Let’s say that several of us were out on a walk together, and we saw a large cherry tree. Each of us might think of something different as we looked at that tree. One lady might see those cherries and think of all the pies that she could make. Someone else might think of sitting under the shade of that tree. Another might see a couple of nests in its branches and wonder what kind of birds lived in that tree. And one might remember being stung by bees or wasps that gather around to eat the cherries. Someone else might wonder if there are any deer in the area that come and nibble on the fruit. And then there is you who are thinking about all the work that the leaves and fallen cherries are going to make in the Fall.
Because our scripture is a parable, and because we all come to the parables with some many varied backgrounds, we may all have varied interpretations and applications. In the study of parables, intricate details are interesting, but often they are unimportant to the main point. Usually there are only one or two major things that Lord is trying teach. And personally, I think there are only two things critical in this parable. They are found in verses 12 and 13 – everything else are only leaves around the cherries. “Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” With this in mind, bear with me if my perception of the details of this passage differs a little from yours.
Let’s think of five things in regard to this passage: the season; the condition; the separation; the reason and the application.
It is important to begin with the time or season involved in this parable.
If we get this wrong, at least in one aspect, then the parable loses all it’s punch and practicality. The word “then” in verse 1 is a conjunction of sorts, and it ties this chapter to the previous one. Matthew 24 contains the Lord Jesus’ discussion of the end times, the last days, the tribulation, and the second coming. In other words, for example, despite what some evangelists think, our parable is not dealing with “death.” The theme here is the return of Christ and the establishment of His Millennial Kingdom. The Second Coming is the first aspect of time that we need to note here. The second point involves the lateness of the hour – it was dark; it was at midnight.
Let me share with you what I have read about New Testament Jewish weddings. First, like marriage ceremonies today, there were few rules set into stone. But generally speaking, the ceremony took place at the home of the bride’s family. All of the festivities could take a short time, or last well into the night, or even take a couple of days. I suppose that the wealth of the family might have something to do with the length of the proceedings. The bride and groom might linger a long time in fellowship with their families. Usually, after the initial ceremony, that reception included only the immediate family. Then after the conclusion of that aspect, the groom would lead His bride to their new home – if there was one. At the groom’s house there would be the “Wedding feast.” Often times, to keep us confused, this feast was simply called the “wedding.” On the way from the bride’s house to the groom’s house, the many friends who had been waiting outside would all join the procession, singing, dancing, shouting and generally enjoying one another as they traveled to the groom’s house to enjoy the wedding feast.
I believe that the Lord Jesus is pictured by the groom. There should be little doubt about that, because this is pretty common Biblical language. I think that this parable is illustrating the fact that Jesus is coming soon to gather His people. Judging from this and a multitude of other scriptures, Christ’s return should be considered as soon. In fact, one aspect of that return could occur at any moment. Theologically, we call this the “imminent” coming of Jesus Christ.
There will be a couple of things that will take place at that time: First, the Lord will gather and remove all of His saints from the earth to Heaven. You might say that He will take them to His house. And that will even include collecting the bodies of His elect who have died prior to that time. And then will begin a period of divine judgment upon the people that remain on the earth. First, “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” – I Thessalonians 4:16-17. And “then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” – Matthew 25:21-22; 29-30.
The first aspect of the return of Christ will be to collect His bride. But along with that bride will be many others who are waiting to join the procession to Heaven. This is often called the “Translation of the Saints.” It will be the gatheration, glorification and transportation of all of God’s children to Heaven. Sometimes this is called “the Rapture of Saints” and erroneously “the Rapture of the Church.” But even those saints who are not members of the Lord’s churches will be translated. Notice that this scripture doesn’t deal with a detailed description or definition of the bride. But – if we say that the Bride Groom’s House is Heaven … And if this is the same place that the Lord Jesus describes in John 14: “In my Father’s house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you.” If this place to where Jesus is taking His bride is Heaven, then there are other virgins there who are not the bride. In fact, this whole parable is dealing with those saints of God who are not a part of the bride. The bride is not the subject here. There are five additional virgins are people who will enjoy Heaven and the all the fruits of eternal life. They have been redeemed, and shall live in those mansions of John 14. But for one reason or another, they are not a part of the bride, which I believe will be made up of the redeemed who are also members of Christ’s churches.
Getting back to matter of time in this parable, we are clearly talking about lateness of the day. When these events take place, the day of ordinary human history will have passed. The only thing that looms ahead is the eternity of a new day, a glorious day for some. And WE are clearly living in the last days; you and I are nearing the midnight hour.
We know this to be true for several reasons, but indication is the condition of Christendom.
I will not try to make anything out of number of the friends awaiting the wedding procession. There were ten of them in the parable, maybe simply because ten is a nice round (metric) number. Maybe this was a common number of guests at a wedding feast in Jesus’ day. Maybe not. And I won’t try to make anything out of fact that the ten guests were split into two groups of five. The significance is that one group was wise and other foolish.
One conclusion out of this is that when Lord comes, the world will not have been converted. There are people who are of the opinion that Christ will return to earth only after Christianity has done its perfect work and somehow brought humanity into accord with God. Not only isn’t there any solid Biblical reason to say something like that, but there isn’t any historical or sociological evidence that it can or will ever happen. With every passing day the world is becoming more secular, more irreligious, more antagonistic, more heathonistic and more hedonistic. In the parable, the Groom and His bride passed dozens of houses, apartment, condos, motels and hotels up and down the streets of Jerusalem where there were hundreds of people who knew nothing about the wedding feast nor who cared for the Groom. They illustrate, to my mind, the vast throngs of people who live and die in complete disregard for the Saviour. But they are not the subject of this parable. Rather Christ deals with those people within “Christendom” – those who claim to know Lord. They are the virgins, those professing to be pure and outwardly religious. Unfortunately some of those people who claim to know the Groom are not known BY the Groom.
In Christ’s Sermon on Mount He spoke of Christians “letting your lights so shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.” The lamps that these virgins carried could very well refer to their apparent Christian character. Unfortunately for some of them, it is all a self-empowered sham; an hypocritical show. The oil in their lamps might speak of their sincerity, religiosity, church membership or other such things. That is one interpretation, but I think that there is more Biblical reason to say that oil is an illustration of the Holy Spirit. Whatever the oil might signify, half of these people didn’t have any.
Furthermore they were ALL asleep. None were watching and waiting, serving the Lord in the way that He wanted them to serve Him. But at least some of them were indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
Between these people, the wise and the foolish, there shall eventually be a great gulf fixed – separation.
There, down the street from the bride’s house were all these who claimed to be the Lord’s friends. They were listless; they were sleeping; you could probably hear a few snores. Oh, at 5:30 that evening, they had been excited; and at 8:00 they were diligently awaiting. But as the hours had passed, a few began to mutter “Where is the sign of his coming?” And eventually some nodded off to sleep. Then all of the sudden, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh. The Bridegroom cometh!” “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God.”
Immediately all those people on their feet, but some were fumbling around in the dark. They found that their lamps had gone out, because they had no oil. They tried to beg some fuel from their companions to get their lights burning again, but it was impossible to give them any. Today they’d probably be carrying Coleman lanterns, powered either by batter or those small canisters of propane. There is no way to share that fuel. So half of these women missed the procession heading down to the wedding feast. The Lord’s wedding procession is NOT going wait for anyone – on it passes until the door is shut. In goes the Groom, in enters the bride, and the five virgins who had oil in their lamps. To borrow from another parable – in enter those who have “the proper wedding garment.” But the other five are left outside. Wives shall be separated forever from husbands, and parents from their children, because they were not properly prepared. Employers shall be separated from their staff; brothers separated from their sisters. Boy friends will be separated from the girls that they love. And even some church members will be separated from their pastors and Sunday School teachers. They profess to be friends of the Groom, but they don’t possess the proof that is found in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
How many were on the inside, and how many were left out? I don’t think that Jesus was trying to give us any numbers or any percentages. It’s not important how many there were, but rather that they existed at all. What is important is not the percentage of the population entering Heaven, but that there are some here who may not be among them. Are YOU going to be forever separated from the Lord and the blessed? It is possible to live a lifetime of religious fraud and not show, or let anyone suspect, that you are completely without the oil of the Holy Spirit. Oh, how tragic that day of revelation and discovery is going to be.
Be aware that verse 10 says that the door was shut in such a fashion that it will never to be opened. That is the way that the Greek word is used here. As it is with most doors, that door separates between two entirely different scenes. Inside is blessedness for eternity. But outside is darkness and weeping, wailing and the gnashing of teeth for ever. Inside Noah’s ark the family was safe and sound, but outside was sudden destruction.
And upon what basis is that separation made? What is the cause?
Despite what some people think, it was not based upon who was asleep and who was awake. All ten of the virgins were asleep. And it was not based upon how well each person knew or thought that they knew the Groom. They probably all professed to know Him well enough to be among the honored guests. It was not based upon the relative morality or sinlessness of those women – they were all described as virgins. And to be a relative or a friend of the bride meant absolutely nothing.
The Lord Jesus said that the separation was based upon the Groom’s knowledge: “I know you not.” “Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? Depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you.” “And he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are: depart from me, all ye that work iniquity.”
The door was shut – even to the pleading and begging of those foolish religionists. There is no hint in the Bible anywhere of any kind of second chance gospel. They that are lost are lost for eternity.
The false friends left outside did not possess any oil in their lamps. Oh, earlier in the day, they showed some glimmer of light in their lives. They made a big flash once when they gave up their alcohol, tobacco and marijuana. They left their fornication and even quit swearing. But they didn’t possess the Lord, and the Lord never knew them. They were religionists and morally unblemished – they were virgins. They may even have been legalists and thoroughly acquainted with the law of God. But Christ knows His sheep and they know Him, and He calls them by their names. These women were not known by the Lord.
Apply the test of I Corinthians 8:2-3 to YOUR life: “And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him.” There are millions of professing Christians whom I fear don’t truly love their Creator. They go through the religious motions, and some even have respectable outward lives. But they don’t truly love the Lord, with all their heart, soul, strength and mind. They don’t love Him, and so they don’t serve Him. They only pray when they are in trouble, and they only thank God when the calendar tells them to. They don’t talk with the Lord because they have so little in common with Him. They look for every opportunity to avoid God, like attending the House of the Lord. If you love the Lord, it is because He has loved you from before the foundation of the world. If you love the Lord, it is because He knows you. And if you love the Lord, your life will display that love. If you do not love the Lord, He declares that He does not know you. There is no reason to think that half way into eternity, He’ll suddenly remember you and call your soul up from Hell into Heaven.
What is the PRACTICAL APPLICATION of this parable? Simply put: Readiness and Watching.
That the Lord is coming again, there is no doubt. That there is an eternity looming before each and everyone of us, there is no doubt. That this eternity must be considered and prepared for, there is no doubt.
And that we are uncertain of the exact time of the Lord’s coming, the time of Marriage of Lamb, gives none of us an excuse not to be ready today. Are you indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the earnest of the Christian’s inheritance? Is your lamp trimmed and burning brightly this morning? Will the door be shut against you if the Lord returned at 12:15 this afternoon?
I read of a lady who, a great many years ago, went to hear George Whitefield preach. She testified that she stood listening to the man of God preach from this same text of Scripture. Sitting beside here were two teenage boys. In course message the preacher said, “And the door was shut; and door was shut; and door SHUT.” The lady then heard one boys next to her say, “Maybe so, but I’ll go through that one.” This was an open air service with several thousand people listening to the message, so there was no way for Whitefield to have heard the comment or to have seen the boys. But in the next breath he said, “There maybe someone here today who says, ‘If that door is shut then another will open, and I will go through that door.” The lady said that the two boys immediately stood straight up and stared at the preacher. He went on: “Yes, another door will open, the door of Hell, and through that door you will pass, never to return.”
The point of parable is that you must be PREPARED for the coming of the Lord. Preparation made tomorrow may actually be eternally too late. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” After the Lord returns, and during the upcoming day of Tribulation you might try to visit the market to buy some religious oil, but all of God’s shops will be closed. Today, my friend, today is the day of redemption. Repent and confess your sins before God. Cast yourself in humility and gratitude before the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ may be passing by this morning, and it is imperative that we all join Him. Say, “yes” to the Saviour, by repentance before God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ..