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What the Bible says about Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Matthew 25:1-13

A cry awakens them all at midnight, but it leaves them no time for preparation—it announces the Bridegroom's presence and commands them to meet Him. At that point, there is no opportunity to get things into shape quickly—to grow hurriedly, overcome, develop a relationship with the Father and the Son, and take on their character image. The period of preparation has ended; the time that has been prepared for has come. The Bridegroom tells those who had not made advance spiritual preparations, "I do not know you." They lose out on the opportunity that God had given to them because they would not watch themselves—not make the necessary preparations.

David C. Grabbe
'As a Thief in the Night'

Matthew 25:1-13

To us living in the end time, the major point of His instruction is not that the unwise virgins went to sleep, since the wise also went to sleep, but that the unwise virgins frittered away their time. Both sets of virgins had the same opportunities to use their time wisely. The unwise, however, so severely blunted their transformation that their redemption became impossible.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Our Uniqueness and Time

Matthew 25:1-13

In Scripture, oil symbolizes wealth, abundance, health, energy, and a vital ingredient for a good life. It can likewise represent spiritual abundance, only possible through what God gives. As Isaiah 55:1-7 shows, this oil is "bought" through listening to God, delighting in what He gives, and seeking to be like Him.

However, acquiring this oil is not like a store transaction that takes just a few minutes. Just as our seeking of God occurs throughout our converted lives, so also the abundance that comes from knowing God and His way accrues gradually. A person cannot speed up the process, only be faithful to it. He cannot wait until he hears that the Bridegroom is approaching to drop by the corner market and pick up a can of Spiritual Abundance™ on the way to the Wedding. There are no shortcuts here; the oil that matters accumulates over a lifetime.

It is no wonder, then, that Jesus told the foolish virgins, "Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you" (Matthew 25:12). What terrifying words! He did not know them because they had not invested the time to know Him. A one-sided relationship is no relationship at all. He did not know them because they were not inviting Him into their lives—except maybe when they got into a jam and wanted Him to rescue them. They were not in alignment with the spiritually abundant life that He wanted to provide. That life may have mattered a little to them, but it did not matter enough to make it a priority.

The foolish virgins did not have enough oil because they did not pursue God and His spiritual abundance throughout their lives. Maybe they thought it would all just work out as long as they stayed in the church. Maybe they thought that God would just give the oil to them at the end, without demonstrating that they truly wanted it—that they wanted God to be their God and desired to be among His people. Maybe they thought that they could depend on their family, friends, or minister to get them through and give them what they needed, rather than personally preparing ahead of time. Whatever the reason, the foolish virgins were not prepared because they did not earnestly and consistently seek the Source of the oil as their conscious mode of life.

In contrast, wise people are described elsewhere as building on solid rock—hearing Christ's words and doing them—because that is the only way they will withstand the ravages of life and time (Matthew 7:24-26). Wise servants are faithful to their masters over an extended period (Matthew 24:45-51). True wisdom only comes from God above (James 3:17). From these examples, we can infer that the wise virgins were people who deliberately ordered and conducted their lives in a manner that resulted in their knowing God, spiritually enriching over time.

Jesus ends the parable with the admonition, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming" (Matthew 25:13). The Greek word translated "watch," gregoreuo (Strong's #1127), has nothing to do with looking at external events or keeping on top of world news. He is talking about being vigilant with regard to our own spiritual state, as well as being circumspect and spiritually awake as we go through life. The danger is that if we do not watch ourselves, we will be distracted by material concerns and find ourselves spiritually unprepared when the end comes. We will discover that we are without oil, and at that point, it will be too late to "buy" it from God.

We do not know when Christ will return, nor do we know the timing of our own deaths. None of us knows how long we have to become prepared. The lesson, then, is that we should always be concerned about how much oil we have and how prepared we are right now because the end—or our end—could be just around the corner.

The oil does not just symbolize spiritual abundance and fruitfulness that has its source in God. While it does symbolize that, more importantly, this spiritual richness accrues because we are seeking Him and because we are faithful to the covenant. This abundance comes to us because we are fellowshipping with Him and taking on His image—the only image that will last for eternity. Buying this oil costs us time and attention, two things certainly in short supply today. Ultimately, the price of the oil is our lives, perhaps not in the sense of martyrdom, but at least in the sense of our being wholeheartedly devoted to God and to our fellow man, rather than being devoted to the self or the things of this world (Romans 12:1-2).

God's oil comes neither cheaply nor quickly. But having it symbolizes being spiritually ready to inherit His Kingdom, and we become ready for it by being in His image. When we are in His image, we, too, will have lives of abundance, energy, richness, and fruitfulness, perhaps not on the physical plane but certainly on the spiritual one. Only God truly knows how to live, and as we grow to be like Him, we will experience that abundant life as well, symbolized by oil.

David C. Grabbe
Do You Have Enough Oil? (Part Two)

Matthew 25:2

Jesus describes one of the groups as wise and the other as foolish. The wise virgins are intelligent, practical, and careful, but the foolish are dull-minded, unrealistic, and careless. "Foolish" is translated from the Greek word moros, from which derives the English word "moron." Their conduct warranted their uncomplimentary description—after all, are we not known by our fruit or the lack of it (Matthew 7:17-20)? The major difference between the wise and the foolish is found in their attitudes. The moronic attitude is spiritually poor, blind, and naked because it has no true vision of the future (Revelation 3:14-22), even though God and His Son have plainly set into motion God's wonderful plan of salvation. The foolish virgins do not recognize the presence of any real sin in their lives. They are spiritually lukewarm.

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Ten Virgins (Part Two)

Matthew 25:5

They all—both wise and foolish—nodded off for a while. The wise, too, let down in their spiritual energies.

Staff
Y2K: You-2-the-Kingdom

Matthew 25:5

Matthew 25:5 prophesies that, as the return of Christ nears, the church goes to sleep. Why? Perhaps it is because we have been somewhat misled since prophecy has not been fulfilled in the way we expected. However, the overall theme of what we were taught is still accurate. Babylon has a little longer to exist until the axis of history turns again. Now is not a time for wild-eyed fanaticism but for recapturing a steady sense of controlled urgency in preparing for Christ's Kingdom by resolving personal spiritual and moral problems.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Prophecy and the Sixth-Century Axial Period

Matthew 25:6

At a time the virgins least expect it, a call goes out, requiring them to meet Christ, but again, both wise and foolish lack vigilance to watch diligently for His return. They had some good works, but they lacked the faith to believe that time was short and urgent. Half were not even working hard enough at overcoming to put fresh oil in their lamps.

Staff
Y2K: You-2-the-Kingdom

Luke 21:36

In Luke 21:36, our Savior provides us with the two "tickets" we need—watching (careful, vigilant attention to overcoming our nature) and praying always—to be accounted worthy to escape the troubles at the close of this age and to enter the Kingdom of God. These two activities are pillars that support the foundation on which our Christian lives rest during these end times.

How important are these two pillars? Exactly what is Christ instructing us to do as we encounter the end of an age?

In Luke 21:36, when Christ says, "Watch," He is calling for us to scrutinize our lives in order to change them. We are not just to note the problems we see but to overcome them. How important is it to overcome? If God mentioning something twice establishes it (Genesis 41:32), how significant is a subject when He mentions it fifteen times? Not fifteen times throughout the whole Bible but in just one book! And not in just any book, but a book of special significance to us, one about the end time—Revelation!

In this end-time message, Christ says seven times, "I know your works" (Revelation 2:2, 9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8, 15). What are works? They are simply the results of our efforts in overcoming, both the failures and successes. Jesus is saying, "I know the level of your overcoming." Then, for each church—whether era, group, or attitude—He comments on that effort. Overcoming is highlighted another seven times (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21), as Christ ends each of His critiques with a promise that begins, "To him who overcomes. . . ." As an exclamation point, Christ warns us seven times, a number signifying completeness, to heed what He says to all these churches (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).

Finally, in Revelation 21:7, Christ addresses overcoming a fifteenth time. He makes a promise to those who successfully overcome: "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son."

Revelation shows us that "Job One" for a Christian is overcoming, especially for someone living at the end time. This is the message in Luke 21:36 also: We have to overcome to be with Him in God's Kingdom. Salvation itself hinges on our cooperation with Him in overcoming (Matthew 25:30).

The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) demonstrates the importance of overcoming. The difference between the wise and foolish virgins is their supplies of oil. While water represents the power of God's Holy Spirit to cleanse, oil represents its power to work, to do good. Thus, the difference between the virgins is their good works ("I know your works"), how much they overcame their selfish human natures by acting in love toward God and man.

Both groups had oil, but the foolish virgins did not have enough for the unexpectedly long delay (Luke 21:34-35). When the cry went out, their lamps were still burning but sputtering and about to go out. They were not prepared for the long haul. They had not continued to overcome. They were not enduring to the end. Their oil—their good works, their overcoming—proved insufficient for the task. In this one point, they failed, and what a foolish failure it was!

Emphasizing the importance of Luke 21:36 and watching, Christ makes a specific promise to those living at the end who are watching, that is, successfully overcoming: "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" (Luke 12:37).

Conversely, considering the implications of John 17:3, Jesus gives a chilling judgment to the virgins who fail to overcome: "I do not know you" (Matthew 25:12).

Pat Higgins
Praying Always (Part Two)

Hebrews 2:1-4

These Hebrew Christians were neglecting what they were given. William Barclay's translation of the first clause of verse 1 reads, "We must, therefore, with very special intensity [the opposite of "apathy"]pay attention to what we have heard" (our emphasis).The wonderful message that these people had heard was drifting from their minds.

This word "drift" (or "slip" as translated in the King James Version) is used of a thing that is negligently, carelessly, or thoughtlessly lost: of a ring that slips from one's finger; a thought that is slipped into a conversation; or a boat that drifts away from the dock because the knot in the rope securing it slips. In Greek literature it is used of an idea that slips from one's mind. In this word picture is a major warning for us today—as we enter the most distracting, enervating, and fearful time in man's history.

There is another illustration here that is equally compelling. It is of a man on a long journey who is carrying over his shoulder a goatskin, which was used in ancient time to carry water. He intends to use the water in that bag to refresh and reenergize himself, whenever he needs it. However, the goatskin is cracked, and the water is slowly dripping out unobserved by the traveler. The water is "slipping away." When he becomes thirsty and reaches for the goatskin to take a drink to refresh himself, he finds that his bag is empty. Nothing remains.

It is reminscent of the Ten Virgins and their oil (Matthew 25:1-13). Half have none when they need it, for it has run out. They have been negligent in buying it from the sources that they could have gotten it from, whenever they had the time. But now the Bridegroom approaches, and they have no oil, a kind of oil that cannot be transferred from one person to another. So, they must go out in desperation to find some on their own—but it is too late.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Hebrews: A Message for Today


 




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