The Ten Virgins
Matthew 25: 1 -13The Parable of the Ten Virgins of Matthew 25: 1 -13 is perhaps the most difficult to expound of all the Lord's parables.
It opens with the word " then " . This is a word indicating the time when the parable of the ten Virgins would be fulfilled.
" Then " is the first word in Matthew 25 and it refers back to the last two verses of Matthew 24, where we read : " The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. "
Thus we learn that the Parable of the Ten Virgins is an end time prophecy. This is also made plain later in the parable.
Events in Christendom will undoubtedly in the near future make the Parable of the Ten Virgins readily understood and explained, as has been the case in other kingdom parables. Meanwhile we shall seek to learn the meaning and message of this parable which has had so many varied interpretations.
Like so many other parables spoken by our Lord , it is a parable on the restoration and the ushering in of the Kingdom of God on earth, and it is not a Church parable. The " ten virgins " we can be certain represent or symbolize the ten tribes of Israel. A few passages from the Old Scriptures will establish this fact.
Isaiah was inspired to speak to Israel as being the Lord's bride in chapter 62:5 : " For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. " In Isaiah 54:5 Isaiah wrote, " For thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of Hosts is his name;and thy Redeemer the Holy one of Israel ; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. "
Jeremiah used the same symbol in chapter 3:14: " Turn O backsliding children, saith the Lord ; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. "
Hosea wrote the following in chapter 2: 19, 20 : " And I will betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea , I will betroth the unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord. "
In revelation 21: 9,10, 12 we read , " And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plaques , and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride , the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God ... and at the gates ...names written thereon , which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. "
In the light of these scriptures there should be no question as to what peoples are symbolized as the ten virgins.
The fact that they are spoken of as virgins demands that they be the people of Christendom who recognize Christ and are in a blood covenant relationship with God. Throughout all the Old Scriptures we find Israel under a protective blood covenant with God. In the New Scriptures they are under the blood of Christ as a people. Redemption in both the Old and new Scriptures was and is for Israel.
Next , we find that the ten virgins " took their lamps " . " Lamps " , in symbolic scripture represent the Word of God. In Psalm 119:105 we read, " Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path ". The only people in the history of Christendom who have ever made an effort to establish their civil administration and their way of life according to the Word of God are the Israel people.
Psalm 147: 19, 20 makes the following very significant statement: " He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. "
In Deuteronomy 4 : 7,8 Moses wrote : " For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for ? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day ?.
This scripture is as true and unique concerning the Israel people today as it was in the day of Moses, with this difference : they are now the many nations as God promised Abraham they would be.
And since the Israel people are the only people who have ever known God's national laws , statutes, and judgments , they are without question the ten virgins with their lamps in the Lord's parable.
The statement that the " ten virgins " took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom is one way of saying that in the end time these Israel people would officially recognize the " kingship " of the Lord Jesus Christ, and , as we all know, this is actually the foundation upon which this nation was built.
In considering the bridegroom we must realize that Christ is the head of His Body ( the Church ) , he is the bridegroom to the Israel people - and especially in our nation where both Church and State were established upon the Word of God.
Five of the virgins were wise and five were foolish. The wise took oil in their lamps but the foolish had no oil. " Oil " in scripture symbolizes the Spirit of God.
" While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. At midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him. then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. "
Christendom , is very rapidly approaching the greatest crisis in its history, and we will be made to realize in this midnight darkness that everything in our national life must be made to conform to the Word of God. Things that are not in harmony with God's Word will have to be eliminated, trimmed off.
In this crisis " the foolish said unto the wise, " Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. " Matthew 25:9 - " But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. "
Many Christians viewing Christendom today would think it impossible that 50% of Christendom - or five of the ten virgins- would be prepared to enter the Kingdom of God on earth. One reason for this is that they have failed to distinguish between Church and State. Having ignored the national message of the Bible, they apply the doctrines and the standards of the Church to the nation ; this the Word of God does not do.
Moses , the prophets , and the apostles all set forth the fact that national righteousness consists of observing God's national laws. While there is no personal salvation through national righteousness, many great blessings come to the nation because of it.
In Deuteronomy 4:5,6 Moses wrote : " Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the lord my God commanded me, that you should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them ; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. "
The Church of Jesus Christ is a very distinct and separate institution composed of believers from all races and tribes of people. The Church, the Body of Christ , is a higher order than the bride and will be the ruler with Christ in the New Age.
In his parable of the ten virgins, as in all his kingdom parables, Christ was not setting forth the mysteries of the Church but the mysteries of the Kingdom of God on earth.
If the people of Christendom were given an opportunity to chose between the pagan and Babylonian systems in our midst and the national laws of the Bible we might find that already 50% of the people have become so sick and tired of the economic , political , and social oppression and corruption that they would decide to honor and observe God's national laws. ( Editor's note : see parable of the Prodigal Son ).
In any event , that is what the outcome will be as a result of our present time of unprecedented confusion and distress of nations. Moses foretold this in Deuteronomy 4 : 30,31 ; " When thou art in tribulation , and all these things are come upon thee , even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; For the Lord thy God is a merciful God; he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swore unto them."
" The door was shut " in the parable of the Ten Virgins symbolizes the same as we find in the Parable of the Tares , that not all who happen to be living in the Kingdom nation at the time of its cleansing will be allowed to remain and enjoy the blessings of a scriptural and righteous civil administration.
Jesus closed His parable on the ten virgins by saying, " Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh " This indicates that the cleansing of the kingdom nations will come unexpectedly and will find many people unprepared.
Christ or communism will be the issue which will determine whether or not a person will remain in the kingdom nation. ( Editors' note : Christ vs. the false security a governing body extends to people in a time of distress ).
Many today say we will have neither, but that attitude can change overnight. God will undoubtedly force the issue, compelling all to chose one or the other.