what is the explanation of parable of ten virgins?

[lambofgod43985889]

While the foolish virgins are away trying to get more oil, the bridegroom arrives. The wise virgins then accompany him to the celebration. ... Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

 

[Hidden In Him]

While the foolish virgins are away trying to get more oil, the bridegroom arrives. The wise virgins then accompany him to the celebration. ... Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

It's about what will become of Christian leadership during the end-times. The oil is the Holy Spirit which shines light upon the word, and the word is "a Lamp unto our feet." Those who do not take plenty of oil with their lambs, i.e. and do not continue receiving insight through the power of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 14:26-28), will see their "light" going out. The five wise virgins will be those who continue receiving light from God through the Holy Spirit which they can in turn give to the Bride of Christ to light her way, when the call finally goes out that His return has come.

Note: Any interpretation you adopt on this parable will need to take into account the rest of the parables in the surrounding context. It is only one song several in an extended teaching on events that will both precede and follow the Lord's return. The full teaching runs from the beginning of Chapter 24 through the end of Chapter 25.

Blessings in Christ,
Hidden

 

[DennisTate]

While the foolish virgins are away trying to get more oil, the bridegroom arrives. The wise virgins then accompany him to the celebration. ... Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

On one level.... this means that we really need to hunger and thirst for righteousness...... which can only be given to us through the Holy Spirit........ and the guidance of Messiah Yeshua - Jesus........

If we think that we are doing great and do not need to hunger and thirst after righteousness..... then we are being proud / self - righteousness......

 

[1am3laine]

While the foolish virgins are away trying to get more oil, the bridegroom arrives. The wise virgins then accompany him to the celebration. ... Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

The parable also gives people a warning to not care about people so much that you forget about yourself.
Remember your only responsible for you in the end. (Matthew 25:8-9)

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

The primary message is to be ready, be vigilant, be prepared especially when he seems delayed.

 

[Robin Mauro]

While the foolish virgins are away trying to get more oil, the bridegroom arrives. The wise virgins then accompany him to the celebration. ... Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

A friend of mine came up with the idea that it means we are all responsible for our own faith. I liked that.

 

[ewq1938]

While the foolish virgins are away trying to get more oil, the bridegroom arrives. The wise virgins then accompany him to the celebration. ... Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

It means some Christians are going to make a very serious mistake that costs them dearly.

 

[Messerve]

It's about what will become of Christian leadership during the end-times. The oil is the Holy Spirit which shines light upon the word, and the word is "a Lamp unto our feet." Those who do not take plenty of oil with their lambs, i.e. and do not continue receiving insight through the power of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 14:26-28), will see their "light" going out. The five wise virgins will be those who continue receiving light from God through the Holy Spirit which they can in turn give to the Bride of Christ to light her way, when the call finally goes out that His return has come.

Note: Any interpretation you adopt on this parable will need to take into account the rest of the parables in the surrounding context. It is only one song several in an extended teaching on events that will both precede and follow the Lord's return. The full teaching runs from the beginning of Chapter 24 through the end of Chapter 25.

Blessings in Christ,
Hidden

Ah, so the foolish five may not represent specific people in leadership, but perhaps specific groups of people. Like churches that no longer seek God, for example?

I was struggling with the fact that it appears the foolish five lost their faith since they are denied entry to heaven. I don't personally think a person could lose his or her faith by simply not remaining open to the Holy Spirit's guidance, but seeing this parable as representative of something like churches would make sense, because as an organization leading many people there would certainly be many led away from Jesus by a governing body that isn't guided by the Holy Spirit.

 

[ewq1938]

The ten virgins are also exactly like the example of one taken and one left which in the Greek means one accepted and one rejected. When Christ/the bridegroom arrives, some will be worthy and accepted by Him, the rest will be rejected as the foolish virgins were.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Ah, so the foolish five may not represent specific people in leadership, but perhaps specific groups of people. Like churches that no longer seek God, for example?

I was struggling with the fact that it appears the foolish five lost their faith since they are denied entry to heaven. I don't personally think a person could lose his or her faith by simply not remaining open to the Holy Spirit's guidance, but seeing this parable as representative of something like churches would make sense, because as an organization leading many people there would certainly be many led away from Jesus by a governing body that isn't guided by the Holy Spirit.

That's why the individual must be responsible for his own salvation..."with fear and trembling".

 

[mnphysicist]

One warning that the parable sends is not to get too hung up on sexual purity. The next parable comes pretty close to saying usuary is ok. And in the last one in the chapter, the goats get hosed for blowing off the least of these... the series seems to indicate that obedience to sexual, monetary, or cleanliness like purity laws is not going to work out all that well.

Those bits likely made for lots of teeth gnashing among the religious... how could you not let in the virgins, how could you not respect the fellow who would not launder money, and/or engage in usury, how could you not let in those who strive to keep themselves clean by staying far away from "sinners".

The other thing I think is it tells us not to get too obsessed about the bridegrooms return. Ie, they all slept, and when upon waking they all trimmed their wicks... considering that an oil lamp's wick doesn't need to be trimmed all that often, its not like they were totally prepared. Those lamps had to be in pretty bad shape for all of them to need trimming.

The oil thing is strange... a filled oil lamp of that era should run all night easily, and not start to go out at midnight. As such, thus is would seem the foolish virgins started out with their lamps less than half full, perhaps maybe only a quarter full. The virgins with extra oil who won;t share it suggest that they too started out with less than a full lamp. I wonder if it might suggest that complacency is inevitable, and at the same time, we are to be prepared, not with just enough, but with extra? I don't know.

And then we've got the 24/7 oil selling guy. A primitive all night gas station?

 

[A_Thinker]

While the foolish virgins are away trying to get more oil, the bridegroom arrives. The wise virgins then accompany him to the celebration. ... Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

So ... I think that we can intuit that, in this context, "virgin" represents those who have been "separated" for God's purpose.

Now whether the larger context is that of the Jews, ... or followers of Christ, is less certain. But let's intuit that the virgins do represent Christians, since that is whom Christ will return to gather.

But you could argue that Old Testament Samson represented such a one as a sleeping "virgin". Though he was blessed ... and bore responsibility for rightly managing his "virgin" giftedness, ... he opted to neglect his calling (allowed his lamp to go out) and suffered mightily as a result of such.

A point that might be made is that, in Samson's case, he was allowed to regain his gifted status, ... though after much suffering.

I also note that the parable says that the five foolish virgins were ONLY shut out from the wedding of the Bridegroom, ... but were not necessarily forever shut out from His kingdom.

A casual interpretation of the parable, then, might indicate that some of God's people will be caught unprepared when the Lord first returns to gather them. They, like Samson, might therefore need to suffer many things ... before they are eventually allowed into the kingdom.

 

[eleos1954]

While the foolish virgins are away trying to get more oil, the bridegroom arrives. The wise virgins then accompany him to the celebration. ... Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

All ten virgins had lamps, and all went out to meet the bridegroom, which means that they were all looking forward to His coming. There was a delay, and all of these believers in His coming fell asleep. Suddenly, in the dead of night, they all were awakened: the bridegroom was coming Matthew. 25:1-6 .

The foolish virgins were startled, unprepared. One version says “our lamps are gone out” Matthew 25:8 . Other versions, true to the Greek original, say the lamps are “going out.” There was still a flickering flame. They still had a little oil, but not enough to be prepared to meet Christ.

These virgins represent Christians who are waiting for Christ to return but who have a superficial experience with Him. They have some oil, some working of the Spirit in their lives, but it is merely flickering; they were satisfied with little when they needed much.

It's about being fully prepared to meet Christ.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Ah, so the foolish five may not represent specific people in leadership, but perhaps specific groups of people. Like churches that no longer seek God, for example?

I was struggling with the fact that it appears the foolish five lost their faith since they are denied entry to heaven. I don't personally think a person could lose his or her faith by simply not remaining open to the Holy Spirit's guidance, but seeing this parable as representative of something like churches would make sense, because as an organization leading many people there would certainly be many led away from Jesus by a governing body that isn't guided by the Holy Spirit.

Greetings, Messerve. My apologies for the late response. Not much time these days.

About your response, yes. They represent two very different types of leadership: As the Lord describes them, one will be wise and the other foolish. I believe the wise will understand the times and be prepared to endure them until the end. Persecution is going to increase, and I believe this is what will cause the light of the foolish to begin going out. The anxieties of this life will choke out the word in those not prepared to stay focused on Christ even in very dark times, and I believe the wedding analogy is suggestive of this: He will return during the darkest period in human history, when the Bride of Christ will need spiritual light to light her path more than ever. I also believe the gifts of the Spirit will be involved in receiving this light, which is why I referenced 1 Corinthians 14:26-28. Revelation comes through prophecy, visions and dreams, and these are prophesied to return to the church in Joel 2:28. I believe these gifts will become widespread in the church again, but not all will continue in them. Those who fail to because their focus gets drawn away will eventually come to those who are still operating in such things and say, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out." But transferring gifts to someone else is an impossibility, so their response will simply be to "Not so, but go to them that sell," or in other words "Go to God to obtain them," but while they are off still trying to draw closer to the Lord His return will come, and He will take those who remained close to Him into Heaven.

It was essentially a warning to the disciples not to play around with their responsibilities as leaders, much like what the Lord was telling them in Matthew 24:48-51. Keep in mind that Christ spoke these words directly to them specifically, which means those who are entrusted with leadership over His people bear a very grave responsibility that should not be taken lightly.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Jesus offers several parables in the Olivet Discourse to illustrate the importance of being vigilant and faithful. The primary thesis of these parables is that Jesus has said to His disciples that they will not know when Jesus will return. The Lord will return at a time they do not know or expect, so they are to be diligent now.

The Parable of the 10 Virgins illustrates this, the virgins who brought enough oil to last through the night were ready when the bridegroom came, the ones that didn't were not ready. Jesus also gives the parable of the Talents, the servant who buried his talent in the ground just sitting around waiting for the master to return squandered what he had been given.

Christ doesn't want us sitting around twiddling our thumbs, He wants us to be faithful servants, out in the world living out our faith. Jesus will return when He returns, and not a moment sooner--it does no good engaging in endless speculations, or talking about signs that won't occur (Jesus specifically offers the illustration about Noah's time to point out that when He comes in judgment, it will be sudden and without warning). The Lord may return tomorrow, or He may return in ten thousand years. But as for you and me, we are to be faithful to our Lord today.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ewq1938]

The Lord will return at a time they do not know or expect, so they are to be diligent now.

The Parable of the 10 Virgins illustrates this

That parable actually shows they knew when he was coming and even where he was coming to.

The Lord may return tomorrow, or He may return in ten thousand years.

Not according to Paul who said Christ's return could not occur until two major things happened first: the falling away and the revealing of the man of sin. Those things haven't happened so the second coming cannot happen tomorrow. This idea that Christ can return at any moment was addressed and countered. Furthermore Paul also said the resurrection and rapture do not happen until after Christ has returned and Christ placed his return once the great tribulation had ended (Olivet discourse) so that does away with the any moment and preTrib ideas.

 

[Radagast]

And then we've got the 24/7 oil selling guy. A primitive all night gas station?

The text says "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. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’"

It does not actually say that they found a 24/7 oil selling guy.

Possibly they returned empty-handed from their late-night shopping trip. Possibly it was by then too late to use the lamps for whatever it was that they were supposed to be used for. Certainly the unprepared young women were not welcome at the feast.

 

[Vanellus]

In trying to understand what it means to have "extra oil" or not (note all the virgins had some oil and they all slept) it may be best to look at the next two parables: making good use of your talents and providing succour for those in need.

 

[Radagast]

In trying to understand what it means to have "extra oil" or not (note all the virgins had some oil

For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them (αἱ γὰρ μωραὶ λαβοῦσαι τὰς λαμπάδας οὐκ ἔλαβον μεθ’ ἑαυτῶν ἔλαιον), but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps (αἱ δὲ φρόνιμοι ἔλαβον ἔλαιον ἐν τοῖς ἀγγείοις μετὰ τῶν λαμπάδων ἑαυτῶν).

In terms of meaning, the wise young women were prepared for the task that the Master had given them. The foolish young women were enthusiastic about the task... but not prepared (and the Master was very angry about that).

The message is clear even if the story leaves the task a little vague.

 

[ewq1938]

In trying to understand what it means to have "extra oil" or not (note all the virgins had some oil and they all slept)

Consider the oil like how much faith one has. Wise virgins had plenty of faith, the unwise ran out of faith.

Mat 25:11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Mat 25:12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

Similar to this:

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.