Let me first admit that what I propose here I could not find in over two
dozen commentaries by theologians over the spread of many centuries. I
have
listened to many sermons on the topic, and I have been to many groups who
talked about this parable. What I have found is that every commentator
either ignores the parable, dismisses most of the symbolic references, or
makes symbolic references that are fully unqualified: ie. Calling the
virgins "Christians" or "believers", or calling the oil the Holy Spirit.
None of this is substantiated, and even the commentators note that this
can't
be taken too far.
In short, the parable is deemed by nearly everyone to be the shallowest
and
least useful parable in all of Scripture, one that could have been largely
omitted leaving Christ's summation statement of "be ready". As for all
true believers, we are. The Calvinists believe that we have been chosen
in
eternity past and will indeed be saved. The Pelagian/Arminians are
wildly
mixed on the application of this passage.
Overall, it is rather useless since if we are obedient in all things, as
we
should be, then we are indeed ready. Furthermore, I have read several
commentaries that were flat out wrong in their representation. One went
so
far as to say that half of the virgins were asleep, and from this error
conclude that sleep is bad and those who sleep will miss out. It is as if
they never read the Parable.
So in the interest of squaring the circle, here is my submission as
Professor and Dean of Speculative Theology.
Ok, let's dissect the passage in question:
Ten virgins, with lamps originally with oil. All slept, all awoke at the
same time, all trimmed their lamps.
The lamps eventually exhausted their attached reservoirs.
Five "wise" virgins brought sufficient additional oil to replenish the
reservoirs and maintain the lamps.
Five "foolish" virgins failed to negotiate with the "wise".
The "wise" claimed that there was only enough for them.
The "foolish" virgins wandered off in search of more oil.
One bridegroom, allegedly one bride (not mentioned in majority texts)
What are the various items, and how are they regularly used as symbols in
Scripture:
Oil is from the olive tree. Oil was involved in several offerings the
daily
offering (Ex 29:40), the peace/thanksgiving offering (Lev 5:11), the
Nazarite end of separation offering (Nu 6:15) and the grain and drink
freewill offerings (Nu 15:4), leper's purification (Lev
14:10-18,21,24,28);
erection of the Tabernacle (Nu 7). Oil was not used in sin offering (Lev
5:11) or the jealousy offering (Nu 5:15). Oil is a sign of gladness (Ps
92:10; Isa 61:3) and its absence a sign of sorrow (2Sa 14:2; Mt 6:17).
Oil
is often used as a symbol of nourishment and comfort (Dt 21:13; 33:24; Job
29:6; Ps45:7; 109:18; Isa 61:3) and spoken of directly as a symbol of
gladness (Heb 1:9).
The bride, though not mentioned, should not be a surprise since the
concept
of the Church as the bride of Christ was not developed under our LORD's
teachings, but under Paul's. This is not an accident that the bride has
not
been a mentioned part (though certainly implied) because the Mystery
regarding the Gentiles had not yet been revealed.
Ten, is the number of witnesses needed for a wedding; ten men were needed
at a minimum to observe the Passover; ten righteous would have saved
Sodom;
ten antediluvian patriarchs; ten elders accompanied Boaz; ten temptations
of Abraham; the tetragrammaton was uttered ten times by the high priest
on
the Day of Atonement; ten people constitute a congregation in the
synagogue.
Ten is the number of witnesses in this context.
Lamps in the OT represent a life-giving light of God (Pr 13:9;21:4 cf
20:20;24:20; job 18:5; 21:17) The lamp going out symbolizes the
destruction
of the individual and community (Job 18:6; Jer 25:10). The lamp and the
light of the faithful (Mic 7:8). In the NT Jesus proclaims Himself the
light of the world (Jn 8:12) the work of the disciples (Mt 5:14) and as
the
OT a life giving light of God. In this context, it is no wresting or
stretch to call the Light the gospel, and the Lamp that which brings forth
the gospel. In the pre-resurrection Christ, that could only mean the Law,
in that in the Law one sees the mystery of the Gospel.
"sleep" is to be distinguished from "death". Sleep in Scripture is
generally viewed as necessary pleasant for mankind, yet Jael killed Sisera
as he lay fast asleep from exhaustion; Delilah and Samson; Judith's
decapitation of Holofernes (Jdth 12:16-13:8). I will probably take a
little
license when I put this all together.
"fools" in Scripture relates less to intellectual and more to moral
deficiencies. The "fool" is not so much lacking mental powers, rather he
misuses them or reasons wrongly. The "fool" primarily is the person who
casts off the fear of God and thinks and acts as if her could safely
disregard the eternal principles of God's righteousness (Ps 14:1; Pr 14:9;
Jer 17:11).
"wise" are those who are skilled in the things of the LORD and while
"wisdom" is not self-sufficient, it must be accompanied by obedience to
the
revealed Torah.
The bridegroom: The Messiah
Now it is also important to understand to whom this message was
delivered.
Contrary to popular belief, our LORD's ministry was NOT to the Gentiles,
but
it was only to the house of Israel (Mt 15:24; Acts 3:25-26) In fact
during
His earthly ministry, He commanded His disciples to circulate only among
the
Jews (Mt 10:5-6) in order to fulfill prophecy (Isa 53:6; Jer 50:6-7; Eze
34:5-6,16,23). This parable appears in Matthew which is generally
recognized as the Gospel for the Jews. That is why Matthew often has far
more Jewish cultural and ceremonial references than the Gentile gospels.
Returning to the parable, we can fill in the blanks. We are at the
third
stage of the marriage. The first stage is the choosing of the Bride for
His
Son (Jn 6:37; 10:29):. This is the Doctrine of Election where God has
chosen for His Son who He will give to Him. The second stage of the
wedding
is after the betrothal, the bridegroom disappears for a time to establish
Himself and to prepare a place for His bride. (Jn 14:2-3).
The bridegroom is coming for His bride, the Church made up of the Gentile
Elect.
The Gentiles are the wild olive branches that are grafted into the
cultivated olive tree (Abraham/True Israel) We also read in Romans 11
that
"branches were broken off so that I may be grafted in." The key to the
parable is found in the next few verses of Romans 11
"But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come
to
the Gentiles" (v11) Which is a rather humbling teaching being that very
few
Gentiles were ever given God's Grace prior to Pentecost, and the only
reason
we are even chosen by God is to "provoke jealousy" in his Chosen People,
Israel. So what is the point and purpose of this exercise, that is, to
provoke jealousy in Israel?
"For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and
were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much
more
will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive
tree?"
(v24)
What Paul is foreshadowing here is the idea that a remnant of Israel,
those
who currently do not believe, will indeed be provoked by the inclusion of
the Gentiles, and many will see that Jesus Christ is indeed the Messiah
they
have been waiting for.
"For I do not desire, bretheren, that you should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in
part
has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in."
(v25)
What is this "fullness of the Gentiles"? Under the doctrines of Grace,
the number of the Elect is finite, and so it is also finite among the
Gentiles.
There will be a time when the harvest of the Elect Gentiles will be
complete, marked by when the last of the Gentile Elect repents and is
saved.
At this time will be the "fullness of the Gentiles". From this passage,
we
see that then, by Grace, God will open the eyes of the remnant of Israel,
and they too will be saved.
Now return to the parable. The ten virgins are Jews still alive when the
bridegroom comes.
The Jews are virgins because, unlike the Gentiles, they have not been
whoring around with Buddhism, Islam, Baal worship and a gallery of other
things since one raised in a Jewish environment is often exposed to the
Law
of the Prophets.
The Gentiles could never be considered to be virgins since we have been
raised outside of the Law to look towards secular humanism, any number of
pagan religions, or just irreligious.
The number ten also applies to the Jews because they bear witness to our
LORD through the Law that was given to them. The oil that is in their
lamps is the oil of blessing which God has anointed them since the days of
Abraham.
The sleep that have all been in, has been the failure to worship God
through sacrifices and complete obedience to the Law while they have been
dispersed and awaiting their Messiah.
Nonetheless, we still have five foolish and five wise. The foolish Jews
are
Jews-In-Name-Only, those cultural Jews who may attend Temple once a year
if
at all, yet they know that someday they will have a Messiah (which is why
they are present at this affair). The "wise" virgins are those Jews who
still practice their faith, observing the Law, and meditating on God's
Holy
Word. They are wise because they are applying the Wisdom that is found
in
the Law.
The lamps are lit for as long as they are receiving the blessings of God.
The lamps, as we read, have always been lit, but as the foolish virgins
observed, when the cry came out "are lamps are going out". This means
that
they are losing the light of the Law and are falling into deception. So
deceived do they become that they actually leave the party in a vain
search
for answers in the middle of darkness. The blessing is gone from them and
they are lost. The blessing is gone and now they are left in the dark
and
cannot come to Christ.
So what we now have is the LORD is coming for His bride, while still a
short distance off, an event that awakens the Jews from their slumber
occurs, and as the bridegroom approaches, the light that remains
illuminates
our LORD brighter and brighter, each step close to the light, the clear
the
remaining five virgins can see and recognize the Messiah. This is where
they are grafted back in to the natural, cultivated tree and God is
Glorified and now the restored Jews can enter into the Messiah's Kingdom
by
Grace.
For extra credit, I want to reintroduce Rev 20 where we are told that
during the past Church Age Satan and his demons have been restrained from
deceiving the world, yet we are told that for a short time immediately
before our LORD/bridegroom appears, he will be let loose so that he may
resume deceiving the nations(v 3).
Remember the passage "until the fullness of the Gentiles." Let me show
the symmetry in Scriptures. Just before our LORD's ascension, He issued
out
the Great Commission to His disciples, in that they were to expand their
ministry (previously only to the Jews as shown earlier) to Judea, Samaria,
and the outer most parts of the world (Ac 1:8). Imagine the gospel going
out as a pebble thrown into a body of water. Where the pebble lands is
Jerusalem, the gospel then went out from this epicenter ultimately to the
entire world (Col 1:6). If we pull in these passages into one harmonious
description of the last days, we see that in Acts, as the disciples went
out, they bound Satan in each city, and then were able to effectively
deliver the gospel to the Gentiles. Judging by Acts, this pattern of Rev
20
binding of Satan leading into the Church Age, it travelled outwards like
our
pebble and ripples.
Now understand that the strongman must be bound before his house can be
plundered. Therefore we have harmonizing confirmation of the current
binding of Satan in order for Gentiles to receive the gospel. Before
Pentecost, Satan was allowed free reign to deceive the whole world, and
that
is why only a handful of non-Jews came to believe. Now we read that he
will soon be loosened, AND we read that there will be a "fullness of the
Gentiles" in which no more Gentiles will come to Christ. Furthermore we
are
told that the apostasy in the last days will be so great that without
God's
restraining hand, it might even deceive the Elect. (Mk 13:22)
As Satan was bound, not in a snap, I submit that he will be loosened bit
by
bit. Furthermore I submit that in the same manner in which he was bound,
starting from Jerusalem and moving outwards until the whole earth was
reached, that he will be released inward towards Jerusalem, until at some
point only Jerusalem, or the symbol of Israel, is the only place where
Satan
is still bound. Being that this "Jerusalem" is more symbolic than
literal, this accounts for the nations furthest away from Jewish influence
to become apostate, with the band narrowing and narrowing until the
fullness
of the Gentiles has been accomplished, leaving only the small window of
time
when the five wise virgins see the Messiah in the light of their lanterns;
they, by God's grace, repent, believe in Christ and are grafted back into
their natural tree of Abraham.
So my predictions for the Last Days include secular nations becoming more
and more deceived by apostasy. With a restoration of signs-and -wonders,
we will see things no one in all of Church History (outside the apostolic
ministry) has ever seen - things that might even deceive the confirmed
Saints of God. Then the last of the Gentile Elect comes to repentance
around the time Satan has been nearly released. Many Jews will run and
seek wisdom from dark places and will miss our LORD. Those who have been
faithful in their Jewish practice will receive the Paraclete and will
believe in the risen LORD. Then Satan will deceive the entire world and
the
door to the party will be closed allowing no more to enter.
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