“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

(Mt 25:1-13).(NKJV)

---------------- The Parable of the 10 Virgins -----------------

Last weeks parable was spoken to the Pharisees in the Temple as a prelude to a ringing indictment of corrupt behavior at the highest levels of religious society. You can find that scathing rebuke in Matthew 23:13 – 39. 26 verses of charges unanswerable by anybody there.

This week, (we are looking at the “kingdom of heaven” parables as a fascinating detour in our current continuing study into the parables of Jesus) the parable is spoken to the DISCIPLES, both literally, as well as meaning – targeted towards. This parable is spoken to us!

CONTEXT:

After His speech to the Pharisees, the gospel of Matthew says He departed from the temple. On the walk back, His disciples probably marveled at the beauty of the structures that their Master had just left in anger! In what they probably thought was a remark made out of irritation, He told them that all the beautiful buildings they were admiring would be completely and utterly destroyed! Nobody said anything then(!), but later, as He sat upon the Mount of Olives (and they judged it would be prudent to bring it up again), they realized it was a prophecy, and wanted to know more details.

The result is the Olivet Discourse (which we have gone into in detail in our study of the Book of Revelation http://tabernacleoftheholyspirit.org/…/132-revelation-1…) in which Yashua tells His disciples the ultimate secret…. The circumstances and signs hinting at His Return! After giving them a DETAILED account of events, He ends with the paradoxical statement,” but my return will be when you least expect it”. Then why tell us these things? Ah ha… we are on to something here… because the parables all point to signs that He is coming, and He Himself tells us to WATCH!

3 parables precede this one. The parable of the fig tree putting out leaves so we know summer is near. The parable of the master of the house watching for a thief(Matthew 24:43), and the parable of the faithful and evil servants (Matt 24:45-51).

All the parables reinforce the message : --- Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. In fact, THIS parable ends with the words - Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. (Mt 25:13).
How, and why should we watch and be ready for something when we don’t know when its going to happen?

Parable #1, looking at a fig tree lets me know summer is NEAR. Parable #2 - The watchfulness has the benefit of securing one’s house from thieves –parable #3… keeping an eye out for the cops also has benefit if you are up to mischief…. Like the bad servant.

So what do you think is the Key Message of the Parable?

Key Message:

WATCH & & & BE READY! for the coming of the Son of Man!

WATCH! : So that you are not caught unawares of what is happening around you, you know it is NEAR!

BE READY! : Know what you are going to have to deal with at that time, and BE PREPARED to meet it bravely WHEN it comes.

Let’s look at that parable and the deeper message for the disciples.

Ten young unmarried women, that are of marriageable age, waiting to meet a bridegroom, lamps in hand. You may call them bridesmaids, or as in the King James “virgins”. The English word used to mean the same as the Greek word “Parthenos” used here – unmarried women of marriageable age- in our more modern time we now have to qualify the term as also implying that they have not had physical relations.

Friends of the Bride? Girls with giggles? Maybe… now they are waiting to join the wedding/feast. ALL fall asleep (though in a sense they are all WATCHING), but when the event occurs, only 5 are ready with their lamps of oil. They don’t share, leaving their 5 sisters out in the cold! What kind of parable is this? What a hard-hearted bridegroom!

The key to understanding this parable (and we are indebted to Dr Gerstner’s analysis of the parable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZyqJ0aRdfs) is to understand that this was spoken to the disciples! If we understand that, everything falls into place…
ALL Christians are watching for the return of Christ, but ALL Christians are NOT READY.

The oil that secures admission has been universally accepted to be the oil of the anointing of the Spirit. It cannot be shared, is uniquely personal, and like the wedding garment of last week, is a must to be given admission. In our “Are You Saved?” video, like Gerstner, we go into details about people who THINK they are saved because they have “done” something, but are not saved because they have not “been known”. That is why the bridegroom can say, I NEVER KNEW YOU. You made it all up in your head…

The key takeaway here is to realize that BOTH types of women HAD OIL in their lamps, but both of them were not READY for their oil running out! The wise ones realized that they would need more than what would fit in their lamps, and were prepared for a long wait – lamps burning.

And that’s the message. Will your faith lamp still be burning when the darkness and fatigue of this current age saps all will to stay awake? Will you reject the truth of His Word and turn to tradition or conventional wisdom to live your life? Will your recognition of the advent of the Lord be with horror and fright – like the bad servant, or with glad joy that that wait is over? Will you keep watching or say, like the bad servant,”My Lord delays His coming”, and begin to beat the servants and be drunken?

The Lord does not encourage hypocrisy. It is foolishness. Throw yourself on His mercy, accept that you have no oil in yourself apart from Him, and ask Him to keep you from falling …. Either all your LIFE – so that when He comes for you, you are ready – or at the end of this AGE, when the readiness of some will be severely TESTED. Keep persevering till the end, even when all seems lost!
The signs are given to the WATCHFUL so that they can be READY!

We are all watching, but not all of us are READY. Help us Lord, to pick up our cross and humbly follow you every day, watching the world and waiting for your return!