"PrivateParty" <rdbyrnefl@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:a6206ddd-8890-433d-abb8-96ce7151f2b2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mar 30, 5:27 pm, "Reuben Hick" <outerdarkn...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 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 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.
- Way off, bud.
- The essential error seems to be that you think the parable is
- prophetic. You need to toss your dispensational template.
I'm amil and this fits in excellently with the Rev 20 passage that I
associated this to. (the extra credit part). I seriously doubt that a
Dispy will agree with the Amil/PostMil interpretation of Rev 20. So you
didn't see the glaring tip of the hand in the reference.
So where am I "way off". Please be specific. I think when you explore
the passage looking for how I allegedly missed it, you might find that I
am
not way off. But if I am, (and it is possible), then correct away with
something other than wave of the hand declarations.
|
