"Reuben Hick" <outerdarkness@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:9BTHj.23018$0o7.13220@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 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.
You got all this from the parable of the ten virgins? My hats off to ya,
but
I think you missed the point.
The parable is about the imminence of Yeshua's return. That it was framed
around the coming of the bridegroom speaks of the fact that Yeshua is
coming
first for his bride, and this coming could occur AT ANY MOMENT, to take
the
bride to the Fathers house. Those that truly believe this are ready for
the
trip, while those that think he will not come for some time (seven more
years at least, lets say) don't have enough oil because they don't truly
believe his return is at hand.
> 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 im****tant 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 wor****p 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 wor****p 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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