MATTHEW 25:1-131Then 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. (Matthew 25:1‑13).
Verse 1. "Then shall the kingdom of heaven [the heavens] be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth [went out] to meet the bridegroom.”
THE word "then" connects this parable with the preceding chapter, and especially with the fourth parable in it. "Then" —not at the coming of the Lord as Son of Man to the world and to Israel, but at His coming as Lord to the Church, or rather for the Church (John 14:33And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:3); 1 Thess. 4:13-1813But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13‑18)). The Church in this parable is not looked at as servants waiting for their Lord, as in chapter 24:45-51, but in a nearer and more tender relationship—that of virgins expecting the bridegroom.
“The kingdom of the heavens.”
The terms "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of the heavens" correspond with the language of the Prophet Daniel, chapter 2:44: "In the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom.”
It is the kingdom of God in contrast with the rule of man, and the kingdom of the heavens contrasted with mere earthly kingdoms. In Daniel 4:2525That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. (Daniel 4:25) it is written: "Till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will." This is the kingdom of God; and in verse 26, "After that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule." This is the kingdom of the heavens.
This term, "the kingdom of the heavens," which is peculiar to Matthew's gospel, connects the saints of the heavenlies with the exercise of rule. Daniel 7:1818But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. (Daniel 7:18): "The saints of the Most High [high places, or heavenlies] shall take the kingdom.”
Jesus was born "King of the Jews." Israel crucified their King. But the Stone which the builders refused, the same is made the Head of the corner.
Jehovah said unto Him, "Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool.”
Jesus, having been refused the throne of His father David on earth, is seated on the throne of His God and Father in heaven, having not yet taken His own throne (Rev. 3:2121To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (Revelation 3:21)). Meanwhile, the kingdom of the heavens takes a peculiar character; and Matt. 13 contains a series of seven parables in which are set forth "the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens;" and this parable of the virgins is another parable of the kingdom.
"Ten virgins.”
In 2 Cor. 11:22For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:2) Paul contemplates the Church at Corinth in this virgin character. "I am jealous over you," he says, "with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." “Which took their lamps.”
Both the wise and the foolish virgins took their lamps. To the wise it was the lamp of true confession; to the unwise it was the lamp of outward profession only. In either case, it was the profession of Christ as the Bridegroom, and of the hope of His coming.
“And went forth," or "went out.”
Those from among the Jews going forth from Judaism, and those from among the Gentiles going forth from heathenism, both standing apart from corrupted or human systems of religion, and going forth to Jesus without the camp, bearing His reproach.
“To meet the Bridegroom.”
They were "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven" (1 Thess. 1:9, 109For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:9‑10)). And to wait for Him in this character as the Bridegroom; not expecting the conversion of the world before Jesus comes; not looking for death as though that were inevitable; but waiting for the fulfillment of John 14:2, 32In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2‑3), "I come again, and will receive you unto Myself.”
Verses 2, 4. "And five of them were wise [prudent], and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”
The Lord Jesus, foreseeing the corruption of Christianity, in most of His parables of the kingdom, foretells the mere profession of His name, as well as the genuine confession of real faith and love towards Him. Jesus here exposes the folly of making a profession of Christianity and of the doctrines of the Second Advent without the possession of Divine grace and without being born again of the Spirit of God, taking a name to live when spiritually dead, With the foolish, the lamp was the first and only thing; but with the wise the oil was the first, though the lamp was not omitted.
To the wise the new birth is the beginning of a new life. They know that it is the Spirit that quickeneth, and the flesh profiteth nothing; that to be a tare in the wheat-field is a dangerous thing, and that it is the work of the enemy of souls to sow them there; that mere carnal religion is one of the main barriers to prevent the soul's entrance into the kingdom.
Oil, in the Scriptures, is the emblem of the Spirit of God; it is true wisdom to recognize the importance of the Spirit's work.
Saving and sanctifying truth is threefold. It is God's testimony concerning Christ, and revealed to the soul by the Holy Ghost. It is the manifestation of Divine love in the person and work of Christ, but that love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost.
By "the vessel" here we may understand the heart, in which, strengthened by might by God's Spirit, Christ dwells (Eph. 3:16, 1716That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (Ephesians 3:16‑17)); or the body of the believer, according to that word, "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?" (1 Cor. 6:29).
Apart from this, the profession of Christianity and the knowledge of Christian truth, however extensive, will avail nothing, for "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”
The "lamp" here represents the profession of Christian truth, and especially the truth connected with the return of the Lord Jesus to receive His blood-bought Bride. Yet it is not wise to be contented with the possession of Divine grace, nor with right and lively affections towards Christ. We are also to let our "light so shine before men, that they may see our good works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven." The confession of Christ outwardly should follow the possession of Christ, and of love to Him inwardly.
Verse 5. "But while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered [grew sleepy] and slept."
The word "but" is omitted in the Authorized Version, yet it is in the original, and this is important.
The language of the Lord Jesus is, "Behold, I come quickly.”
As year after year passes away, and He still continues absent, it might seem that He was slack concerning His promises.
But no; He speaks of time as it appears to Him, and with Him a thousand years are as one day. And yet, in condescension to our infirmity, He notices the delay.
“The bridegroom tarried," as He says also in the next parable, verse 19: "After a long time the lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them." Before the Bridegroom cometh to receive His Bride, she must arrive at her full stature, every member having been added, and the whole body complete (Eph. 4: 12, 13).
The early Church soon lost the brightness and the fervor of her first hope and of her first love—the love of the chaste virgin to the Bridegroom who was coming to claim her for Himself.
Preparation for death has been allowed to take the place of preparation for His return. Of late years Antichrist has been expected before Christ, and the prospect of the great tribulation has been allowed to throw into the shade the brightness of the hope of His coming. She has believed in "Him who is set down at the right hand of God the Father in heaven, from whence He is coming to judge the quick and the dead;" but she has left out of her creed the expectation of His coming as Bridegroom.
Latterly there has been the revival of long-neglected truths, such as that Israel's true Messiah will come again, and they will be restored to their own land; that the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God; that "The Son of Man will come and sit upon the throne of His glory, and wear His" many crowns " as King of kings over the whole earth.
But all this, blessedly true as it is, and awfully solemn or gloriously bright as these prospects are-all this is not the coming of the Bridegroom: He will come to receive His Church before He is manifested to take His kingdom, and, according to Daniel 9 and the Book of Revelation, a period of at least seven years will intervene between the two.
Sound as the Church may have been as to the fundamental truths of Christianity, it is manifest that for centuries, as to the Church's proper hope of the return of the Bridegroom, she had fallen sound asleep.
Verse 6. "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”
At midnight, when as to the Church's proper hope and expectation the last traces of the light at eventide had faded, when knowledge on this subject was most obscure, and the Church was in her profoundest slumber, a cry was made. Whence came this cry? It was the voice of the eternal Spirit awakening the Church to recover her long-lost hope and to take up her true position. It was, indeed, the response of the Spirit to the language of the heavenly Bridegroom, "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and the Morning Star.”
“Behold, I come quickly:" to which the Spirit and the Bride reply, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Compare, also, the language of the Bride in the Song of Solomon, chapter 2:8-10: "The voice of my beloved!
Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping upon the hills.
My beloved is like a roe or a young hart;
Behold, He standeth behind our wall,
He looketh forth at the windows,
Showing Himself through the lattice.
My beloved spake, and said unto me,
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
It is not, Behold, the Judge is coming to judge, nor the King is coming to reign; but, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, to receive His blood-bought, Spirit-perfected Bride, in fulfillment of His own word, "I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you I come again, and will receive you unto Myself" (John 14:2, 32In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2‑3)). So that the Lord, when He comes, may find many of His redeemed ones waiting and watching for His return, ready to receive and welcome Him, in such a state that they may be found of Him in peace, and in such a position that they may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him, at His coming.
Verse 7. "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.”
It is within the present century that the Church universal has been aroused in an especial manner to the consideration of what is known as dispensational truth. That is, to see the Church's unique and special calling from Pentecost to the return of her Lord, as the revelation of a mystery previously kept hid, and as to the Church's proper posture waiting for the Son of God from heaven. This trimming of the lamp may not have been at all times wise, nor at all times successful; nevertheless, the result has been, when the teaching of the Spirit has been sought and relied on; that there has been a precious recovery of long-lost hope, and most glorious light has been shed upon prophetic truth.
Verses 8, 9. "And the foolish said unto the wise, ' Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out [go out].' But 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.”
The trimming of the lamp may lead to its brighter shining for a time, but without a supply of oil this brightness will not last. Sermons, lectures, conferences may revive the hope, but, apart from the Spirit's power, it will be but transitory. Clearer views and intellectual instruction may be sought and imparted from one to another, but the unction from the Holy One by which we know all things must be obtained from a higher source.
The experience of those who have only doctrinal truth and intellectual light on the Lord's coming is, not that their lamps are gone out altogether, but that they go out (the word is in the present tense in the original). They cannot keep them burning; the flame is unsteady, and vacillates with every wind of doctrine. Steadiness and steadfastness can come alone from the Spirit of truth, light, and might. The wise turn the foolish away from expectation of supply from themselves to Him from whom all blessings flow: to God the Father, who is the source; to the Son, in whom all fullness dwells; and to the Eternal Spirit the Comforter, who can alone direct our hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
Though the oil, like the water of life, is given freely, without money and without price, nevertheless it must be bought—a price must be paid; tradition, reason, speculation, imagination, mere human opinions, must be laid aside, in order that heaven's clear light, the Spirit's holy ray, may shine upon the sacred page, and thence be reflected and transferred to the prepared heart.
Verse 10. "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage [marriage feasts]: and the door was shut.”
We learn from this that at the very moment of the Lord's return there will be those who, conscious of the lack of spiritual life and power, will be on their way to obtain it. We learn, also, that no amount of doctrinal knowledge or of earnest desire will secure an entrance apart from the personal indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
We also learn from Romans 8:1111But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Romans 8:11) "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." The possession of the oil in the vessel is the main thing, whether the trimming of the lamp be completed or not. Those in whom the Spirit of God dwells when the Lord comes will be caught up to meet Him, and will go in with Him to share His joy, whether they are found watching or sleeping, because Christ died for them (1 Thess. 5:9, 109For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. (1 Thessalonians 5:9‑10)).
The word rendered "marriage" here is not in the singular number, as indicating the marriage supper of the Lamb, but is in the plural, to express those pleasures which will precede the full consummation, when, His wife having made herself ready, the marriage of the Lamb will be celebrated and the marriage supper kept.
The Holy Ghost came down at Pentecost to baptize, from henceforth, into one body all believers in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, in union with the risen Head, members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones—members in particular, and together one body in Christ; to constitute, when completed and perfected, His blood-bought Bride. When this body shall have arrived at its full stature—the last member added, all whose names are written in God's book—then the Lord will come as Bridegroom to claim His Bride, and the Holy Ghost will present her to Him, even as Eliezer presented Rebekah to Isaac.
This work completed, the door will be closed—not the door of mercy, but the door that admits the Bride into the presence of the Bridegroom. Those, indeed, who had willfully rejected the truth because they had pleasure in unrighteousness, will be given over to believe the lie of antichrist (2 Thess. 2:10, 1110And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2 Thessalonians 2:10‑11)), but there will be hope and mercy for thirsty and anxious souls. The promise remains true to the last, "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely" (Rev. 21:66And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6)). And we find that after the present dispensation closes there is a multitude which no man can number, out of every nation, and kindred, and people, and tongue, who, having washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, will stand before the throne of God.
Verses 11-13. “Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, ' Lord, Lord, open to us.' But he answered and said, Verily, I say unto you, I know you not.' Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour.”
Afterward come also the other virgins, but they seek in vain an entrance through the closed door—that dispensation in which God was taking out from the Gentiles a people for His name and the Spirit was preparing a Bride for the Lamb was ended. Henceforth the action of the Holy Ghost is not represented as that of the Comforter, but as "the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth" (Rev. 5:66And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. (Revelation 5:6)) with sevenfold energy and power, diffusing the everlasting Gospel among every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people (Rev. 14:66And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, (Revelation 14:6)).
The answer of the Lord evidently teaches that, apart from the indwelling, teaching, and revealing of the Holy Spirit, there is no mutual knowledge between Christ and the soul; but the Lord does not add here, as in Matthew 7:2323And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23), “Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.
There is a difference between the mere profession of truth coming short of the actual possession of grace divine and the false profession of such who pretend to be the servants of Christ when, in fact, they are not, having no real, personal acquaintance with Him.
The words added in the Authorized Version, "Wherein the Son of Man cometh," have evidently crept in from the margin, and probably is almost the only instance in which the context shows that the words found in some manuscripts may be safely omitted. The whole construction of the parable proves that if any words were wanting they might have been, "Wherein the Bridegroom cometh.”
The exhortation remains, "Watch, therefore." It is not for us to know the times nor the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power. The turning of days into years, and then computing times and seasons, is not only vain but presumptuous. Were the actual day and hour of the Lord's return foreknown it would, in the meanwhile, put the soul out of its true attitude, and prevent the possibility of watching till the day came. The command of the Lord Jesus through the whole of this dispensation has been, and is, "What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." "Behold, I come quickly." "Blessed is he that watcheth.”