Parable of the 5 wise virgins and 5 foolish virgins
This parable is part of the conversation that Jesus had with his believers and a continuation of Matthew 24 discussion, even though it was placed in chapter 25 instead of chapter 24. Remember the book of Matthew does not have chapters and verses, but it was later placed in by translators for easy referencing and quotation.
So to understand this parable, you have to look within the Context of Matthew 24, because it is part of the verbal discourse that Jesus had with his disciples, and particularly in answering their questions in Matthew 24:3
Let's look at Matthew 25:1-13
Mat 25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
Mat 25:3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
Mat 25:4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
Mat 25:6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
Mat 25:7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’
Mat 25:10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
Mat 25:12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Mat 25:13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
One of the most misinterpreted and misunderstood parable by modern bible teachers.
This parable found in Matthew 25, has been preached by so many preachers in so many different ways, and in ways which are totally contradictory to the intention of the message in the story.
Evangelists have treated it as either your be saved or damned.
Motivators have treated it as always be prepared or missed out.
Preachers have used this for emotional altar calls, as to either repent or perish.
Charismatics have used this parable as to the importance of having the Holy Spirit as the oil or missed heaven.
Some denominations have decried other denominations as not worthy of entering the kingdom and only they are eligible.
And on and on, spewing disunity, hatred, insolence, arrogance, disputes, anger and fear to believers far and near.
It's no wonder that many are leaving religious church organizations, because they cannot find God in their midst.
A futuristic parable?
Some (dispensationalists and futurists) have treated this story unfairly and incorrectly when they interpreted this as a futuristic rapture. If you do that, it is going to open up more theological questions and problems, which are too numerous and unanswerable.
Futurists say that the virgins represent the church, and that half of them have the oil, and the other half do not have the oil. The half that had the oil, are those who are ready to be raptured, as compared to the other half that did not have the oil, as those who are not ready to be raptured.
The half that had the oil represents those who have the Holy Spirit because oil represents the Holy Spirit. The half that did not had the oil means they did not have the Holy Spirit.
Note that the half that had the oil (Holy Spirit) did not share it with the other half that had no oil.
And futurists said that the bridegroom's arrival represents the "rapture" that is to come.
My line of Questioning:
a. How do you buy the Holy Spirit (oil) if the oil represents the Holy Spirit? Can the Holy Spirit be bought?
b. Who determines which "church" has more of the Holy Spirit (oil), and which "church" does not have more of the Holy Spirit?
c. Who is the judge of the amount of Holy Spirit that is in the "church" or Christian?
d. Don't ALL Christians have the Holy Spirit, because ALL Christians have Jesus?
e. Why are the 5 wise virgins so stingy as not to share the oil (Holy Spirit) with the 5 foolish virgins?
f. I thought the "amount" of Holy Spirit is not measurable, and not quantifiable? Isn't the Holy Spirit infinite and cannot be exhausted?
g. Does that mean that when Jesus "returns" (as they called Second Coming), half of the church/Christian will be saved and the other half will be unsaved?
h. Do you know that futurist preachers will falsely use this parable message, especially in altar calls, at the end of the sermon, and people will rush to the front for prayer, out of FEAR, and "just to make sure" they get to heaven, and that they can make it when the bridegroom arrive. I have been very guilty of this mistake and grave error.
My Answer
I would like you to see how the futurist's interpretation is theologically wrong, and it opens up lots of wrong theology and even more questions. It is more vague and can literally be very, very damaging to the community of believers.
This story of the 5 wise virgins and 5 foolish virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 has been used in so many ways by evangelists, motivators, bible teachers, sunday school instructors, and all of them use it out of Context.
The RIGHT way of interpreting this parable in Matthew 25, is to read it WITHIN the Context of the continuation of Matthew 24, when Jesus was still speaking to his audience.
How do I KNOW?
Matthew 25:1 starts with the word "THEN".
Mat 25:1 THEN the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
The Timing of Matthew 25 is in the immediate timing of Matthew 24.
There is NO break, NO interval, NO change of timing. The timing is ALL within the lifetime of Jesus audience as in Matthew 24 (especially Matthew 24:34).
This parable story is within the impending judgement of Jerusalem that was coming in AD70, and this happened within the lifetime of the disciples that were his audience. Jesus did NOT change audience and start talking about the futuristic church (where half will be saved and half will be unsaved/lost).
The audience is Jewish, and it is about Israel.
The audience that was listening to Jesus message in Matthew 24 and 25 were Jews.
Only Jews can understand what Jesus was talking about, and the futuristic church was not all Jews!
The believers in our modern era comprise of Jews and non-Jews.
How do I know that Jesus was talking to Jews?
It is because Jesus used the language and imagery that Jews can understand easily.
When Jesus told describes the image of the virgins waiting for the bridegroom, he is reminding them of the words of their prophet Isaiah that said God is their bridegroom and the Jews will be his bride. God will clothed the Jews with garments of salvation and righteousness (Isaiah 61:10; Isaiah 62:5).
Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isa 62:5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
So who are these Virgins?
God calls the nation of Israel, virgin. He calls the Jews, virgin.
Amo 5:1 Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
Amo 5:2 “Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel; forsaken on her land, with none to raise her up.”
The virgin is Israel, and Isaiah and Amos calls Israel, God's virgins. Amos is a lamentation (cry) of God towards the house of Israel, the virgin.
This word "virgin" should not be interpreted to mean Mary the virgin, who gave birth to Jesus as the Messiah. It is obviously wrong interpretation.
Another verse (out of many) is in Jeremiah 31:3-4
Jer 31:3 the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
Jer 31:4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
God is going to rebuild his people after the destruction of Israel by the Babylonians, the Medes and the Persians. God called out to virgin Israel and said he will rebuild them.
Jesus used metaphors
So when Jesus spoke about the parable of the 5 wise virgins and 5 foolish virgins, Jesus was using the metaphor virgins to refer to the Jews in the nation of Israel. (Note: God has never referred non-Jews as virgins).
Jesus also used this metaphor of a Jewish wedding feast or ceremony which can be easily understood by his Jewish audience. These are stories that Jews can easily understood and identify.
Jesus likened their last days (the end of the Mosaic Age), as like a Jewish wedding ceremony.
They were all waiting for the bridegroom to come and start the wedding feast, when suddenly the bridegroom appears. They do not know the day nor the hour.
This is similar to Matthew 24:36-51, where "no one knows the day and the hour".
Mat 24:42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
Mat 24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Mat 24:50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know
This coming of the bridegroom is the coming of the Son of Man (Jesus).
This is the coming judgement that is in line with the Context of Matthew 24. Jesus is ushering a new era, a new Age, a new kingdom, a new Messianic rule on humanity.
For those who are prepared for it (like the 5 wise virgins), then they will enter into this Messianic Age, the new kingdom of heaven, as compared to those who were not prepared for it, and were left out.
This is similar to Matthew 24, where some will be taken, and some were not. Some fled to safety, and some did not. Some entered into the new Era, and some did not.
This coming of the Son of Man is not the "rapture"
Jesus did not come to take the 5 wise virgins and kill the 5 foolish virgins.
There was no killing or eliminating of those 5 foolish virgins, as compared to what the rapture theory proposed.
Instead the bridegroom, Jesus came to take the 5 wise virgins into the marriage feast / marriage ceremony. It was not a physical place or a new world. It was a new kingdom era. Jesus brought them out of the old Mosaic Age into the new Messianic Age.
Note: This is what Revelations is all about, the ushering of the new Age where we live with Jesus forever now and forever more. The marriage Jewish ceremony is the same as this spoken of in Matthew 25.
Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
Rev 19:9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
