RAPTURE! TEN VIRGINS!
RAPTURE! TEN VIRGINS!
An
edited Study by Amy Van Gerpen
My
words in [Brackets].
…let's take a look at the first
parable to see if it can shed some light on the event of "the day or hour
no one knows":
Matthew 25:1-13 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be
likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom. Now five of them 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. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all
slumbered and slept. "And at midnight a cry was heard: '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.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came,
and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was
shut. "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.'
"Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the
Son of Man is coming."
In this parable of the 10 virgins,
oil was needed to go to the wedding with the Bridegroom. It is apparent that
this isn't about how much oil [amount in possession] the virgins had.
Only the foolish virgins, who had no oil, were shut out of the wedding. We are
not told how much oil the wise virgins had. Apparently, any amount of oil was
enough.
Oil is widely used in Scripture as a
symbol of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom comes from the Holy Spirit (Exodus 31:3, Isaiah 11:2, Daniel
5:14, 1 Corinthians 12:8). Therefore, we see that the wise virgins had
the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and the foolish did not.
Unlike the second parable in Matthew 25, we are not told
that the foolish virgins are condemned for eternity. Notice that the foolish
virgins went to get oil, but by the time they got the oil and came back, they
were already shut out of the wedding. In other words, the five foolish virgins
eventually do buy the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, but they were too late for the
wedding and had to go through the Tribulation.
The foolish virgins would then be
people that are not saved at the time of the rapture but then find salvation
during the Tribulation.
The following proverb supports that the foolish virgins
bought wisdom which comes from the Holy Spirit, which suggests they later gain
salvation through truth and understanding:
Proverbs 23:23 “Buy the truth, and do
not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.”
In the Jewish wedding tradition,
after the wedding chamber is built and the father decides when it is time, the
son would go fetch his bride. The bride and wedding party would go back to the
father's house, where the bride and bridegroom would go inside the wedding
chamber for a week to consummate the marriage. The wedding party would
celebrate outside the wedding chamber during this week.
After the couple emerged from the
chamber when the week was over, the celebration would continue with a reception
and feast to honor the new couple. We see this pattern being followed in a few
places in Scripture (Genesis
29:27-28, Judges 14:17, John 2:1-12).
So you can see, in light of the
Jewish wedding tradition, "the day no one knows" may be talking about
the rapture of the Church. The Church will be whisked away to heaven to be
married to Christ where they will spend seven years in the New Jerusalem or the
"Father's house" (John
14:2-3). After the seven year Tribulation is over, they will return to
Earth where there will be a celebration of the marriage of Christ and the
Church at the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb" (Revelation 19:9) with the Tribulation Saints
invited to join in (Luke
12:35-37).
1 Corinthians
2:6-10
“However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom
of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we
speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained
before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for
had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is
written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart
of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God
has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yes, the deep things of God.”
As shown in 1 Corinthians 2 above it is the Holy Spirit who gives us wisdom
to understand the mysteries and deep things of God that are in His Word. This
is why I believe it is possible that the parable of the ten virgins may
represent the Church.
[Yes! So many
times I hear speakers and believers quote verse 9 but not 10. I hear – “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for
those who love Him.” I DO NOT HEAR, as
Paul Harvey would say, THE REST OF THE STORY – “But God has revealed them to us
through his Spirit.” Praise God! We can get a hold of what God is trying to
say to us in these closing moments of this age!
Just study His Word and known, credible experts in this field and pray
and you’ll be fine.]
The foolish virgins would be those that believe there is only one true God, but do not have a true repentant heart; being Christian "in name only", yet they don't worship other gods. The wise virgins would be those that genuinely accepted Christ before the rapture. In other words, the wise virgins would be the true body of Christ and the foolish virgins would just be "church goers".
Unbelievers will definitely be taken unaware at Christ's Coming, as He is coming to them as a thief (Matthew 24:43-44; Mark 13:33; Luke 12:37-40).
It seems more fitting that the
Church would be sleeping in the time leading up to the rapture as we are told:
2 Peter 3:3-4 ...scoffers will come in the last days,
walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of
His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of creation."
[Also in Revelation 3:14-22, a “lukewarm” or possibly sleeping or indifferent church is
depicted as being present on the earth at the Rapture – the Laodicean Church
Age.]
In other words, in the time
approaching the rapture, people would question His return because they see
everything as "business as usual" or for whatever reason they don't
want to think about Him returning in their lifetime. On several occasions I
have been a witness to this attitude described by Peter, and sadly it has been
mostly from Christians who cite this very passage about not knowing the day or
the hour as an excuse for not watching.
It is evident to me that the vast
majority of the Church is not watching and doesn't seem to have any desire to.
It wouldn't surprise me if the percentage of believers not watching would be
enough to round up to consider them ALL asleep like in the parable. The
sleeping Church has no idea how near Christ's return really is. When the
rapture does happen, it will take them by surprise. The parable of the 10
virgins seems to illustrate this perfectly.
[Evidently, whatever the “oil”
represents, be it – the Holy Spirit, wisdom from the Holy Spirit, Salvation, or
Salvation that comes as a result of the wisdom of the Holy Spirit – five of the
virgins do not have IT because the other five are not able and/or willing to
give it to them and by the time the five lacking virgins do receive what they
are missing, the Lord has closed the door.
We who have the oil and are watching with expectation NEED to tell the
church themselves about Salvation and the Holy Spirit, as well as unbelievers,
before Christ comes and closes the door on them, making them have to journey
through the Tribulation Period as far as they can go.]
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