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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 25 - Ten Virgins
Matt. 25:6-10
6 And [de] at midnight [mesos] [nux] there was a cry [krauge] made [ginomai] , Behold [idou] , the bridegroom [numphios] cometh [erchomai] ; go ye out [exerchomai] to [eis] meet [apantesis] him [autos] .
7 Then [tote] all [pas] those [ekeinos] virgins [parthenos] arose [egeiro] , and [kai] trimmed [kosmeo] their [autos] lamps [lampas] .
8 And [de] the foolish [moros] said [epo] unto the wise [phronimos] , Give [didomi] us [hemin] of [ek] your [humon] oil [elaion] ; for [hoti] our [hemon] lamps [lampas] are gone out [sbennumi] .
9 But [de] the wise [phronimos] answered [apokrinomai] , saying [lego] , Not so; lest [mepote] there be [arkeo] not [ou] enough [arkeo] for us [hemin] and [kai] you [humin] : but [de] go ye [poreuomai] rather [mallon] to them [pros] that sell [poleo] , and [kai] buy [agorazo] for yourselves [heautou] .
10 And [de] while they [autos] went [aperchomai] to buy [agorazo] , the bridegroom [numphios] came [erchomai] ; and [kai] they that were ready [hetoimos] went in [eiserchomai] with [meta] him [autos] to [eis] the marriage [gamos] : and [kai] the door [thura] was shut [kleio] . KJV-Interlinear
6 'But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' 7 'Then all those virgins rose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 'And the foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 'But the prudent answered, saying, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' 10 'And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. NASB
Many centuries prior, at about midnight, Jesus Christ came to Egypt and destroyed the first born of all the region, Ex. 12:29+. He then commanded Moses to get up and to get out with all haste. The Israelites had, just prior to this tenth plague, been commanded to be ready. For when God called for them to leave they would have very little time to get out. The Egyptians would soon recover and then seek revenge on the Israelites. This occurred at the Red Sea. They were told to eat, be packed, have their coats on and be ready to go at a moments notice.
So in our parable, midnight is a reference to an unsuspecting time. For no one knows the day or the hour of the return of Christ. People will be living their daily lives, going here and there, working and resting, playing and doing whatever it is you do in life, but then the moment of the Lords return will come. Likewise, no one knows the day or moment of the Rapture, nor the day or the moment of their own physical death. So this principle of being prepared applies to us all.
Spiritual preparation takes a life time. And a life time of preparation (or the repetition of ones decisions in life) sets out ones true attitude toward God, toward Christ, and toward their Bible study. Whatever your choices are in life, you set out a pattern or trend for your life. God gives you enough time to establish your chosen pattern of life. You will either be wise and pursue doctrine, or you won't.
When your time runs out then you will not be able to make up a life time of decisions during the last moments of your life. This is in reference to your spiritual growth. You cannot grow up in one day, or in one hour, or in one moment.
Prior to that time, we all have opportunities to advance in our spiritual life (the reservoir of the oil in the lamp).
There will be those who will not see the importance of all this Bible stuff. They prefer to go about their daily life gossiping, compromising, hustling, worrying, being bitter or unconcerned, being judgmental against others as it is their belief that they were sent to earth to judge others and to set up standards for others.
There will be those who participate in crusades to better the world, forcing others to comply with their standards. There will be those who compete with others causing others to come to grief in order that they can advance themselves at the expense of others. Life goes on with little concern, and probably a great deal of ridicule and criticism against whomever is a convenient victim. There will be those who think that they can incorporate their little beliefs into the word of God, thus making it more agreeable to them.
But they deceive themselves. No lightning strikes so they believe that what they do is acceptable and honorable.
Yet none follow Gods commands to study daily 'study to show thyself approved,' to advance in their learning, to apply Gods word to their daily life, 'walk in righteousness,' and to do it all (their non-spiritual life) not from the state of fellowship 'be perfect' but from the energy of their own self righteousness.
Then ... time will run out. It runs out for each one of us in our physical life - we die. It runs our for the Rapture generation at the moment of the rapture. It runs out for that last generation in the Tribulation upon Christ's return.
Do we have all the time in the world? No. Doctrine does not get into your soul and become usable over night, but it grows up in you just as your muscles grow, just as your bones grow, just as you grow up physically and mentally throughout your entire life. Your life is a pattern and that pattern is based on your thinking, and your thinking evolves over time as you learn, whatever it is you learn, and then you form opinions about yourself, God, and life in general.
To get and retain a reserve of 'oil' within your soul, you have to do it on your own. No one else can learn for you. You live your life as unto the Lord (or not), on your own.
The wise bridesmaids collected oil throughout their lives, waiting for the return of the Groom. They all knew that He was in fact returning. The foolish bridesmaids thought nothing of the importance of their spiritual lives. They were indifferent, more contented to live their life based on their own opinion. When the time arrives, there will be no time to 'suddenly' get wisdom, to go out to the merchants to by more oil. It is midnight, the groom has arrived and the merchants are closed. The foolish bridesmaids lose out on the blessings that had been there for them, if only they had been wise enough to prepare.
They instead thought themselves wise in their own eyes. They celebrated their witty attacks against God, through their indifference and compromise. They celebrated their witty attacks against others in life. And now they are left with tears.
For the first time a negative person will realize (too late) that what they are losing will be infinitely greater than any life they might have here on earth. We are not placed here to prepare the world for an extended existence in history. We are not here to set up standards for others to live by, in accordance with our personal beliefs. We are not here to brutalize others to gain our own pleasures at their expense. We are here on earth to serve God, and for no other reason.
Once we grow up spiritually then we realize that it is God who controls history and all things within our environment, not us.
Spiritual preparation is the most important thing we can pursue in our life. On it rests everything that comprises our eternal life in heaven. Once the door closes on your life, there is no more opportunity to prepare yourself for your eternal destiny.
Wise people study daily and do not run their lives based on the silliness of the worlds opinions. The fools in life spend their time in gossip chat rooms celebrating their victories over their victims, and destroying their own future. No lightning. God permits those who wish to remain indifferent, to be blinded by their own delusions.
Those positive toward God and of whom have a genuine desire to grow up in their spiritual life, would never criticize those who would be fools. The fools, however will criticize everyone, accusing all of the very things that they (the fools) are guilty of.
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