In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus tells the parable of the Ten Virgins. This parable is a continuation of a conversation Jesus started with his disciples in the previous chapter. In Matthew 24 Jesus tells them what will happen at the end of the age. He gives them the signs that will signify his return is near.
In case you are not familiar with it, here is the scripture context containing the parable of The Ten Virgins:
Matthew 25:1-13 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you; I don’t know you.’ “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
In the Old Testament God pictures Himself as the "husband" of Israel. (Isaiah 54:5 For your maker is your husband, the Lord Almighty is his name, the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth).
In the New Testament Christ is pictured as the bridegroom of the Church. (John 3:27-30 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him. ’The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”)
The Church is described in Scripture as the bride of Christ. In this parable the virgins represent members of the Church. (Ephesians 5:25-32 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husband's ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church for, we are members of his body. "For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. "This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ and the church.
The 6 Truths of The Ten Virgins Parable
1. It’s What’s inside the Lamp That Matters Most!
-All the virgins took their lamps to meet the bridegroom. They all looked the same. From the outside looking in you would assume that they were all prepared for the arrival of the bridegroom. However, as we can see from this parable, having a lamp is simply not enough. With no oil the lamp was useless.
Question? Are you focused on what the outside of the lamp looks like, or do you care what's inside the lamp?
Consider this verse in Romans 8:9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
When God saved you, the Holy Spirit came to take up residence in your heart. This is the defining marker of a believer. Without the Holy Spirit or the oil as mentioned in this parable of the 10 virgins, you are just an empty lamp. It does not matter how good your lamp looks on the outside.
However, the next step after receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation is to constantly be filled with the Spirit. Consider this verse: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” – Ephesians 5:18
You need to constantly yield more and more of your life to the Holy Spirt. This Requires consistent times of prayer, fasting and worship so God can renew, refill, and strengthen your heart. This will give you the oil you need to keep your lamp filled.
2. You need the oil
-What does the oil picture, exactly in this parable. Jesus didn’t explain that in this parable. In other biblical passages, oil is tied closely to God’s Holy Spirit (1 Samuel 16:13; Zechariah 4:2-6), and that may well be the implication here. The oil pictures something that can’t be transferred from one person to another—and having enough oil was the dividing line between those who made it and those who didn’t.
Are you full of the Holy Spirit?
This is a major part of being ready, being filled with the Holy Spirit. This requires more than just showing up to church on Sunday morning. It's about what you do the rest of the week that matters the most. The relationship that you have with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Bible study, prayer, engaging with the Word of God and putting what it says into practice is how you build your spiritual growth. Your growth in Christ will happen mostly outside of church. This is where you prepare your heart to be ready for Jesus' coming. As we can see from the parable the ones who took extra oil were prepared and ready. Those who didn't were not ready. Even though they looked prepared, five of them were not prepared. This is how it will be when Jesus returns. Many will look prepared because they have lamps, but they won't be prepared because they don't have oil.
God doesn’t expect us to be perfect in these things—but He does expect us to spend our lives pursuing them. And while it’s true that we can’t share our oil, it’s also true that we can encourage each other in those pursuits. “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works . . . exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
3. The Wise -VS- The Foolish
-The five wise virgins who had the extra oil represent the truly born-again believers who are looking with eagerness to the coming of Christ. They have saving faith and have determined that, whatever occurs, be it lengthy time or adverse circumstances, when Jesus returns, they will be ready.
We as Christians must always be spiritually prepared to meet Jesus. We will have to give up many material advantages available in Satan's world and devote ourselves to Jehovah and serve him out of love and loyalty to him and to his son. We will have to maintain out integrity, refusing to adopt the spirit of this wicked world and it's materialistic, immoral, and selfish attitudes.
-The five foolish virgins without the oil represent Christians who are spiritually not ready to meet Jesus, false believers who enjoy the benefits of the Christian community without true love for Christ. They are more concerned about the party than about longing to see the bridegroom. Some of them, believing the Lord will not notice, render themselves unprepared by indulging in sin. The lukewarm Laodicean church, have grown self-satisfied and spiritually stagnant. They only have enough "oil" to last a short time. Their hope is that their association with true believers ("give us some of your oil" of verse 8) will bring them into the Kingdom at the end.
One person's faith in Jesus cannot save another. The "Lord, lord" and "I do not know you" of verses 11 and 12 fit very well with Jesus' condemnation of the false believers of Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles? ’Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
4. This is really a parable about the rapture!
-Notice that the virgins got tired and fell asleep. In the Bible, to fall asleep can also be a reference to dying. After they fell asleep, they were awoken by a cry that rang out. When that cry came, those who were ready went into the banquet with the bridegroom and those who were not ready got locked out. This is a picture of the rapture.
Consider what Paul said “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17
5. Preparation Happens Before You Die!
-Being wise means being prepared for the unexpected with an extra measure of faith, testimony, and the Spirit in our lives. Often times we may grow complacent, thinking we have enough oil to get by. But following the Savior means more than just getting by. It means always striving to draw closer to him, preparing for those times when our patience, faith and testimony will be tried.
- I hope you recognize from this parable that your eternal destination is determined by what you do now. Once you die or fall asleep it is too late. Your eternity is sealed. The day of decision is now, and we want as many people as possible to enter that banquet when he comes. Don't delay. Today is the day of salvation.
6. Wake Up Call!
“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you; I don’t know you."
-Imagine the virgins hearing these words and the shock when they were hit with this reality. This leads me to believe the greatest question in life is not do you know Jesus? The greatest question in life is does Jesus know you? Jesus, knowing you has nothing to do with your deeds or actions. Jesus, knowing you has to do with you putting your trust in him as Savior and Lord. Nothing else matters. If there is any day you want to be known by Jesus it is on that day. If Jesus is your Savior, you are known by him today. This is the hope and confidence we have in him.
The parable of the 10 virgins is a wakeup call. First to those who don’t know Jesus, but I think it goes beyond that. Remember the virgins did have lamps. I think this is a real wakeup call to those who may go to church but are not really walking with God. In other words, those who have empty lamps. More than ever before if you are not walking the way you should this is the day to get it right. Not only because Jesus could return at any moment but because life is so fleeting. The bridegroom is returning. The Kingdom is coming. No matter how long it takes, our job is stay watchful and be ready.
-The overall and easily seen thrust of the parable is that Christ will return at an unknow hour and that we His people must be ready, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus at all times while awaiting His coming. As we can see all the virgins were sleeping when the call came, which indicates it doesn't matter what we are doing when Christ returns. We may be working, exercising, on vacation, eating, etc... whatever it is, we must be doing it in such a way that we don't have to "make things right" (get more oil) when He comes.
Just as five virgins were foolish and five were wise, each anointed one has the full capacity to choose either a course of preparedness and vigilance or a course of folly and unfaithfulness.
"May we not be found "going away to make the purchase" (v. 10) when Christ returns. Take the time now to fill your lamp with oil and take extra along. Continue to be spiritually alert and keep waiting and watching with joy and anticipation for the return of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Lord, your word says that no one knows the day or the hour of your return. Holy Spirit I ask that you lead, guide and direct me in all truths. If I am ever off course, please give me a course correction immediately so, that I may get back on track in the right direction. Fill me each and every day with knowledge and wisdom and understanding, Lord, I don't want to be like the five foolish virgins. I don't want to be unprepared. I don't want to not have enough oil. Help me Holy Spirit to live a righteous and pleasing life unto the Father. I don't want to be without you Holy Spirit. Fill me with your presence always. Lord, when you return, I want to be like the wise virgins, prepared with lamps filled with oil, overflowing oil. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Scripture Reference
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.
Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Revelation 19:7-8 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”