Be Prepared: Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids, Matthew 25:1-13

 

Last week we finished Matthew 24, we are now in Matthew chapter 25 in the second of three key parables. The theme of each of these is really this idea  I have put in the title for the lesson to be prepared. And this is the parable of the 10 virgins or the parable of the 10 bridesmaids, and so we must come to understand what is going on in this particular passage. 

 

I want to address key points here. First, of all terms of review, and this is going to be a little more extensive today. It seems like every time I start preparing and I go back and I read from Matthew 24 one all the way through the end of 24 I see little things and recognize little things and connections. At the same time I am reading and interacting with numerous scholars and commentators and theologians and friends who have worked through this or working through this and many of them have different positions. I don't just say okay, take this position and try to prove it. I truly work through the text inductively looking at all of the different views trying to understand their arguments even to the point of maybe taking a long road trip to spend a couple of hours at lunch with somebody to pick their brain. This last week I had the opportunity on Monday to spend time with Tommy Ice, and I also had time on Friday to spend a couple hours with the Arnold Fruchtenbaum over in San Antonio, and they don't agree on this passage. So it's fun to sit down and say okay, help me understand why you believe what you believe.

 

Have you ever heard me say that before: that we need to know why we believe what we believe, what are the exegetical reasons? At the same time, because we have a couple of people in the congregation were taking courses at the Dallas seminary campus and I get feedback from them, one of the things I try to teach them to always do when there is some sort of questionable statement by a professor—even if it's not questionable, even if it's accurate—you ask the question: What is your biblical support? You can't just assert that the Bible means things, although sometimes in sermons that is what you do from summary. You can't go into extensive detail on every passage. It may surprise you that I don't go into extensive detail on every passage, I give you the results of the extensive study I do. So when we do a review part of the reason I do that is because you haven't had your brain  in Matthew 24 & 25 in seven days, in some cases 14 days or 21 days. There visitors here and also it helps us to bring back and reinforce what we have been learning. So what's going on in this passage, what we learned so far? 

 

Second is what is the connection to the previous parable and the one to follow. There are three parables here at the end, the parable of the righteous and wicked servant, which we looked at last week, and then it's followed by the parable of the talents, and actually after that there is a teaching and instruction from Jesus about the sheep and goat judgment. How do these things connect? One the problems we run into in a lot of Bible study is that people will, and theologians especially, go in and isolate these parables and not work through verse by verse in terms of the broad context as we've been doing in Matthew. As a result, I think some of these internal connections are missed. 

 

Third, whom do the 10 virgins represent? You will get different views. Some people think they relate to the church, other people think they relate to the Jews/Israel. Who they represent? 

 

Fourth, what is the distinction between the two groups of five? There are five who are prepared five were not prepared. That's part of the distinction. Are we to understand them? Are they representing two kinds of believers, carnal versus spiritual? Or are they representing unbelievers versus believers? Even more specific, are they representing unbelieving Gentiles and believing Gentiles in the Tribulation, or are they representing believing and unbelieving Jews in the Tribulation?

 

Fifth, what is the significance of the oil?

 

And then, sixth, what is the purpose of this parable? What is Jesus teaching?

 

So we go back to the beginning and just to remind you, the disciples asked, I believe two questions and that the second question really is a two-parter indicating the same thing. What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? The first question, when will these things be? "These things" goes back to what Jesus just said about the destruction of the temple. So, one: When is the temple going come down? And two: What's the sign of your coming and the end of the age?

 

In Jewish eschatology they just saw the present age, which would end when the Messiah would come and establish His kingdom. So when he they ask: What is the sign of your coming? That word coming is PAROUSIA, which means your presence—not just your arrival but your presence. So that is asking about when kingdom is coming because that ends the present age. They don't have an understanding of church age yet, that is still mystery doctrine that hasn't been revealed yet. 

 

Remember the context is very Jewish; it has to do with the coming of the kingdom, the coming of Messiah, and His presence on the earth. It's not talking about the church, that question excludes that. Now there are some that say well Jesus answers more and so He brings the rapture in, but I don't think that really fits textually. The context is not the Rapture, it's the Second Coming of Christ, bringing in His kingdom; so because this is a Jewish context, it's not a church age context we have to be consistent with what Jesus is teaching here.

 

The first thing to point out is that this is all related to the parable of the fig tree, which indicates the general proximity of Messiah's coming, that this can be known. That's the point of it. So if you look back at 24:32-35, Jesus says, "Now learn this parable from the Fig tree when its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near." The point of this visual image that he creates is that you can know the general proximity of this coming, not this specific day or hour which He brings out several times. He is going to say that if you see the signs, and that goes back to verse four—the signs of the wars and rumors of wars, that many will come in my name and say I am the Christ, others they will other things that happen are disease and pestilence of famines and earthquakes. Now that's why I belabored that, because if it's these things now than then when you get to this verse and it says the generation that sees these things will not pass away, then you have a problem. 

 

The parable of the fig tree begins this discussion that the general proximity of Messiah's coming can be known. So by looking at the fig tree you can know if the leaves are starting to sprout that summer is near. That's the key word there, this word near. It's the Greek word ENGUS, which means it can be near in physical spatial proximity, such as the front row is near to me; in the back row is far from me, or it can refer to near in time, maybe something like lunch is near; breakfast is now far away. It's closer in time or proximity. That's the context here because were talking about a chronology here of spring to summer; we're talking about time. They will be able to know that the coming of the kingdom is near in time by observing the signs. Remember those are not signs today; those are signs within the Tribulation period.

 

Jesus says in the analogy that you can know that summer is near. And then when He applies the analogy to what He is teaching in verse 33 He says, "So you also, when you see all these things know that it is near." So nearness in time is the point of the analogy, nothing else is.

 

When you read a parable you have to let Jesus tell you what elements of the parable are to be interpreted, and what it's trying to teach. Sometimes a parable has many elements and people try to make every element mean something, and that's often leads to interpretive problem. So let Jesus tell us what He is trying to illustrate. He will limit it often by a statement that He makes. That's all He is talking about the leaves don't mean anything, the budding doesn't mean anything, the branches don't mean anything; only the fact that you see something and you know summer is near. That's the point, this chronological comparison.

 

Verse 33 says, "So you also, when you see all these things" that He has been describing from back in verse four, all the way up to 31, "you know that He is coming," the presence of the kingdom is near. And he says then in verse 34, "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away until all these things take place". When He says this in verse 34 He is emphasizing that it is that generation that sees the signs within the Tribulation. 

 

What can you conclude from that? He is not talking about us because were not in the Tribulation. So we don't go around looking for signs, we are not date setting. We are not like the guy who wrote his book, "88 reasons the Rapture is going to occur in 1988." And then when it didn't, he wrote a book called 89 reasons why it's going to occur in 1989. After that he quit. The point that I'm making from this which is so crucial, is from this point on Jesus is really talking to that generation—that generation of Jewish believers that are living through the Tribulation. He's not talking directly to you and me because we don't see those things. He is only addressing that generation. 

 

The second thing we point out here is that that generation is warned that they can only know that the time is near. But they cannot know the precise day or hour. Now some people say and I think it's an obvious answer: Well wait a minute, if you can count down the 1260 days from the abomination of desolation to the end, or the time from the signing of the peace treaty to the end, but maybe they don't know the precise day or hour the treaty was signed or the precise day or hour that the abomination of desolation took place. So there's a clear statement here that Jesus is saying there is an uncertainty about the precise time the Second Coming will occur. 

 

The generation is warned that by looking at the signs they can know it's near but they cannot know the day or the hour. In verse 36 he says,"but of that day and hour", and that has to refer to the immediate context of Jesus coming and his presence being known, the sign that is mentioned of the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory in 24:30.

 

This verse then becomes the main proposition, which is then developed from this point to Matthew 25:30. All the way through the end of chapter 25 it's all developed out of this statement in verse 36 that "of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only". If no one knows you have to be prepared, you have to watch. And everything that flows from this point on is about being prepared and watching.

 

Now that relates to the generation and of believers at the end of the Tribulation, but it has an implication for us, and that is that we don't know when the Rapture is going to occur either. So if they have a general idea of when the Second Coming is going to take place, and they need to watch and be prepared, then it follows a fortiori, or from a stronger argument, that we must also watch and be prepared. Now we have to understand what it means to be prepared.

 

So that generation, which He is specifically addressing, the Tribulation generation of Jewish believers, are commanded to watch. And if you look at these contexts specifically, He is talking to Jewish believers who are who are living wher?e New York, Moscow, Kiev? No, in Jerusalem because back earlier He said, "When you see the abomination of desolation take place, then those of you who are in Jerusalem and Judah flee to the mountains."  Now, does that mean that that those who are living somewhere else can't make some sort of application? Not at all. He's speaking specifically, though, and giving specific instructions to a certain group of people. Now that's important to understand. 

 

So they are to watch, that's verse 42. Verse 36 lays down the principle, "of that day and hour no one knows not even the Angels of heaven but my Father only." Jesus in His humanity is not given the responsibility to reveal that information. Notice verse 42 in your Bibles. You really need to watch this in your Bibles and look at what your Bible says here, and underline some things and draw some connection. Verse 36 is the beginning of the paragraph.  How does the paragraph end? Look at verse 42, "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord, your Lord is coming". Verse 42 is the application of what is said in verse 36. Verses 37-41 are an illustration from the time of Noah related to those who were unprepared, were caught by surprise suddenly when it started to rain and Noah's Ark started to lift off the ground, and they were destroyed, wiped out in judgment. And those that were in the ark who were prepared, who were watching were ready, were saved, delivered, they survived through the judgment of the flood.

 

Question: What kind of judgment was that, temporal or eternal? Temporal. Often we talk about judgment in the same sentence and use it in two different ways. That gets confusing. That came up in one of my conversations this last week. Matthew 24:42 states the primary issue here: "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming". Now that word hour is again used in verse 43. Verse 43 makes a contrast. It says "But know this". You should circle the word "but" at the beginning of verse 43 because that tells you that verse 43 is integrally related to verse 42. In other words, you can't slice 43 and 44 off and talk about them independently because the thoughts in 43 to 44, come out of 36 to 42 because of that word "but". That's what it tells us.

 

They are told to watch. This word watch is then used again in verse 43. Now verse 43 introduces a brief parable, the parable of the homeowner. And the parable of the homeowner says in verse 43, "But know this, that if the master the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched". See, the parable, the homeowner is directly related to the command of 42 which is the command that grows out of verse 36. How does verse 36 begin look in your Bible? "But of that day and hour no one knows." What does that "but" tell you? It's translated wrongly there, so you'd make a mistake if you are looking in the English. In the Greek it's PERI DE, which indicates in some places a contrast, and people will make a big deal about this that PERI DE means "now concerning", and it is shifting the topic completely, so now we are going to talk about the Rapture.

 

Usually, at least the places I've looked, they always cite and it is well known that Paul uses PERI DE that way First Corinthians. But Matthew doesn't use PERI DE that way; it's just a very, very soft transition to the next thing. It's not much different from just but or the next thing. It's not a hard contrast of content. But because that PERI DE is there it throws us back to verses 32 to 35. And verse 32 begins, "Now learn the parable of the fig tree." That grows out of what goes before. See, you can't just isolate these things; that's the point I'm making. And once you do, then you can run into some problems understanding it.

 

The third verse that I have, verse 13 of chapter 25 is the application of the parable of the 10 virgins. Jesus says, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming". Now I want you to notice that if the parable of the homeowner in 43 to 44 is continuing the idea of watching in verse 42, then that idea of watching carries all the way through the parable of the 10 virgins. Why is Jesus telling that story? To tell them to watch. That's what he's been talking about since verse 42, which is the application of verse 36, so you can't separate the parable of the 10 virgins from the entire context of at least 36 and following, and that even goes back further. So that connects all of these things together.

 

That generation that is warned that they can only know that the time is near, they cannot know the day or the hour. So we see that the parable of the homeowner is designed to reinforce the command to watch.

 

Now that homeowner parable is very important because it is saying that if the master the house or the homeowner had known when the thief would come É So you're at home and if you knew the you're going to get broken into at 2.30 in the morning, what would you do? You would be prepared.  Some of you would be sitting there with your shotgun in the dark, some of you would be sitting there with your phone there ready to call 911, others would have whatever other weapon of choice would be, but the point is that you would be prepared. The point of this analogy it is not so much the sudden and unexpected miss of the arrival of the thief. Certainly that's there, but the point that Jesus, getting is if you know when the thief is coming you'll be prepared. 

 

What does He say earlier? You can't know precisely when Jesus is coming at the Second Coming, but you can know generally because of the signs of the leaves in the fig tree. You can know generally Jesus is coming, so you can be prepared. The contrast that get set up here is between those who are prepared and who watch versus those who aren't prepared and don't watch. And we will see that all the way through the three parables that we are talking about, the wicked and righteous servant, the 10 virgins, and the parable of the talents. That's the point of this thief imagery and its used the same way in Revelation 16:15, which comes right at the time of the seventh bowl judgment. It is almost the time when Jesus is coming back, so there is this a warning, this challenge to those who are still alive to hang in there, but they still don't know exactly when He is coming: "Behold, Jesus said, I'm coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." 

 

So there's a warning they're using. That's two terms, the thief and watching, and that that is true for the generation that is there right at the end of the Tribulation. That application from Matthew 24 is very clear: "Therefore you also be ready". That's the conclusion of the parable of the thief, "Therefore you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

 

That word "ready" is very important. It's the word HETOIMOS in the Greek, which means to be ready, to be prepared, and can refer to a state of readiness or preparation. So the purpose of that parable of the homeowner is to encourage the believers at the end of the Tribulation to be ready. It is   used again at the end of the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:10, the five foolish or stupid virgins went out to buy, the bridegroom came, "and those who were ready". That's telling us that the purpose that parable has to do with preparation and being ready, which connects us right back to that parable of the of the homeowner. So what we see here is that all of these string together like a string of pearls and you can't take them out. All of these words are the string that that connects all the all the pearls. It tells us that the parable of the ten virgins on this basis connects back to the parable of the homeowner. 

 

Then we see that the three parables that grow out of the parable of the homeowner are therefore about Jews during the tribulation, not Gentiles or church age believers. Those are the three basic views here. There is a view that this relates to the Jews during the Tribulation. That's the view of Dr. Pentecost, the view of Dr Toussaint, and I think that's a correct view.

 

There's a view that it relates to Gentiles at the end of the Tribulation. That's Dr. Fruchtenbaum's view, and there's a view that it refers to church age believers. That's the view of Bob Wilkin and Jodi Dillow, and a number of people with the Grace Evangelical Society. I think that's got a lot of flaws contextually and they miss a number different points. 

 

What's interesting is Dr. Fruchtenbaum's is that versus 38-42 Matthew 24, talking about the two men in the field, one is taken, the other left. He takes that as the Rapture, but then when you get to the thief parable and the subsequent parables he takes that as the end of the Tribulation for Gentile believers, not Jews.

 

Now he has two arguments for that, and I want to just address these. I Love Arnold, but I disagree with him on this and but I benefit greatly from his ministry. First of all it's is weak. We have to recognize that the only surviving Jews at the end of the Tribulation are believers. What is your support for that? He said Zechariah 13. Zechariah 13 says. "It shall come to pass in all the land, says the Lord, that two thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one third shall be left in it. I will bring the one third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined to test them as gold is tested. They will call my name and I will answer them and I will say this is my people. The Lord is my God." The key thing here is that word land. It's the word aritz. We talk about Eritz Israel, which is the land of Israel, but you can also talk about that God created the heavens and the eritz in Genesis 1:1, where it refers to the whole earth. So how do you distinguish it? Well, if you look in context at what's going on in Zechariah 13, it's talking about how God is going to rescue those in Judah and Jerusalem. 

 

Remember, those in Judah and Jerusalem are told to flee to the mountains when they see the abomination of desolation. In Zechariah 12 and 13 it is also focusing on Judah and Jerusalem. And though there are couple places where it's clear the word eritz has to refer to the whole earth, it also is used in these passages to refer to the land, and that's how it strangely new King James version, in Arnold's favorite version, the ASV 1901, it translates it the land in contrast to the whole earth, and I think the point here is that as the Antichrist's armies are surrounding Jerusalem two thirds of those Jews that are left in Jerusalem are going to be massacred, but one third, that is the believers, are going to be rescued because they followed the prescriptions to an escape. So two thirds are going to be cut off and die. Daniel 12 talks about God bringing this judgment on them and the one third that lives are those that survive in Jerusalem. It is not talking about the rest of the world. When we understand that I think that it's clear that you also have unbelieving Jews that survive the Tribulation in the rest of the world, not just not just there.

 

I also think that that there's an issue with the word judgment. There are those who contend that, well, Israel gets judged during the Tribulation. That's a judgment on them, why would God judge them again in these three parables? That's because the judgment that occurs in the Tribulation is a temporal judgment. The judgment that is spoken up at the end of each of these parables where one is assigned to the lake of fire and the other goes to heaven is a judgment related to eternal destiny. So we have to be careful. We often use the word judgment for both but one is talking about a temporal discipline on the nation, the other is talking about individual judgment in relation to eternal destiny. 

 

We look at our four questions here; we come to understand that these three parables are therefore about Jews during the Tribulation, not Gentiles or church age believers.

 

That sets us up for under being able to understand what is coming up next, and we have to ask the question, what is the connection of Matthew 25:1-13 with the previous parable of the wicked and righteous servant, and the parable that comes up. In the first of these three parables, "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?" Remember that what I said last time, that that this relates to Israel. Israel is referred to again and again the Old Testament as the servant of Yahweh or the slave of Yahweh. Those terms are interchangeable, servant or slave. One group of these is made ruler over another group and part of what they're going to do is feed them. So this is talking about the spiritual leadership over Israel that is set over them. Some of them are good and they are faithful servants, and they're faithful shepherds, as Ezekiel describes them. Others are not like, the Pharisees and the first century.

 

But they are described by two different terms here. The first term for faithful is the word PISTOS, which means faithful or reliable or trustworthy, and they are also described as wise, PHRONIMOS. It also has the idea of being sensible, being intelligent, and so you have these two words and what's interesting is Matthew 25:21, which is in the parable of the talents talking about those who were given talents and use them wisely, were called faithful servants. "His Lord said to him, ÔWell done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things'."

 

The parable, we look at next time on the talents is going to develop the idea of being a faithful servant. Remember, you have two words, faithful and wise, In Matthew 25:40 and Matthew 24:45. Faithful is developed in the parable of the talents, wise is developed in the parable of the 10 virgins. And so they are identified as being wise, using the same word PHRONIMOS in verses 4, 8, 9. If you just look at the vocabulary in this language in the original you see how the writer gives you all these different connections. Now all of this together shows that everything from, at least verse 30 on, has to be held as one event. I think that's important, because you can't come along and talk about verses 37-41, the days of Noah, the one taken the one left behind, and say that's talking about the Rapture, and everything else is talking about the Second Coming. It's all one, or it's all the other; you can't break it apart because of these connections that are there in the text. 

 

As I pointed out last time in that parable of the righteous and wicked servant, the master is Jesus who goes away on a journey to heaven. The slaves are servants or Israel, God's people. The faithful and wise of the good leaders and the evil servants are the Pharisees in Jesus generation, and the evil servants are the bad religious leaders in the Tribulation period. 

 

That parable also concluded with the statement that those who are wicked are assigned a portion with the hypocrites. "Hypocrites" always refers to the religious leaders, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the scribes, and they are unbelievers. So this has to be contrasting believer and unbeliever. 

 

Another point is if you go back to Jewish literature, wise versus foolish is always—especially when you look at the Psalms, and wisdom literature—really reflects believer and unbeliever. But what has said in his heart there is no God? The fool! So this is the contrast here. And again it shows that we are not talk about carnal believers versus spiritual believers, we are talking about unbelievers versus believers; and this is seen again in this phrase, "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth". In several these passages it is also associated with outer darkness, and Stan Toussaint in his book Behold the King, which is based on his doctoral dissertation, states invariably throughout Matthew that this phrase refers to the retribution of those who are judged before the millennial kingdom is established. They're not allowed to go into the kingdom; they are unbelievers. There's a judgment on them (Matthew 18:12; 13:42 and 50; 22:13 and 25:30). That's a judgment for unbelievers.

 

I think it's heresy to say the believers are going to be cut into and cast in the place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. There's going to be remorse at the judgment seat of Christ, but this is punishment, it goes far beyond simply remorse because we didn't do well. 

 

Who do the 10 virgins now represent?

 

Matthew 25:1 NASB ÒThen the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom".

 

What we see here is a background, that this is a comparison with a common cultural event, which is what took place at a wedding. And so the kingdom of heaven is now compared to a specific section within the entire wedding. You have the 10 virgins, they take their lamps and they go out to meet the bridegroom and the procession as he is coming to get the bride. It begins with the word TAUTE in the Greek, which, as we have seen all through Matthew 24 just says, "and the next thing"; it connects it to the previous parable. So we not only have similar vocabulary, we have a connective at the beginning that ties them together. You can't just take the parable out on its own to understand it. 

 

Now there are two options here as to how the virgins are understood. One view is that the virgins represent the church. This is mostly based on arguments from silence because some things are not mentioned in the text, and it's also based on the idea that the church is introduced by the Rapture in 24:40, 41. We've demonstrated that to be to be false. Although it is not stated in the parable, but I think the implication is there, if the bridesmaids are not the church, because in a marriage analogy that we have in Scripture, Jesus is the bridegroom. Who is the bride? The church is the bride of Christ, not the bridegroom. Now that's not your strongest argument, but I think that is necessarily true, even though that is not something brought out or emphasized in the text. I think generally that is that is true, though. 

 

The second view is that this is Israel in the Tribulation, and that's based on context. Now of course I dealt with Arnold's view, which is that it's Gentiles in the Tribulation and I don't go along with that. But the other view is it's Israel in the Tribulation. This is based on the context we have just gone through, and that the subject all through here is Israel at the time of the coming King and the kingdom. 

 

So we have this opening statement that the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to the 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. What is the distinction between the two groups of five? What are they, what are they called? I think this is important to see this distinction. Five of them were wise, and five of them were foolish. As I've already pointed out, wise versus foolish is typical in wisdom literature in the Old Testament—believer versus unbeliever. The five of them were wise. This is PHRONIMOS, which means wise; they are prudent. I think the NASB translates that is prudent. It also means intelligent or discerning. They understand what's going on and they're going to be prepared. 

 

On the other hand, you have five who are foolish. This is not a complementary term, it means foolish or stupid or they lack sense. And numerous commentators just call them the stupid virgins. That may be of sound a little harsh to some years but that's basically what the text says there—MOROS is where we get our word moron. So you've got the morons and the wise now as we go through the outline here. 

 

Those who were foolish: we come to the question of who are they, what distinguishes them. This is important. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. So in this fifth question where we are asking, what is the difference the foolish and the wise? The foolish took their lamps and they took no oil with them, and the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Now if you just stop there you would think that one has oil and one doesn't. That has led some people to the erroneous conclusion that the oil represents the Holy Spirit, and if the Holy Spirit is there then that means they are church age believers. That is really common, even if they don't take the church age believer position. They think that but the text never makes that point. In fact the point that is made in the parable that we see down at the end is to watch. Therefore, the whole point of this parable is to watch; it's to be prepared.

 

So verses three and four says the morons take their lamps, they don't have oil with them. We are going to see they did have oil in their lamps, but they didn't have any extra oil. The wise have oil and they had in their vessels. Now the word vessel there refers to something like a flask. The little oil lamp doesn't carry a whole lot so they were wise and took extra. We know that because in verse eight we read, "and the foolish, the morons, said to the wise, give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out". That indicates that they were going; there was burning but they are beginning to sputter.  

 

The morons had no lamps and no extra oil. The wise have oil and an extra flask of oil. Then the bridegroom is delayed, and when the bridegroom is delayed, they all eventually fall asleep so it's not an issue. The sleeping that thing is watching, it isn't as much an issue that is being brought out here because it is making the obvious statement that they all fell asleep. What we see is that both groups have oil to begin with, and they all fall asleep and then the bridegroom comes, and it's a surprise. 

 

Now I want to address this issue of, is the oil the Holy Spirit? There are a couple little problems with this. First of all, what happens when they come out and they trim their lamps? What happens next, at midnight a cry is heard. There are a couple ministries that capitalize on this and call themselves "the midnight cry"; this is the Rapture. This is not the Rapture; this is the Second Coming. But you'll hear that term. There's a cry and it is just part of the story: "Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him." And so all the virgins then arise and trim their lamps. They have all been asleep; they all wake up. They all trim the wicks in their lamps, so they'll burn better burn brightly. And oops! The morons, the foolish say to the wise, "Give us some your oil, our lamps are going out. 

 

Now if the Holy Spirit is the oil then, first of all, the morons have the Holy Spirit to begin with, and that doesn't fit the context. Second, they're getting a diminishing amount of the Holy Spirit, and that doesn't work because the Holy Spirit doesn't diminish; you don't start losing Him. And third, yet can't buy the Holy Spirit. Simon Magnus in Acts 8:18 tried that. Remember, after watching Peter heal somebody: "Can I buy this; can I buy by the Holy Spirit?" So this is not talking about the Holy Spirit at all, the issue is preparedness, and that's exactly what we see when we get to verses nine and 10.

 

Matthew 25:9 NASB ÒBut the prudent answered, ÔNo, there will not be enough for us and you {too;} go instead to the dealers and buy {some} for yourselves.Õ"

 

So they left to buy and while they're gone, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding and the door was shut.  What's the point? The point is: they were ready. 

 

What happened in the wedding customs of Jesus day? Prior to the wedding itself an invitation would be sent to those who were invited to the wedding feast. This would of course include those who are part of the wedding party. The bridegroom would return after from the house of the bride in a procession and then delete a procession to his own home where wedding banquet would be enjoyed. So they don't know when the bridegroom is going to actually come back to collect them to take them to the wedding banquet. The word there that has to do with the wedding doesn't just refer to the ceremony itself, it refers to the whole wedding banquet. 

 

Now the wedding banquet is a picture, not of the beginning of the kingdom, but enjoying the blessings of joy and celebration that extends throughout the whole kingdom. So were not talking about just the beginning, we are talking about enjoying the feast, which represents in Scripture the entire kingdom. And so we have this issue here, those who were ready to go into the wedding feast and the door shut. That means nobody else can get in; they are locked out. 

 

There's a really extreme view among some people, and that is that this relates to carnal Christians and they are kept out of the kingdom; they go to some sort of Christian purgatory. They can't come into the kingdom at all, and they go through weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth for a thousand years. I think that is an absolutely absurd heretical view. 

 

So the issue is, those who are ready are believers, and they go into the wedding and then the door is shut. The judgment then comes and this occurs at the end.

 

Matthew 25:11, 12 NASB ÒLater the other virgins also came, saying, ÔLord, lord, open up for us.Õ ÒBut he answered, ÔTruly I say to you, I do not know you.Õ" And then the application comes. [13] ÒBe on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour [in which the Son of Man is coming] ".

 

What is interesting there is we have a textual problem. The phrase "in which the Son of Man is coming" is not found in the older manuscripts, or some of the early church fathers. But it is found in many other church fathers, and it's found in the majority of manuscripts. And I tend to go with that.

 

The rule of thumb you'll get from the side which translates the new American Standard and NET is that, well, it's redundant to what's already stated. I don't find that convincing because I find the Bible redundant in numerous places to reinforce the point, and the point I think here is that that we have to be prepared for the coming of the Son of Man.  

 

As I said, this is address to a generation at the end of the Tribulation to be prepared for the coming of the kingdom. Those who are prepared will enter into the kingdom; those who are not prepared will be taken in judgment. That fits the whole analogy back in Matthew 24:37-42. But there's an implication of that. Sometimes I draw a distinction between application and implication. The only people that can directly apply this are going to be those in the Tribulation at the end of the Tribulation. But there's an implication there for all of us, and that is just as there is an uncertainty as to exactly when the Second Coming is going to occur, there's an uncertainty about when the Rapture is going to occur. And as they have to be ready, we have to be ready. Now what you have to do to be ready? You have to trust in Christ as your Savior. That's the only way you have the right wedding garments—going back to the parable in Matthew 20. That's only way you have the right wedding garments, the righteousness of Christ, to go into the kingdom, the wedding feast and to celebrate the kingdom. The issue is not Christian life here; the issue is whether or not you have trusted in Jesus as the Messiah. And so at the end of the Tribulation it is important for the Jews who survive that those who are going to go into the kingdom have trusted in Yeshua as Messiah. In the church age it's important to trust in Jesus as the Messiah, that He died on the cross for sin, so that when the Rapture occurs we are raptured and we don't go in to the Tribulation.

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