In reference to
1 Corinthians 11:7
A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
Could someone please explain this custom and history to me why Jewish men head cover but Christian men are discouraged?
A good parallel passage to this one is at 2Cor 3:
unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly at the outcome of what was passing away.
But their minds were hardened. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted at the reading of the Old Covenant. This veil is done away with in Christ.
Yes, even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil is upon their hearts.
Nevertheless when one shall have turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Lord, the Spirit. -2Cor 3:13-18
The entire chapter is pertinent. What I get from this is that in Christ, distance between man and God is erased. in Christ's incarnation, death and resurrection, He became the first of many brothers, a new creation never seen before. God has taken up residence in man. Twice, once on the individual level and once on the corporate, Paul tells the Corinthians that they are the Temple of God. Revelation says, "They will have no need of a temple, for God will be their Temple".
There are other passages that corroborate this as well.
Let no one cheat you out of your reward, delighting in humility and worship of angels, preoccupied with things he has not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh,
and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, being nourished and joined together by joints and ligaments, increases with the increase coming from God.
If then you died with Christ to the elemental principles of this world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to regulations -
"Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle",
which all concern things which perish with the using - according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
These things certainly are having an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed worship, excessive humility and severe treatment of the body, but have no value against the indulgence of the flesh. -Col 2:18-23
The Jews showed their respect for God by covering their head. But because of the astounding price that Christ, the very Son of God, paid on our behalf, we can have intimacy with God, and now the head covering is an obscuration of that truth, an example of the "false) humility" Col 2 refers to. This is why it grieves me that so many Christians adopt Mosaic ways and won't even type out "God", when we actually have the right to address the Father as
Abba. It's a completely different perspective from the old Jewish way, reflecting a new reality, and I think that's what Paul was getting at in the verse you quote from 1Cor 11.