The Wise & the Foolish:
Today I want to talk for a little while to do with this parable in Matt. 25: its important for us to understand who Jesus is talking about. The Parable of the Ten Virgins explains the place of Israel’s true converts of the Tribulation Period.
Chapters 24-25 are what is known as the Olivet Discourse, Jesus began by moving in a
Chronological sequence through the end time program for the nation of Israel.
Let me remind us In Matthew 24:4-26 He covered the seven years of the Tribulation, also called the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7).
Then He next described return to earth to the earth (w 27-50), followed by the regathering of the nation of Israel back to their land.
Next there is in parentheses the chronology of events in which Jesus gave exhortations through parables to watchfulness, preparedness, and faithfulness (vv. 52-51).
In (25:1-13. Jesus described the next end time event in the program for Israel following His return to earth, also referred to as the Second Advent, namely, judgment on living Israel in order to separate the saved from the unsaved.
The word, “then” (v. 1) is to be connected to 24:50-51, which says 50The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Listen as I read our text found in Matt. 25: verses 1-13
Matthew 25:1-13 Jesus said to the people;
1Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6And at midnight there was a cry made, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”
7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said unto the wise, “Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.” 9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage** and the door was shut. 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us.” 12But he answered and said, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” 13Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Jesus spoke of a judgment that would exclude unprepared Israelites from His Messianic kingdom. On what ground would the nation be judged?
Realize that the church is not in view anywhere in the discourse of
Matthew 24-25. Rather, Christ was developing the end events of the nation of Israel.
He was using the familiar figure of the Oriental wedding customs. A second invitation had been sent to those previously invited, notifying them that the wedding banquet had been prepared and they were expected to attend.
The bridegroom had left his father’s home to go to the bride’s home in order to claim the damsel who had been betrothed to him. According to custom, the bride’s father would prepare a banquet for his daughter and invite her friends so that she might celebrate the forthcoming wedding with them. How long the banqueting in the bride’s home might last was unknown.
Therefore, as the invited guests assembled for the wedding banquet in the bridegroom’s home, they expected to wait for an indeterminate period before the bridegroom came to the banquet with his bride.
The ten virgins had assembled at the place where the wedding banquet would be spread, and they were also awaiting the appearance of the bridegroom with his bride.
The ten virgins were divided into two classes, the foolish and the wise. The foolish ones had made no provision for an extension of the bridegroom’s delay. Since the lamps could hold only a small amount of oil, it was customary to carry extra oil in a vessel of some kind so that the lamps could be replenished from this supply.
The wise, recognizing the possibility of delay, had taken extra oil in vessels. Then when there was a delay, they could replenish the oil in their lamps and keep their lamps burning.
When night fell those awaiting the banquet had concluded that the bridegroom would wait until daylight to travel.
But contrary to custom, when they were not expecting Him, the bridegroom had left the bride’s home and traveled after dark.
He had arrived at his home village around midnight. Since the guests had not expected the bridegroom, they had all gone to sleep.
When the bridegroom approached the outskirts of his village, he sent word ahead of his arrival so that those who had assembled for the banquet might go out to meet him. They could then accompany the bridegroom and bride to the place where the banquet would be held.
It was after dark, and so one could not go out to meet the bridegroom without a lamp.
This circumstance brought out clearly the difference between the two classes of virgins. The wise virgins were able to fill their lamps and go to meet the bridegroom, whereas the foolish virgins had no oil in reserve and were unable to meet the bridegroom. Thus some were prepared for the delay, while others were unprepared. •
The unprepared wanted to meet the bridegroom and his bride ‘ so as to be included in the wedding banquet. They sought to obtain oil.
Since it was impossible to purchase oil in the market at that hour, they ask to borrow some from the virgins who had prepared for the bridegroom’s delay.
However, the wise refused to share their oil. The wise virgins were not selfish but rather they were faithful to the bridegroom. They desired to go and meet him and they needed their oil to be able to join the procession to the banquet hall.
The parable points out that those “who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut” (Matt. 25:10).
The unprepared virgins had no choice but to wait and then obtain oil when the market opened at daybreak. After purchasing a supply, they presented themselves at the banquet hall and asked to be admitted. But the host refused to open the door.
This is a picture of Israel during the Tribulation (Matt. 24:14), some people will not be ready when King Jesus comes to institute His millennial kingdom.
The prepared will be received into the kingdom to enjoy its bounty but the unprepared will be excluded.
This parable teaches that there will be a judgment of living Israelites to (determine who is and is not prepared.
This is an expansion of Christ’s previous statement in ” (Matt.24:44) 44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
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This parable is a picture of the Lord Jesus coming back to this earth with His Bride after the wedding that I believe will be near the end of the 7 years that will run its course, a lot of things take place during the 7 years, it’ll begin at the rapture, and then the church will be judged for our stewardship, not our sins as they were judged and paid for on the cross by our Savior.
The picture here is that the groom has already claimed his bride and is now on his way back home.
Rev.19:6And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The fact that all 10 of the virgins slept … While the bridegroom tarried implies a period of Jewish inactivity during the Church Age, while the Bride is gathered.**
Foolish is the designation for those who are carelessly unprepared. They had no oil at all, in their vessels.
And the refusal of the five prepared virgins to share with those unprepared must not be taken as cruelty. The oil represents personal possession of the Holy Spirit, and let us remember that each person must receive Him to be born again. Thus, the Lord responds, I know you not (vs. 12),
False profession will save no one and only brings the final judgment of Christ upon the unsaved.
The number five **in each group does not necessarily indicate that half of the Jews will be saved, but that there are two types of people, believing Jews and those who do not believe.
The lamps refer to their lives, which are either prepared or unprepared.
The oil refers to that which prepares them to give forth light and is properly illustrative of the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.
Listen as I try and illustrate;
At a certain evening the news reported on a photographer who was also a skydiver. He had jumped from a plane along with several other skydivers and filmed the group as they individually dove out of the plane and opened their parachutes.
As the video was being shown of each member of the crew jumping out and then pulling their rip chord so that their parachute opened to the wind, the final skydiver who was the man running the camera leaped from the plane and the picture went blank.
The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death, having jumped out of the plane without a parachute.
It wasn’t until he reached for the ripcord that he realized he was free falling without a parachute. Listen, Up until then, he was enjoying himself and was all caught up in what he was doing.
***But tragically, he was unprepared for the jump. It did not matter how many times he had done it before or what skill he had.
By forgetting the parachute he made a foolish and deadly mistake. Nothing could save him, because his faith was in a parachute, which he had never taken the trouble to buckle on.
*** People can have religion and the best intentions in the world of living right, but until they personally receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior they’re in a free fall to hell and nothing can save them.
The sky diver was not ready. He was unprepared. It would do no good to try and borrow a parachute of someone else on their way to meet the ground. He was not prepared and he passed the point of no return.
Jesus consistently preached to be ready. Matthew 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
As we’re now in the closing hours of the church age, it seem as though many people are living as though there is no tomorrow.
The moral lives of our society reflect this.
In this parable of the wise & unwise virgins, the bridesmaids all appeared to be alike. They all thought of themselves as bridesmaids. They all dressed alike. They were all expecting the bridegroom. When the bridegroom was delayed they all fell asleep. They all had lamps. All of them trimmed their lamps. They all wanted to be a part of the wedding feast. But not all of them were prepared.
Therefore we can learn from this parable that people need to be sure their prepared.
Be sure that you are truly prepared, because it is possible to look just like everyone else, talk like everyone else, carry a Bible and desire to go to heaven, think of yourself as a Christian, yet when all is said, be unprepared.
