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HEAD COVERINGS Today I am going to discuss head coverings and their purpose. It is an important topic because truth is being restored to prepare a people for the return of our Messiah. Here is a verse where the garments for the priests are described. The Hebrew word for turban is a different word than the word used for the head coverings that I will discuss later. Ex 28:4 4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered covering (skirt), a mitre (mitsnephet/turban), and a belt: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest's office. We read on and we find a further description; Ex 28:37-40 37 And you shall put a blue lace upon the TURBAN; upon the forefront of the TURBAN. 38 And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead to lift the iniquity for the holy things in order that the offerings of the children of Israel are made hallow; and IT SHALL CONTINUE UPON HIS FOREHEAD that they be acceptable before YEHWEH. 39 And you shall embroider the covering with linen, and you shall make the TURBAN with linen, and you shall make the belt of needlework. 40 And for Aaron's sons you shall make coverings, and you shall make for them belts, and you shall make BONNETS for them, for glory (kawbowd/ splendor) and for beauty (tipharah/ honour). It is interesting what is said in these verses pertaining to the head coverings of the High Priest and his son’s and the purpose for them. Who else wore head coverings and why? There is much said in scripture about covering our heads if we dig a little. 2 Sam 15:30 30 And David went up the slope of mount Olivet and wept as he went up, AND COVERED HIS HEAD, AND HE WENT BAREFOOT: and all the people that were with him COVERED EVERY MAN HIS HEAD, and they went up, weeping as they went up. In this example, these men were going up the mountain to beseech Elohiym and to worship Him. The interesting thing to notice here is they went up barefoot as well. One of the first things that ‘EL Shadai showed me several years back when He started dragging me out of the dark and into the truth was to approach Him in private prayer with my shoes off. There are two places that this is clearly outlined in scripture; Ex 3:5 5 And He said, Draw not near until put off your shoes from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground. Josh 5:15 15 And the captain of YEHWEH’s host said to Joshua, Loose your shoe from off your foot; for the place whereon you stand is holy. And Joshua did so. He instructed me to do this because coming before Him is coming before that which is Holy and this world that we walk in with our shoes represents filth. It is an unclean world. Taking off our shoes when we come before Him in prayer represents leaving the filth of the world behind before we approach Him and thus it is a matter of honoring Him. The reason I bring this up is it is important to recognize that YEHWEH did not command Joshua and Moses to cover their heads. Why was this? It was because their heads were already covered? As I studied the subject, it became obvious that the patriarchs covered their heads as a sign of respect to YEHWEH because He was their covering. If we are to cover our heads, is it only a matter of when we pray? The story of David certainly shows us that David knew to cover His head when approaching His maker to pray and to worship Him, but what about other times? Was there a reason that they did not have their head coverings on? Obviously they had them with them. It is interesting to consider how head coverings played a role in mourning. Lev 10:6 6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, UNCOVER NOT YOUR HEADS, neither rend your clothes; lest you die, and lest wrath come upon all the people and your brethren, the whole house of Israel see and bewail the burning which YEHWEH has kindled. Moses is telling Aaron and his two sons to not remorse over this because it was evil what his other two sons had done coming before YEHWEH as they did. Their mourning over this would have also been the wrong example for their brethren and they would have joined in with them in their mourning. This is important for today as well because all that opposes Him is getting ready to be destroyed. And we must not remorse because of it, but rather we must be sobered by it and desire for His Son to return and set up a different world with evil being purged out. In this story, it shows they would have uncovered their heads if Moses had not bid them not to. They would have removed their covering and covered themselves with dust and ashes. Is this backed up elsewhere in scripture? Let’s go back to 2 Samuel and the story of David and His men covering their heads; 2 Sam 15:30 30 And David went up the slope of mount Olivet and WEPT as he went up, AND COVERED HIS HEAD, AND HE WENT BAREFOOT: and all the people that was with him COVERED EVERY MAN HIS HEAD, and they went up, WEEPING as they went up. They were weeping and lamenting and their heads were uncovered but they covered them as they went up the slope to be before YEHWEH to worship. We also see this with Elisha mourning over the disappearance of Elijah; 2 Kings 2:23-24 23 And he went up from there to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him and said to him, Go up, you bald head; go up, you bald head. 24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of YEHWEH. And there came forth TWO SHE BEARS OUT OF THE WOODS AND TORE FORTY-TWO OF THE CHILDREN. This is also a prophesy pointing to the destruction of many in the following days at the beckoning of the two witnesses. The 42 children are symbolic of the 42 months of the holy city being trodden underfoot and the plagues that will be called for by these two witnesses as a result of all of the abominations. The 42 months is symbolic a period of time as well and not actually 42 months but that is a different subject. So does this mean that the two witnesses will not be covered? On the contrary, it means they most certainly will be. Aaron was not able to mourn over his two sons because they died at the righteous hand of YEHWEH’s judgment. In like matter, the two witnesses will not be lamenting over the coming destruction because it will be YEHWH’s judgment as well. Elisha was uncovered because His lamenting was over his loss of Elijah and these children were mocking him calling him unclean because he was uncovered. It was normal to uncover your head when mourning. We just must make sure what we are mourning over. If we are mourning over righteous judgment there is a problem because we are not in agreement with our maker. We must not mourn over that which is evil, that which opposes our Creator’s righteousness when it is destroyed. Here is a verse that ties in having our head covered with the days that we live in; Isa 61:2-4 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of YEHWEH, and the day of vengeance of our Elohiym; TO COMFORT ALL THAT MOURN; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give to them BEAUTY (head coverings) for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of YEHWEH, that He might be glorified. 4 AND THEY SHALL BUILD THE OLD WASTES, THEY SHALL RISE UP THE FORMER DESOLATIONS, AND THEY SHALL REPAIR THE WASTE CITIES, THE DESOLATIONS OF MANY GENERATIONS. The word for beauty in verse 3 is the Hebrew word pe’er which means embellishing head covering. It is the same word that describes the bonnets of Aaron’s sons; Ex 39:27-28 27 And they made coverings of fine linen of woven work for Aaron and for his sons, 28 And a turban of fine linen, and GOODLY (PE’ER) bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen, In these last days, the remnant will learn to be covered with head coverings instead of ashes for a covering. This is also describing an attitude that we must have. We should not rejoice over the sufferings that the world will be going through but we should be rejoicing over what is coming in its wake, ZION is coming! And we should certainly not lament over the destruction because it will serve a purpose to increase our Elohiym’s family in the future as well. The suffering is going to be horrific so we must make sure that our Creator is our covering. If He is our covering, then He has turned the water that we are cleansed with on a physical plain into the blood of His Son so that our sins are covered by His blood. The physical head coverings are representative of His covering on a spiritual plain. Ezek 24:17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, wrap THE COVERING (PE’ER) of your head upon you, and put on your shoes upon your feet, and cover over your lips, and eat not the bread of men. (Contrasting this, we must eat the unleavened bread of life) Ezek 24:23 23 YOUR COVERING (PE’ER) shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; your iniquities shall vanish, roar one to another. 24 This is to be A SIGN to you: all that Ezekiel has appointed you shall do: when this comes, observe that I am YEHWEH Elohiym We see here plainly that this covering is a sign or a token that has been given to us. Part of this sign is also that we possess the attitude that this all must be and we must not mourn nor weep. There is another group of people, those who think that they are covered by His blood. Much is written about this group as well. This is the 96.7% of scattered Israel who thinks that they are good to go with His covering and are perverting His truth and will not repent. These are the MANY WHO WERE CALLED BUT ARE NOT OF THE FEW WHO WERE CHOSEN. Isaiah tells us about them in chapter 3 using a dual prophesy that uses the way that women pervert their purity with their physical coverings and all of their outward decorations. This prophesy is also referring to the spiritual adultery of Israel. There are many other prophesies discussing this group, none of which are good. There are also scriptures that describe baldness in relation to the coming destruction. Here is one for example; Ezek 27:30-32 30 And shall be heard against the proclamation and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: 31 Unto them shall be utterly bald (NOT COVERED), and girded with sackcloth, and unto them weeping with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. (Sounds like weeping and gnashing of teeth) 32 And suffer unto their wailing and lamentation, and lament over Tyre, which is destroyed in the midst of the sea. We also read when Moses brought down the tablets; Ex 32:25 25 And when Moses saw that the people were UNCOVERED; (because Aaron had made them uncovered to confirm their shame) Were they physically naked or did Aaron make them to take off their head coverings to show that they were not covered by Elohiym? I am running out of time so I want to go back to the positive group to finish up today with the good covering; Isa 61:8-10 8 For I YEHWEH love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which YEHWEH has blessed. 10 I will greatly rejoice in YEHWEH, my soul shall be joyful in my Elohiym; because He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks Himself with an EMBELLISHING HEAD COVERING (PE’ER), and as a bride adorns herself with her preparations. The bride groom will be covered when He returns, just as He was covered while He was here, both physically and spiritually. The physical represents the spiritual. He will also be wearing a name, just everyone wears a name. We either wear our Creator’s name or the name of the enemy. The name of the enemy is the mark of disobedience. Ezek 44:16-18 16 They (the priests) shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table to minister to me, AND THEY SHALL KEEP MY CHARGE. 17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They shall HAVE LINEN HEAD COVERINGS (PE’ER) UPON THEIR HEADS, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat. Who are the priests? They are those who became His children AND ENTER INTO His sanctuary. He called us to be priests, a holy people unto Him. Zech 3:1-7 1 And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of YEHWEH, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2 And YEHWEH said to Satan, YEHWEH rebuke you, O Satan; even YEHWEH who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 4 And he answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And to him he said, Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with change of raiment. 5 And I said, Let them set a PURE HEAD COVERING (PE’ER) upon his head. So they set a head covering upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of YEHWEH stood by. 6 And the angel of YEHWEH testified to Joshua, saying, 7 Thus says YEHWEH of hosts; If you will walk in my ways, and if you wilt keep my charge, then you shall also judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you a place to walk among these that stand. There are some big “Ifs” in the conditions that our Creator gives us but they are not a burden. And the reward package is out of this world. His ways and His charge include a physical covering that He converts into a spiritual covering by covering us with the blood of His Son. Just as water baptism is an outward sign of agreeing to change to His ways and be cleansed by Him, covering our heads is an outward sign of choosing to let Him be our covering, thus letting His Son’s blood cover us. |
