Ephesians 5:22

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
- Ephesians 5:22

Why weren't the wives being subject to their husbands? In some areas of their lives, the wives considered Christ to be their Lord and thus negated the headship of the husband. This was being caused by a false teaching in Ephesus. Paul responds by saying that they should obey their husbands just like they obey Christ. This matters in this time period because of the marriage contract. Paul is not commenting as to how marriage should be, but that the contracts that have been agreed upon, should not be broken because of the false teachings.

Ephesians 5:14

Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Ephesians 5:14

The context of the false differences between Apostles and Prophets in Ephesians suggests that Paul is quoting one of the New Testament Prophets.

The false teachers in Ephesus were misinterpreting the prophetic word given by a New Testament prophet. They were saying that the Spirit of Christ was Lord of the dead and so would only shine on the Gentiles after they died.

Paul responds by saying all believers in Christ were dead in their sins but are now made alive in Christ (Eph. 2:1, Eph. 2:5).