Summary of passage: 1 Corinthians 10: Continuing from 1 Corinthians 9 where Paul says it is more important to give up some things for the sake of winning the race Paul uses the Exodus as an example of a people who started strong (under God’s watchful eye, were baptized, and ate spiritual food) but were disqualified in the end and ended up scattered over the desert because:
They were idolaters; sexually immoral; tested the Lord; and they grumbled.
These are warnings for us to stand firm and don’t fall! We all face temptations but God is faithful and only gives us what we can bear and always with an out.
Therefore flee from idolatry and do not eat of food sacrificed to pagans. You cannot have your cake and eat it too!
Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. You must seek the good of others. Everything in it is God’s and we must do everything for His glory. Do not seek your own good but the good of others. Follow Christ’s example.
1 Corinthians 11: Paul says the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Men should not cover their heads in prayer because he is the image and glory of God; whereas, women should because they are the glory of man. Woman came from man and was created for him. Thus, women should have a sign on their head.
Yet men and women are interdependent. They need one another. Men are to respect women just as much as women are to respect men.
Paul chastised the Corinthians again for their divisions and irrelevance for the Lord’s supper and others.
Paul explains that the body and blood of Jesus were to be taken as a Holy Communion and to proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. If you take communion in an unworthy manner you are sinning. You must examine yourself before partaking and judge yourself before the Lord (by confessing your sins) so the Lord does not have to. For the Lord’s judgment is discipline. So have proper manners when you come together!
Questions:
5a) Idolaters (Exodus 32:6), Sexual immorality (Exodus 32:6, Exodus 32:28, Numbers 25:1-3, 9), Tested the Lord so were killed by snakes (Numbers 21:4-9), Grumbled and were killed by angels (Numbers 16:41, 16:49, 17:5, 17:10)
b) People have idols (which can be anything put above the Lord). Sexual immorality is everywhere today and is being justified. We don’t have faith so we test God in His Word often with dire consequences. And we grumble (probably the most common) in the form of complaints when we should we eternally grateful for what Jesus did for us on the cross.
c) It’s good to know that everyone faces temptations but God will not give us more than we can bear and He always provides an out so we can stand up under the pressure. The out is usually the harder way so many do not see it.
6) Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. In everything you should do for the good of others not for yourself. You do it for the glory of God as you follow Christ’s example. This means putting your needs and wants last. Think of others and how your actions will affect them. Resist the little temptations that society says is okay when in your heart you know it is not (lying, swearing, flirting, etc).
7a) The head of every man is Christ; the head of every woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Head in this sense means authority not inferiority. Thus, man has authority over women just as Christ has authority over man and God has authority over Christ. (verse 3)
b) This question is vague in my opinion. I believe the circumstances are the same in today’s day. God’s word does not change. Only the application changes as society changes (which is not necessarily a good thing). Man is to have authority over women in the home and in church. This is what the Bible speaks to.
Women are to have their head covered when praying. In Ancient Times this was signified by a veil. But what Paul says is this is not necessary as long hair on women serve as a covering. Thus, in modern times we don’t wear a veil.
Furthermore, this is a matter of the heart. As long as women pray with the understanding they are under the authority of the male leadership of the church, women are free to pray.
c) The principle of man having authority over women still applies the same today. Man is to be the head of the home and church. Women have clear roles (as created by God to be man’s helper) and men have theirs. However, in today’s society, women have rejected these roles and expanded it into all realms of society.
God does not speak of man’s authority over women in politics, business, education, health, etc. God is only speaking of the home and the church. Well, submission is hard to swallow but since we are required to submit to God we are required to submit to man in the home and church. No where else though.
This does not mean every woman is under the authority of every man. This has nothing to do with inferiority only authority. And here is where God’s Word has been misconstrued and misapplied.
8 ) Holy Communion is a reverent act which we must approach as such. We must examine ourselves (verse 28), come to Jesus and repent as we are being cleansed of our sins. Our heart must be right otherwise we are guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord (verse 27). Here is a place where going through the motions is a bad idea!
Conclusions: Packed lesson, that’s for sure. We start out being warned about temptations (but then told God won’t give us more to bear), then told to live for others, cover our heads in worship and respect man’s authority over women as God is over man and then told the proper way to take communion–all great messages we need to heed!
I loved the warning against temptation. We all need to avoid situations where temptation can take place. Don’t put yourself with single men or women in a social atmosphere. Don’t go to a bar if you are tempted by alcohol. Don’t hang out with people who do drugs. We are all tempted but God gives us a way out and one of the most common is to avoid the situation all together.
Just because someone says to jump off a cliff, would you do it? No! Just because you can do something doesn’t mean it’s right. This is where strong morals comes into play as well as your gut. We all have an internal guidance system that alerts us to wrong-doing. Follow it.
Another great teaching on the authority of man over women. I think so many people today have been brain-washed by feminism and people who have misconstrued God’s Word and applied it in places God never does. Both men and women. We only have to look at society today to see the effects of this: divorce rates, single parents, lack of personal responsibility, disregard for authority, etc. We have only to turn to God for the answers. It’s all in black-and-white but too many people think ignorance is better.
The Lord’s Supper: I think most churches are getting this right. They approach it with the reverence it should be and are careful to tell people it’s significance and limit only Christ-followers to Communion.
However, I think it should be taught more. This was the first time I read this passage in relationship to Communion. I think there are common misperceptions out there about Communion which should be addressed in churches today.
Dear Atozmom, is it okey if Ican request the exact lesson. Right now we’re in Lesson 20 starting last Tuesday. Thank you for your kind and consideration! God bless!!!
Hello,
You wrote, “The principle of man having authority over women still applies the same today.”
This traditional interpretation of 1 Cor. 11:3 has serious problems.
1. If this verse is reciting a chain of command, then why is God’s authority mentioned after man’s authority?
2. It says that God is the authority over Christ. This would give one a chain of command within the Godhead, making the three members of the Trinity unequal. This idea of a chain of command, known as subordinationist theology (Christ is subordinate to the Creator God) was declared a HERESY during the fourth century.
3. Paul uses the singular form for man and woman. If Paul were saying all men were the authorities over all women, then he would not have used the singular form.
4. Christ did not come to set up hierarchies and chains of command. Rather, Christ came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. For Paul to establish a chain of command that places half the human race in a subordinate position to the other half is to miss one of the main points of the Gospel.
To understand this passage, we have to understand what the Greek word kephale, translated “head,” meant at the time Paul wrote his letter.
During the first century kephale was rarely, if ever, used to indicate authority. It was not until the influence of Latin centuries later that the new meaning of authority was added to the word kephale (such as the concept of the “head” of an academic department). The word kephale meant “source” long before Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) and for hundreds of years after Christ.
Cyril of Alexandria defined kephale as source. Commenting on 1 Cor. 11:3, this 5th century Greek Church father wrote that Christ is the kephale of man because man was made and brought to birth through Christ. He then said man is the kephale of woman because he was her source when she was taken from his flesh. Finally, Cyril wrote that God is the source of Christ.
If we translate kephale to mean source, like “headwaters” or “fountainhead,” then the verse is not hierarchical but cyclical: Christ is the source of every man; the man is the source of a woman; and God is the source of Christ. Here is how it makes sense: Christ is the source of man because Christ was God’s agent in creation (John 1:3), and therefore participated in the creation of Adam. Man is the source for woman, as in Gen. 2:21-23, where God took the rib, or side, from the earth being and fashioned a female.
If we drop the heretical interpretation you have repeated here, then the image of God is one of three equal, loving persons, and the image of humans should reflect that equality and that love. The members of the Godhead are equal, and God made male and female in the image of God, so they also are made to be equal.
The emphasis of this verse is on unity, not hierarchy.
So my view is the opposite, with scholarly and biblical backing: a woman who functions in a position of spiritual authority in the local church is fulfilling her God-given gifts, accepts her God-given equality with males, is a proponent of the gospel and accepts God’s pattern of spiritual leadership.