Page 90 - Sarah's Children

should not be covered. This is also why it is a shame for man to have long hair. A
man with long hair is glorying in his own flesh by taking to himself the glory that
should adorn woman, and he is at the same time covering the glory of God. I
Corinthians 11:15 says that long hair is the glory of woman. When a man takes this
long hair to himself he is flaunting his own glory, for woman is the glory of man and
her long hair is her glory.

In scripture we are given an account of a man who gloried in his long hair, and this
glorying led to a shameful death. This young man was Absalom, the son of King
David.

II Samuel 14:25-26
Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly
praised; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no
defect in him. When he cut the hair of his head (and it was at the end of
every year that he cut it, for it was heavy on him so he cut it), he
weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the king's weight.

Absalom was so proud of his hair that he only cut it once a year, and he made a
spectacle of this event. He would gather people together for his annual shearing and
he would weigh the amount of hair that he cut off. Absalom had a glorious head of
hair, but he foolishly flaunted his glory. It was this hair that he so gloried in that was
the instrument of his death.

II Samuel 18:9, 14-15
Now Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. For Absalom
was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of
a great oak. And his head caught fast in the oak, so he was left hanging
between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him kept
going... So [Joab] took three spears in his hand and thrust them
through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the
oak. And ten young men who carried Joab's armor gathered around and
struck Absalom and killed him.

This story gives stark testimony to the evil of men seeking to expose their own glory
while covering the glory of God. Perhaps Paul was thinking of Absalom when he said,
“Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to
him.” A man should not have long hair, and he should not place a covering over his
head when he prays or prophesies.

Similarly, since woman is the glory of man, it is shameful for a woman to be
uncovered while praying or prophesying. As she stands before God she represents
the glory of man, and the glory of man should not be flaunted, but covered. If a