? Jewish traditions? Local Hellenist Corinthian traditions?

    So let's take a more formal from the King James in order to clarify who Paul addresses in the Corinthian church.

    Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

    1 Corinthians 11:2 KJV

    In his Apostolic authority of these ordinances, Paul first and primarily addresses the men of the Corinthian church — a cultural consideration expected by both Jew and Hellenist gentile believers.

    An Illustration of Leadership

    Paul employs a common metaphor we won’t want to miss.

    κεφαλή – kephalē – head

    picture of head and brain with kephalē in Greek which means head In 1 Corinthians 11 the Apostle Paul uses a metaphor of the head as a picture of authority in the church and of Christ as its head.

    metaph. anything supreme, chief, prominent

    1. of persons, master lord: of a husband in relation to his wife
    2. of Christ: the Lord of the husband and of the Church
    3. of things: the corner stone
    Paul uses this metaphor of the head ten times in his first letter to the Corinthian church. 

    So IF you tend to shun authority, you may question what the Apostle humbly orders by way of this ordinance of relationship and roles.

    Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.

    1 Corinthians 11:4

    The idea here is that man was made in the glory of God and it would be dishonoring to God for him to cover his head while he prayed or prophesied. Now that is interesting coming from Paul considering that in Orthodox Jewry today, they all wear their little hats whenever they come into any sacred place of prayer.

    Chuck Smith commentary on 1 Cor 11:4

    So where where is the Apostle headed? 

    Paul naturally points to the creation of mankind by God.

    "Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." 1 Cor 11:9 KJV

    But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved.

    1 Cor 11:5 NKJV

    Paul does not tell the men of Corinth that women should neither pray nor prophesy publically, only that she should have her head covered out of respect to the authority over her. 

    Thinking it through

    What is Paul’s reasoning?

    He uses hyperbole with irony here (pointed in the KJV):
    • For if the woman be not covered,
      • let her also be shorn:
    • but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven,
      • let her be covered.

    Again the Apostle emphasises:

    • For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
    • Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
      • For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
    You may not accept this on either, but the Apostle has already made mention in this letter to the Corinthians of such authority. 

    Apostles at the end of the procession

    .. like prisoners appointed for death.”

    Picture the ranks of all authority: Kings and captive prisoners of other kings.

    AND above all, God the Father, with Cherubim and Seraphim, ARCH-ANGELS and countless ranks of Angels — all spirits as gods serving the LORD with power to the glory of the Almighty — servants and messengers of God interacting with mortal men of dust and souls quickened in His Image with His Holy Spirit.

    We have become a spectacle [theatron] to the whole world [kosmos],

    to angels [angelos] as well as to men

    [anthrōpos {both men and women}].

    1 Corinthians 4:9b BSB

    – Paul’s reference to Apostles viewed by the world and angels


    Wearing your Symbols of AUTHORITY with humility and respect

    head-covering, the emblem of “power on her head”; the sign of her being under man’s power, and exercising delegated authority under him.

    Paul had before his mind the root-connection between the Hebrew terms for “veil” (radid), and “subjection” (radad).

    BENGEL explains, “As the angels are in relation to God, so the woman is in relation to man. God’s face is uncovered; angels in His presence are veiled ( Isa 6:2 )

    Jamieson, Fausset & Brown :: Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:10

    In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For just as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.

    A head uncovered

    13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

    Now the Apostle addresses the opposing sign of a head uncovered. 

    14 Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering.

    Again, a helpful overview of this Greek word for uncovered or unveiled [11:5 & 11:13].

    ἀκατακάλυπτος – akatakalyptos

    “uncovered” (a, negative, katakalupto, “to cover”), is used in 1Cr 11:5, 13, RV, “unveiled,” with reference to the injunction forbidding women to be “unveiled” in a church gathering. .. and in the phrase “because of the angels,” intimating their witness of, and interest in, that which betokens the headship of Christ. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

    The Apostle has not yet reached his final point on the matter, but for our purposes consider it now: 

    For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches..

    1 Corinthians 14:33-34a KJV

    .. the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. 1 Cor 14:37b

    we have no other practice

    The Apostle Paul concludes this section definitively as a segue into Holy Communion in this way:

    If anyone is inclined to dispute this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.

    1 Corinthians 11:16 BSB


    NEXT: Holy Communion and Worship

  • Hebrews – 1

    1:1  πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ θεὸς λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐντοῖς προφήταις

    It’s Greek to me…

    multifariam et multis modis olim Deus loquens patribus in prophetis


    God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

    Hebrews 1:1 KJV
    In our עִבְרִי Hebrews Intro I suggested that we will explore some translation back to the Greek and Hebrew. Follow links to secure sources.

    Translations of Hebrews 1 above, from the original Greek, to the Latin Vulgate,  to Hebrew do not seem to exist. Greek was the common language of Jews and Romans of the first century empire. Even early English translations include unfamiliar words and terms, like “sundry times.” indicating a portion of time.

    So what is the connection of the book of Hebrews to Hebrew descendants, Jews who became the Messianic followers of The Way?

    The opening of the book makes the connection. Its purpose is to explain the connection of the Messiah Iēsous to GOD, θεός theos in the Greek,in Hebrew, אֱלֹהִים elohiym.

    Hebrews 1:

    The Nature of the Son

    Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man, a specific messianic reference to the Messiah, only Son of God, born as a man.

    Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.

    Hebrews 1:1-2a CSB

    An immediate mention of God speaking through recognized prophets of the Jews. These include Abraham, Israel, Moses, David, Isaiah and many others. The voice of ‘his Son’ speaks with a first-person authority of the LORD speaking directly.

    God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.

    The Son of Man, Jesus, is heir of all creation, much as a human son receives the inheritance of his father’s work. Yet the author of Hebrews points out even more of the Image of the Son to the Father.

    The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

    Hebrews 1:3 CSB

    After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

    Jesus is of the same glory and exactly like God the Father and assumed the Throne of Majesty after making the Perfect Sacrifice for our sins on the Cross. The action of God Himself on the Cross purged our sins!

    So he [Jesus] became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.

    Angels and messengers of God

    The writer of Hebrews states that the man Jesus is much more than a prophet, then proceeds by comparing Jesus to the glory of God the Father. After briefly considering the Son of Man, now the writer of Hebrews proceeds to compare Jesus to unseen messengers .

    Angels are spirit messengers of God. Jesus emphasized the importance of the unseen spirit of man – soul, if you will – in its role of communication with God.

    Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

    John 3:5-6 CSB

    The water of baptism or purification is not enough. Repentance is not enough. Good works of the flesh are not enough. No one is justified by God without receiving the Spirit of God, messenger to your soul. The writer of Hebrews quotes scripture about angels, holding up Jesus as the Highest Messenger.

    The Son [Jesus] Superior to Angels

    5 For to which of the angels did he ever say,

    • Psalm 2:7 אֲסַפְּרָה אֶֽל חֹק יְֽהוָה אָמַר אֵלַי בְּנִי אַתָּה אֲנִי הַיֹּום יְלִדְתִּֽיךָ׃
    • or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son?”
    • Hebrews 1:6 Again, when he brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
    • Deuteronomy 32:43 LXX (Septuagint) εὐφράνθητε, οὐρανοί, ἅμα αὐτῷ, καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι Θεοῦ· εὐφράνθητε, ἔθνη μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐνισχυσάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες υἱοὶ Θεοῦ· ὅτι τὸ αἷμα τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ ἐκδικᾶται, καὶ ἐκδικήσει καὶ ἀνταποδώσει δίκην τοῖς ἐχθροῖς καὶ τοῖς μισοῦσιν ἀνταποδώσει, καὶ ἐκκαθαριεῖ Κύριος τὴν γῆν τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ.
    • Psalm 97:7 LXX (Septuagint) σαλευθήτω ἡ θάλασσα καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς, ἡ οἰκουμένη καὶ πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ.
    • All the gods must worship him. [97:7 LXX, Syr read All his angels]
    • Hebrews 1:7 7 And about the angels he says:
    • Psalm 104:4 עֹשֶׂה מַלְאָכָיו רוּחֹות מְשָׁרְתָיו אֵשׁ לֹהֵֽט׃
    • NKJV Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.

    “Rejoice with him, you heavens,
    and let all of God’s angels worship him.

    Deu.32:43a NLT As in Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version; Masoretic Text lacks the first two lines.

    The writer of Hebrews makes clear that Jesus is superior to the angels, using scripture from the Old Testament to do so.

    but about the Son

    Hebrews 1:8-12 is glorification of the Son of God. Like his opening, the author quotes scriptures known to the Jews.

    Quotes from Psalms often glorify God and glorify the king. The inference here is that Jesus, the Messiah, is a King forever.

    Psalm 45

    יָפְיָפִיתָ מִבְּנֵי אָדָם הוּצַק חֵן בְּשְׂפְתֹותֶיךָ עַל־כֵּן בֵּֽרַכְךָ אֱלֹהִים לְעֹולָֽם׃

    Psalm 45:2
    2 You are fairer than the sons of men;
    Grace is poured upon Your lips;
    Therefore God has blessed You forever.
    3 Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One,
    With Your glory and Your majesty.

    The king holds up the royal scepter of righteousness, the symbol of justice in the right hand.

    6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
    A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
    7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
    Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
    With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

    This reference by the writer of Hebrews to the Son being higher than the angels comes directly from this song of love in Psalm 45. The Messiah is an answer to prayer – centuries of prayers by faithful Jews. Hebrews continues by quoting another Psalm.

    Psalm 102 – The Lord’s Eternal Love

    Hear my prayer, O Lord,
    And let my cry come to You.

    12 But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,
    And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.

    18 This will be written for the generation to come,
    That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

    25 Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
    And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
    26 They will perish, but You will endure;
    Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
    Like a cloak You will change them,
    And they will be changed.
    27 But You are the same,
    And Your years will have no end.

    You are the same

    “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

    The revelation of Jesus Christ to John 22:13

    Hebrews 1 closes reaffirming that the Son IS the creative Word of the Lord.

    13 Now to which of the angels has he ever said:

    Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies your footstool?

    Once again, quoting a Psalm announcement of the Messiah’s reign.

    14 [NIV} Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

    Yes. Angels are ministering spirits of the LORD.

    Yet the Son of Man, God Incarnate: was, and IS, and will be higher than the angels; the righteous King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

    To be continued...

  • Disaster From Disobedience, A Savior From Before Eden – 3

    The Fall before the Fall

    … so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

    Hebrews 9:28 HCSB

    In ‘Disaster From Disobedience 2’  we considered the ‘In the beginning’ creation narrative. Genesis continues with the creation of man. We know that the fall of mankind and our expulsion from Eden will follow, but consider first an earlier significant event, the fall of angels.

    The Fall Of The Rebel Angels Painting by Gustave Dore

    Luke 10:

    … “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.”

    18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a lightning flash.

    19 Look, I have given you the authority … over all the power of the enemy; nothing will ever harm you. 20 However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”


    Christ Jesus instructs followers of what only the Son of Man from before creation can know. Angels disobeyed God, Creator and Master of all He Created.

    Yet witness here Christ’s authority over fallen angels. Demons submit to God by the Apostle.s command in Christ’s authoritative Name.

    Angels – Other Beings who Serve

    Angels were created also to serve God. When? We can’t be certain, but we do know that it was prior to the fall of man. And like us, they were also given freedom for obedience. 

    I suppose it is possible that angels and man were created at the same time, since Adam and Eve may have lived many years in Eden until the fall. Yet the presence of the serpent in Eden would seem to indicate an earlier creation of angels.

    Like mankind, some angels rebelled against the purpose for which the Lord God created them. God created angels as several, specific types of spirit-creatures. Angels are not the spirits of those who have died, but were created as beings in heaven. And like the creatures of earth, not all angels are alike. 

    Picture angels as many individual and diverse spirit-beings just as the creatures of this Earth vary.  Visualize their lives in a real and existing, unseen dimension, separate of this visible place.

    Unlike the Lord, no spirit rules over the day or fills flesh with the power of life! Angels are messengers for good or for evil, depending on who they serve.

    The Fallen Star 

    Satan is just one of the disobedient angels of darkness, posing falsely as hope for mankind.

    Returning briefly to a time after the fall of Jerusalem, the Prophet Isaiah had predicted Israel’s return after seventy years of captivity. Isaiah also interestingly described hell and the fall of Satan.

    Isaiah 14:

    12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
    O Lucifer, son of the morning!
    How you are cut down to the ground,
    You who weakened the nations!
    13 For you have said in your heart:
    ‘I will ascend into heaven,
    I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…
    14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
    I will be like the Most High.’
    15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
    To the lowest depths of the Pit…

    Disaster is not punishment for sin, but consequence of the fall.

    Job chronicles several conversations between the Lord and Satan. Here Satan comes before the Lord asking for permission to inflict evil upon Job, even though God sites Job as blameless. The common scene is Satan as prosecutor, accusing and condemning the criminal to death for some sin; even tempting man to turn again God and follow his own demise into eternal punishment.

    Job 1

    6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

    “From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”

    Beware of the tempter

    Beware of what you cannot see, for Satan roams the earth for the prize of sinners tempted into disobedience against God.

    Satan rules unseen spirits and principalities of darkness. Whether original sin, where the tempter is mentioned as the serpent or in Isaiah, where Lucifer appears as false light, Satan seeks disobedient sinners.

    Even now that prince of devils opposes righteous men and women who seek to serve God and Christ faithfully.


    8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”

    9 Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Haven’t you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”


    The entire saga of Job begs the question from his wife, his friends and the reader, “Why would God allow this to happen to ‘a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil?’” 

    The Lord even permits Job to question the intentions of the Almighty! However the LORD answers Job and the readers at length.

    HE IS THE LORD! … and man is not. 

    Nor is Satan, or angels; kings or idols. God IS God and we are not. Yet we would do well to remember the tempter’s appeal to our own desires, even as in Eden and since the inherited evil of ‘adam.

    Angels who serve God

    Much more is written of angels serving the fallen prince of the darkness and angels who remain messengers and worshipers of the Lord God.

    Though our series addresses our disobedience, let’s close with a brief description by a Prophet of spirits near to the Living God. And like other descriptions of heaven, our mortal minds can barely take-in the immense glory of the scene.

    Ezekiel 1

    4 I looked, and there was a whirlwind coming from the north, a huge cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire, there was a gleam like amber. 5 The likeness of four living creatures came from it, and this was their appearance:

    They looked something like a human, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, sparkling like the gleam of polished bronze. 8 They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings. 9 Their wings were touching. The creatures did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.

    10 Their faces looked something like the face of a human, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and the face of an eagle. 11 That is what their faces were like. 

    Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings touching that of another and two wings covering its body. 12 Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the Spirit wanted to go, they went without turning as they moved…

    Throne of the LORD

    lapis lazuli

    25 A voice came from above the expanse over their heads; when they stopped, they lowered their wings. 26 Something like a throne with the appearance of lapis lazuli was above the expanse over their heads.

    On the throne, high above, was someone who looked like a human…


    Read on if you like, or read other descriptions of the awe of the Lord and of the heavenly servants which include angels

    Man is fallen and sin has consequence. Next, we will return to the fall of man.


    To be continued…