The Ten Virgins
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Let's pray together:
Heavenly Father,
Jesus' parable of the ten virgins can help us to better understand the subject of the
great wedding between the Bridegroom and the Bride, and to better prepare ourselves for
this glorious event.
Please guide us by Your Spirit once more, as we open Your inspired Word.
In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
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Matthew 25:1
Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten
virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
A great wedding is coming soon.
In our last few lessons, we discovered that Jesus is the bridegroom at this wedding, and
His faithful Church is the bride.
In order to show us how we must prepare ourselves for this wonderful day, Jesus gave us
the parable of the ten virgins.
Our lesson today is a study of this important parable.
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Matthew 25:1,10
The kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who
took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. (...)
The bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding.
On the wedding day, the bride awaited the bridegroom in her father's house.
When he arrived they would both return to the bridegroom's house.
On the way back, the guests - like the virgins of the parable - joined the wedding
procession, brightening it with songs and lights, up to the wedding hall, where the
celebration went on for several days.
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Revelation 14:1,4
Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion,
and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand (...).
These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.
The ten virgins of the parable, who are waiting for the coming of the
bridegroom, symbolize all the sincere believers who love Jesus and are waiting for His
return.
They all want to join the 144,000, that is, the group of believers who will go through the
great trial of the last days and persevere until Jesus' return, thus remaining «virgins», faithful to God.
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Matthew 25:1
Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten
virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
The ten virgins' lamps represent the Word of God.
By proclaiming its message of love, hope, and salvation, the believers give light to this
world which is plunged into spiritual darkness, and bring men to the knowledge of Jesus
Christ, the true Light of the world.
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By carrying out the work of God, we also give light to the world:
«You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a
hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a
lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.» (MATTHEW
5:14-16)
«Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and
harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life.» (PHILIPPIANS
2:14-16)
«Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning.» (LUKE 12:35)
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Matthew 25:2-4
Now five of [the ten virgins] were wise, and five were
foolish.
Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil
in their vessels with their lamps.
At the start, each of the ten virgins could rely on a burning lamp, filled with
oil.
But five of them, knowing that the bridegroom might possibly be delayed, decided to take a
reserve of oil with them.
This decision alone is sufficient to distinguish the wise virgins from the foolish ones.
Now, what does the oil symbolize?
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Psalm 45:7
You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore
God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
Acts 10:38
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
with power.
We have already seen that, in Bible prophecy, oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit,
with whom God anoints repentant man, in order to enable him to work efficiently in His
harvest.
The Holy Spirit, working like oil, keeps the lamp of our heart burning continuously.
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2 Corinthians 1:21,22
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has
anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a
deposit.
Galatians 5:22,23
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
By allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us, we become firmly established in
faith, and we bear more and more good fruit for God.
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1 John 2:27,28
The anointing which you have received from [God] abides
in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you
concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you
will abide in Him.
And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and
not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
The anointing of the Holy Spirit progressively reveals the will of God to us.
If we put into practice what He teaches us, God will fill our «oil reserve», thus making
us steadfast enough to face the coming trials.
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Matthew 25:5
But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered
and slept.
Luke 20:9
A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to
vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.
Matthew 25:19
After a long time the lord of those servants came.
The precaution of the five wise virgins was not useless.
In fact, just as they expected, the bridegroom was delayed.
Let's note that Jesus, in His parables, often presented His return as a distant event.
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Even though the bridegroom seems to delay, His return is certain:
«For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come
and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul
has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those
who believe to the saving of the soul.» (HEBREWS 10:37-39)
«Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the
vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.»
(HABAKKUK 2:2,3)
«The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance.» (2 PETER 3:9)
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Matthew 25:5
But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered
and slept.
Matthew 26:40,41
[Jesus] came to the disciples and found them asleep, and
said to Peter,
«What, could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into
temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.»
Since the bridegroom was delayed, all the virgins, both wise and foolish, fell
asleep.
So Jesus' advice, «Watch and pray», is very pertinent,
because «the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak».
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1 Thessalonians 5:2,4-6,8
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the
Lord so comes as a thief in the night. (...)
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
You are all sons of light and sons of the day.
We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let
us watch and be sober. (...)
Let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a
helmet the hope of salvation.
In these last days, let's not allow our spiritual life to fall asleep.
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The bridegroom is about to return. Let's remain awake and watchful:
«And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time
to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The
night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness,
and let us put on the armor of light.» (ROMANS 13:11,12)
«Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give
you light."» (EPHESIANS 5:14)
«Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming - in the
evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning - lest, coming
suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!» (MARK
13:35-37)
«Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches.» (REVELATION 16:15)
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Matthew 25:6
And at midnight a cry was heard:
«Behold, the bridegroom is coming!»
Isaiah 60:1,2
Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of
the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord
will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.
Finally, «at midnight», the bridegroom comes.
In our lessons, we have often seen that the return of Jesus will take place at a time when
this world is plunged into deep spiritual darkness.
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Luke 21:34-36
But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed
down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you
unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole
earth.
Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things
that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.
In fact, Jesus warned us that, before His glorious return, we will have to go
through a dark and very difficult period.
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Matthew 25:6-9
«Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!»
Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said to the wise, «Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going
out.»
But the wise answered, saying, «No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but
go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.»
By dipping into their personal oil reserve, the wise virgins were able to
quickly light their lamps again. The foolish ones couldn't.
The wise virgins seem to lack generosity towards the foolish. Is this true?
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Matthew 25:9
But the wise answered, saying,
«No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and
buy for yourselves.»
Romans 14:12
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
The wise virgins did not lack charity.
Their refusal to share their oil simply expresses this fact: it is impossible, for the
believer who is ready for dark times, to transfer his oil reserve - his faith,
strengthened by God's Spirit - to the heart of the believer who hasn't prepared himself.
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Psalm 49:7,8 (New International Version)
No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a
ransom for him - the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough.
Jeremiah 15:1
The Lord said to me,
«Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be favorable toward this
people. Cast them out of My sight.»
The impossibility of sharing oil with others thus reminds us of the importance,
for each one of us, to develop a steadfast personal relationship with God, so that we may
rely on our very own reserve of oil.
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Each one of us will have to rely on his own oil reserve, coming from
God:
«"If I send a pestilence into that land and pour
out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, even though Noah, Daniel,
and Job were in it, as I live," says the Lord God, "they would deliver neither
son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness."»
(EZEKIEL 14:19,20)
«Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and
eat. (...) Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.» (ISAIAH
55:1,6)
«And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say,
"Come!" And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the
water of life freely.» (REVELATION 22:17)
«(...) giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and
translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins.» (COLOSSIANS 1:12-14)
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Isaiah 4:1
And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man,
saying,
«We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name.»
Just like the women described in this verse, the foolish virgins contented
themselves with bearing the name of Jesus. However:
- they refused to feed on His teachings and to put them into practice («we will eat our own food»);
- and they refused to put on His perfect justice («we
will wear our own apparel») which transforms the heart of the truly repentant
soul.
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Claiming to be a Christian is not enough, we must also follow God's
will:
«Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord",
shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many
will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast
out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare
to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"»
(MATTHEW 7:21-23)
«They come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your
words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts
pursue their own gain. Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a
pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do
not do them. And when this comes to pass - surely it will come - then they will know that
a prophet has been among them.» (EZEKIEL 33:31-33)
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Revelation 3:14,17,18
And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
«(...) Because you say, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of
nothing" - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked -
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white
garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed;
and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.»
In order to avoid becoming a foolish virgin, each one of us must follow Jesus'
advice to Laodicea, which symbolizes the Church of the last days.
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Matthew 13:20,21
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he
who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself,
but endures only for a while.
For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
If we follow Jesus' advice to Laodicea (see the lesson «Letter to the Church of Laodicea»), God will
provide us with a reserve of oil which will keep our lamp burning, in spite of
tribulations, until the coming of the bridegroom.
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Matthew 25:10
And while [the foolish virgins] went to buy, the
bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding.
And the door was shut.
Genesis 7:15,16
And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all
flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh,
went in as God had commanded him.
And the Lord shut him in.
The parable goes on with the shutting of the door of the wedding hall.
This reminds us of the shutting of the door of the ark, before the Flood.
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Matthew 24:38-41
For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and
did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the
Son of Man be.
Then (...) two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
In fact, shortly before, Jesus plainly compared the time of His return to that
before the Flood.
Also, by saying that one woman out of two would be saved, He also introduced the parable
of the ten virgins.
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Matthew 25:11,12
Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, «Lord,
Lord, open to us!»
But he answered and said, «Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.»
Matthew 7:21
Not everyone who says to Me, «Lord, Lord», shall enter
the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Because they were not able to join the bridal procession and follow the
bridegroom when He came, the foolish virgins arrived too late at the wedding hall, and
were left outside.
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Hebrews 3:11,18
«So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My
rest."» (...)
And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?
Hebrews 4:1
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest,
let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.
Let's make sure that, when the bridegroom comes, we may be able to follow Him
into the wedding hall, rather than face a closed door.
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Luke 13:25-27
When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut
the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, «Lord, Lord, open
for us», and He will answer and say to you, «I do not know you, where you are from»,
then you will begin to say, «We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our
streets.»
But He will say, «I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all
you workers of iniquity.»
Indeed, as we have seen in our lesson «The
Close of Probation», once God has shut the door of His grace, it won't be possible to
open it again.
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Matthew 25:13
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the
hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
The parable of the ten virgins ends with this call to watchfulness.
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Luke 12:35-37,40
Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you
yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding,
that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.
Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.
Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will
come and serve them. (...)
Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
The bridegroom is coming quickly!
Let's keep our lamps burning brightly.
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Ecclesiastes 2:13
Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels
darkness.
Proverbs 13:9
The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the
wicked will be put out.
Let's follow the example of the five wise virgins, who brought a sufficient
reserve of oil with them.
Then, just like them, we will able to keep our lamps burning during the time of darkness
which is coming, and join the bridal procession when the bridegroom comes.
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Revelation 19:7,9
«Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the
marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.» (...)
«Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!»
And [the angel] said to me, «These are the true sayings of God.»
Soon, our watchfulness and perseverance in Jesus Christ will not only grant us
access to the celebration of the glorious marriage of the Lamb, but also, and above all,
to be the bride, the faithful Church of God!
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Let's pray together:
Lord,
It is written: «The path of the just is like the shining sun, that
shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do
not know what makes them stumble.» (Proverbs 4:18,19)
Please give us a sufficient reserve of oil, so that our lamps may be still burning when
the Bridegroom comes in all His glory.
In His most precious name we pray.
Amen.
Source of the Pictures of this Lesson
Screen 1: Photo in: «Master Clips 500,000» by IMSI, CD #17,
SSGP0502.JPG. Screen 2: DORÉ, Gustave. In: «La Bible de Gustave
Doré», Lausanne, Edita, 1994, p.279. Screen 3: In: «The Watchtower»
magazine (April 15, 1990), Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, p.9. Screen 4: In:
«La Révélation - le grand dénouement est proche», New York, Watch Tower Bible and
Tract Society, 1988, p.121. Screen 5: Photo by P. BLEECKX. In: «Le
Moniteur», Pacific Press Publishing Association, First Quarter, 1999, front cover.
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G.), Pacific Press Publishing Association and Review and Herald Publishing Association,
1950, p.306. Screen 7: HOOK, Richard & France. In: «The Living Bible
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Adulte de l'Ecole du Sabbat», Pacific Press Publishing Association, Third Quarter, 1995,
front cover. Screen 10: HARLAN, Russell. In: «The Bible Story, volume
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Quarter, 1996, front cover. Screen 13: In: «The Children's Bible, volume
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In: «The Children's Bible Story Book» (DE GRAAF, Anne), Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992,
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Foolish Virgins» (1822), Tate Gallery, London. In: «The Bible in Art» (WRIGHT, Susan),
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Society, p.1. Screen 24: First picture: In: «The Watchtower» magazine
(September 15, 1990), New York, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, p.3. Picture edited
by Cyberspace Ministry. Second picture: In: «Questionnaire Adulte de l'Ecole du Sabbat»,
Pacific Press Publishing Association, First Quarter, 2000, front cover. Third picture: In:
«La Révélation - le grand dénouement est proche», New York, Watch Tower Bible and
Tract Society, 1988, p.69. Screen 25: In: «The Watchtower» magazine
(January 15, 1993), New York, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, p.8. Screen 26:
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(CHRISTIE-MURRAY, David), Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1978, p.193. Screen 28: STEEL,
John. In: «God Cares, volume 2» (MAXWELL, C. Mervyn), Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 1985, p.38. Screen 29: In: «The Bible Story, volume 8»
(MAXWELL, Arthur S.), Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1956, p.182. Screen
30: In: «The Watchtower» magazine (October 1, 1990), Watch Tower Bible and
Tract Society, p.21. Screen 31: TANK, Darrel. In: «Ministry» magazine
(June-July 2000), Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial Association, p.40. Screen 32: DALSGAARD,
Christian. In: «The Living Bible Encyclopedia in Story and Pictures, volume 12», New
York, H.S. Stuttman Co. Inc., 1968, p.1484-b. Screen 33: CORNELIUS, Peter
von (1783-1867). «The Wise and Foolish Virgins». Picture from the Web site:
http://sunsite.auc.dk/cgfa/c/p-corneli1.htm Screen 34: In: «The Bible
for Children - Retold by Bridget Hadaway & Jean Atcheson», London, Octopus Books
Limited, 1973, p.239. Screen 35: Photo in: «Master Clips 500,000» by
IMSI, CD #17, C0000878.JPG.
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The test of Lesson 92 is waiting for you!