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 Re:

Quote:

roadsign wrote:
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but we need to find our own anointing and sink our own deep roots. Taking part in the anointing of others is a blessed thing but if we're going to stand in the hour of crisis we must have our own resource.


To me this best reflects my initial thought when I read the parable - referring to our need for the Spirit-giving Life.

The Christian resources available to us are much like the pillar of fire and the cloud, the manna in the desert, the oil. They are an indication that our Lord is/has been working among us, and shining his glory - but they don’t carry us across the Jordan.

Ormly asked:
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as to how all that pertains to the virgins and the kingdom of God is what?


The kingdom of heaven is all about God’s mercy towards mankind. He is not willing that any should perish. And that’s why Jesus told the parables. It seems like most of them were especially addressed to those most resistant to divine mercy – those who were convinced that they were ready to meet their Maker – those foolish virgins. Each one of us must at some point face the naked truth about our own spiritual neediness - apart from any vices.


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all of a sudden the ship started to sink and what did they say? That it was scientically impossible?



They were correct, but only partially: They did not think about the possibility of icebergs. In their blindness, they didn’t bother to install enough life rafts.

Today many have no clue about ancient wedding practises, but they know something about the present world. The Titanic is a very appropriate divine picture lesson for our modern society: Have your own “life preserver”, and don’t count on someone else’s.

I wonder what other pictures lessons God has placed in our world. After all, he is not willing that any should perish.

Diane



Too new agee for me.. :-(

 2006/9/29 15:41
rookie
Member



Joined: 2003/6/3
Posts: 4821
Savannah TN

 Re:

Brother Olan wrote:

Quote:
Instead of being out and about as light bearers, "they all slumbered and slept" (v.5). Pretty hard to burn out your oil when you are sleeping and your lamp isn't lit!



Matt. 25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

Matt. 25:6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’


This section of Scripture speaks of time and it's passage. All are virgins whose lamps had flame. Then we find in Scripture that all fell asleep until the time appointed by the Lord. And then after the passage of time the virgins are awakened. And what does Scripture say then in verse 8?

..."Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out."

So according to Scripture the lamps of the foolish virgins burned over a passage of time.

Do you hear what Scripture teaches brother Olan?

In Christ
Jeff


_________________
Jeff Marshalek

 2006/10/1 6:05Profile
OverSeer
Member



Joined: 2006/7/15
Posts: 153
Geneva, Alabama

 Re:

Brother Jeff wrote:

Quote:
..."Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out."

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So according to Scripture the lamps of the foolish virgins burned over a passage of time.



Philologos wrote:
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'Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out'" (Matthew 25:7-8). The wick was lit but it didn't burn long - "our lamps are gone out" - not because they ran out of oil but because they "took no oil with them"

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The tenses would tend to support this. It is not 'our lamps have gone out' but 'our lamps are going out'. Robinson's Word Pictures comments:

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When the five foolish virgins lit their lamps, they discovered the lack of oil. The sputtering, flickering, smoking wicks were a sad revelation.

The point of the Lord's parables of the end-times is "be ready/prepared." This is a sad picture of those who have form (lamps) but not fuel (oil) as also described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 which describes the majority of church members of the last days. Were the lamps going out because they were burning out over a passage of time or because when they rose and lit their wicks they had no oil? If the first case is true then they were unprepared by not bringing "extra oil." If the second case is true then they were unprepared by bringing "no oil." In either case they were unprepared for the coming of the bridegroom.

Grace and peace
Olan


_________________
Olan Strickland

 2006/10/2 10:33Profile









 Re:

Quote:
The point of the Lord's parables of the end-times is "be ready/prepared." This is a sad picture of those who have form (lamps) but not fuel (oil) as also described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 which describes the majority of church members of the last days. Were the lamps going out because they were burning out over a passage of time or because when they rose and lit their wicks they had no oil? If the first case is true then they were unprepared by not bringing "extra oil." If the second case is true then they were unprepared by bringing "no oil." In either case they were unprepared for the coming of the bridegroom.

Grace and peace
Olan



I thought the point was that they no oil at all either in their lamps and nor in a separate flask.

Indeed, having oil in the lamp and having it run out or run low has special significance especially when applying this to the Spirit filled Christian --- and I believe it does speak of the Spirit filled Christian who is found wanting; the ones who do not seek intimacy with the Father but rather believe their own religious way is sufficient, quenching the very Spirit who calls them ---- then comes the day they find out their mistake and their need for Oil.

:-(

 2006/10/2 11:11
OverSeer
Member



Joined: 2006/7/15
Posts: 153
Geneva, Alabama

 Re:

Quote:
Indeed, having oil in the lamp and having it run out or run low has special significance especially when applying this to the Spirit filled Christian --- and I believe it does speak of the Spirit filled Christian who is found wanting;

:-(
Quote:
and I believe it does speak of the Spirit filled Christian who is found wanting; the ones who do not seek intimacy with the Father but rather believe their own religious way is sufficient,

You are describing a counterfeit Christian (which this parable is also describing) not a true Christian. What true Spirit-filled Christian believes his or her [b]own religious way is sufficient[/b]?

By the way, this goes against the grain of those who believe that nothing can snatch the believer out of the hands of the Son or the Father but that they can willingly walk out. According to this parable there was a rude awakening that revealed improper preparation - but no willing walking away! They were lost and didn't even know it until it was too late!
Quote:
then comes the day they find out their mistake and their need for Oil.

If the only way to lose salvation is to willingly walk out of God's hand then the person that has done that surely knows it! These didn't, even by your own admission.

Grace and peace
Olan


_________________
Olan Strickland

 2006/10/2 12:40Profile









 Re:

Quote:

OverSeer wrote:
Quote:
Indeed, having oil in the lamp and having it run out or run low has special significance especially when applying this to the Spirit filled Christian --- and I believe it does speak of the Spirit filled Christian who is found wanting;

:-(
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and I believe it does speak of the Spirit filled Christian who is found wanting; the ones who do not seek intimacy with the Father but rather believe their own religious way is sufficient,



Quote:
You are describing a counterfeit Christian (which this parable is also describing) not a true Christian.



Not in the least, my friend. I don't see them at all as "counterfeit" nor do I see the parable teaching that view. The parable makes no such distinction therefore you arrive at that viewpoint from your doctrinal teaching. Calvinism, I suppose. It must be seen that the word "foolish" can apply to the saved as well as the unsaved.

Quote:
What true Spirit-filled Christian believes his or her [b]own religious way is sufficient[/b]?



Many I know whom I would consider, by their thinking, to be UN-re-birthed into Jesus Christ; compromised by their own secular ambitions. One foot "in" --- one foot "out} and quite content because of Calvinist doctrine. Are they saved? I guess so -- I won't judge that.

Quote:
By the way, this goes against the grain of those who believe that nothing can snatch the believer out of the hands of the Son or the Father but that they can willingly walk out. According to this parable there was a rude awakening that revealed improper preparation - but no willing walking away!



Oh!! Who is the writer speaking to here:

[i]"How shall we escape, if we [b]NEGLECT[/b] so great salvation ......"[/i] Hebrews 2:3 (KJV)


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They were lost and didn't even know it until it was too late!



Sorry, but that's not what the white robes, lamps filled with oil, signify.

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then comes the day they find out their mistake and their need for Oil.

If the only way to lose salvation is to willingly walk out of God's hand then the person that has done that surely knows it! These didn't, even by your own admission.



Is salvation the issue here? --- or rather being the Bride of Christ. I believe the latter.

Opens up a new bucket of worms, doesn't it? ;-)

What say you?

Orm

 2006/10/2 13:21
allhavsinned
Member



Joined: 2005/8/1
Posts: 201
North West England

 Re:

Quote:

Ormly wrote:

Is salvation the issue here? --- or rather being the Bride of Christ. I believe the latter.

Opens up a new bucket of worms, doesn't it? ;-)

What say you?

Orm




Are you saying that there are different types of Christians, the ones who are Spirit filled and part of the Bride, and the others who are not filled and don't enter in (the door was shut with them outside) but still make it to Heaven?

Your to-ing and fro-ing over weather there was oil originaly in the lamps is leading to a bigger issue which you hinted at here. Is ther a Bride and also something else (less than)? or do these people lose their oil and therefore their salvation altogether.

To put it another way- what becomes of the foolish virgins?

This is a genuine question, one I have been wondering over for a while now and never really get's spoken about, you see I have never been 'filled' with the Spirit as I have seen others, I am without oil, when I put it to people they say 'well get filled then' but i have tried praying for Him, been prayed for, hands laid on, shouting for Him (Proverbs 2). I've been told I have Him, that 'there's something blocking Him', I'm up to receiving Him by faith which sounds ok but it's not very definite when I see people who are obviously filled.
So if Jesus comes tonight, will I be out there looking for oil and miss Him? Then what?

I welcome any answers but please, no opinions without backing them up with scripture.

ste


_________________
Ste

 2006/10/2 17:54Profile









 Re:

Quote:

allhavsinned wrote:
Quote:

Ormly wrote:

Is salvation the issue here? --- or rather being the Bride of Christ. I believe the latter.

Opens up a new bucket of worms, doesn't it? ;-)

What say you?

Orm




Are you saying that there are different types of Christians, the ones who are Spirit filled and part of the Bride, and the others who are not filled and don't enter in (the door was shut with them outside) but still make it to Heaven?

Your to-ing and fro-ing over weather there was oil originaly in the lamps is leading to a bigger issue which you hinted at here. Is ther a Bride and also something else (less than)? or do these people lose their oil and therefore their salvation altogether.

To put it another way- what becomes of the foolish virgins?

This is a genuine question, one I have been wondering over for a while now and never really get's spoken about, you see I have never been 'filled' with the Spirit as I have seen others, I am without oil, when I put it to people they say 'well get filled then' but i have tried praying for Him, been prayed for, hands laid on, shouting for Him (Proverbs 2). I've been told I have Him, that 'there's something blocking Him', I'm up to receiving Him by faith which sounds ok but it's not very definite when I see people who are obviously filled.
So if Jesus comes tonight, will I be out there looking for oil and miss Him? Then what?

I welcome any answers but please, no opinions without backing them up with scripture.

ste



Yes STE, I am alluding to something more than salvation. Jesus spent 3+ years speaking about it and made strong appeal in John 17. Though others may wish to comment also let me offer this paper up that I have posted before and see where it takes you in your thinking:

JESUS CHRIST, THE BAPTIZER


“THERE WAS A MAN SENT FROM GOD, whose name was John. .. . The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.... And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
“And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
“And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God” (John 1:6, 29, 32—34).
Every one of the four Gospels spells out John’s declaration, “I indeed baptize you with water; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” When the Pharisees asked, “Why baptizeth thou?” he replied, “That he should be made manifest.. . therefore I am come baptizing with water” (John 1: 25, 31). Furthermore, John assured them that he was sent to baptize with water (vs. 33). It was his ministry. This fact was recognized to such an extent that he became known as “John the Baptist.”
I doubt whether one could find a ten-year-old in Christendom that has not yet learned about John the Baptist. All through the ages, generation after generation, men have learned of this great prophet, but they know him by what he did and not by what he said or prophesied. Yet we know that he was both prophet and baptizer.
In recent times I have been astonished to find that very few Christians have ever heard that Christ is the baptizer in the Holy Ghost. They know Him as the Lamb of God, as Saviour; and as the Son of God, our Lord; but they are unfamiliar with the fact that He was announced to the world as the One to whom God gave the ministry of baptizing with the Holy Ghost.
Jesus Christ is both Saviour and Baptizer. We have no doubt that He is as much the Saviour today as when He died on Calvary as the Lamb of God. Even so, He is still the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit as much as He was when He commenced this ministry on the Day of Pentecost, for He is the “same, yesterday, today and forever.”
I have just traveled in seven countries and addressed over 300 ministers belonging to seven of the major classical Protestant churches. During these three months I have read a great variety of ecclesiastical writings, touching upon almost every subject and event between Easter and Pentecost. From Ascension to Pentecost. I have listened to many radio talks in several languages. Not once did I hear a minister, see in a paper, or hear over the radio any mention that Christ baptized with the Holy Spirit. In conversations many that questioned me or spoke to me expressed some surprise at my strong emphasis upon the message that Christ is the Baptizer in the Spirit. I have heard much about the work of the Spirit, about receiving the Spirit, and even about the coming of the Spirit, but nothing is ever said about being baptized with the Spirit.
The first intimation in history that a baptism with the Spirit was a possible event in the life of a human being came from John the Baptist. However, he did not announce the experience but rather the one who gave such an experience. He announced that the Baptizer was coming. He clearly states that God had told him that Christ would be the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost. He also assures us that the image for this act of Christ was his own act of baptizing in the river. From the very beginning, therefore, all John’s converts fully expected an experience that would be as overwhelming as their baptism in the river. These converts had an encounter with the baptizer and not with water or even the river. What they were to expect was an encounter with the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit and not with the Spirit or with the work of the Spirit in their lives.
For every baptism there must be an agent to baptize, and an element with or into which to baptize, and finally a candidate to be baptized. Such a candidate must present himself and ask for baptism. Then there must be a total and complete surrender to the baptizer and not to the element in which he baptizes. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is an encounter with Christ, the Baptizer. The candidates are those who have already had an encounter with Him as the Lamb of God, the Saviour, who took away all their sin and made them worthy temples of the Holy Spirit.
The disciples who left John and followed Christ that He might baptize them with the Holy Spirit discovered that He was full of the Spirit. They saw His miracles to prove it and heard His word to confirm it. Then He gave them power and authority to cast out devils and heal the sick, but that was not the baptism in the Spirit that they expected. Finally they saw Him weak and as a Lamb led to the slaughter, and He opened not His mouth. He died on the cross and was laid in the tomb, and no one had been baptized in the Spirit. What about John’s prophecy? Was it all mythical or mystical?
In the evening of that first Easter day of Resurrection, He suddenly and unexpectedly appeared in their midst. Then He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” This was after He had explained, “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” But how did His Father send Him? First He came, born of the Spirit (Luke 1:35), and then He was endued with the Spirit (Luke 4: 1) to commence His earthly ministry. So here the disciples became the very first members of a new body, the church. He breathed eternal life into them. Calvary, the all-effective altar of God, had dealt with the sin question, and those who were dead in trespasses and sin now could receive the life-giving, regenerating Holy Spirit. This was for them the occasion where they were baptized into one body by the Spirit (I Cor.12:13).
But John said that God had said that Jesus would baptize with the Spirit, not that He would give the Spirit. I wonder how these disciples thought and felt about all these strange things? However, a few weeks later Jesus again spoke to the same men to whom He had said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” Now He confirms John’s message. He says to them, “John truly baptized with water: but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts 1: 5). Here Christ accepts and confirms the same image that God had given to John, a baptism in water and a baptism in the Holy Spirit—indeed a river baptism, but the river of life must first begin to flow upon earth.
Several predictions were confirmed on the Day of Pentecost. The Father gave the promised Holy Ghost, who was heard as wind and seen as fire. Jesus began to baptize in the Spirit and fire. The immediate consequence of this baptism was that the candidates began to speak with other tongues as Jesus had promised (Mark 16: 17). Then the Holy Spirit began to convict of sin, righteousness and judgment as Peter preached to the multitude (John 16:8). But the record says, “They were all filled {overflowed] with the Holy Ghost, and [of which was] they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts2:4).
It seems that from this very day onward much more emphasis was given to the experience of the disciples than to the act of Jesus the Baptizer, and the whole controversy began to revolve around glossolalia—speaking with other tongues—which was the very simple consequence of this baptism in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the gift and tongues was the consequence. These tongues were a manifestation of the Holy Spirit and not a manifestation of the ecstasy of the human spirit. Speaking in tongues by the Holy Spirit or, as Paul puts it, “Praying with the Spirit,” is an act of the Holy Spirit upon the human spirit which transcends the understanding (I Cor.14: 14, 15).
Thus it seems clear that on the day of Pentecost the spirit of the disciples was baptized into the Holy Spirit and their bodies were filled with the Holy Spirit—overflowed with the Holy Spirit. The fact that they commenced to speak “with the Spirit” was proof of this overflowing.
In our day many pray for an infilling, an experience, instead of seeking the Baptizer. They ask the Holy Spirit to fill them when they should be asking Christ to baptize them. The baptism will produce the filling. This filling of the body by the baptism of the human spirit into the Holy Spirit produces an overflowing (see John 7:38) which causes the vocal organs to go into action and speak a language that is unknown to the candidate. He may be fully aware of what he is doing but does not know what he is saying (I Cor.14:14).
On the day of Pentecost God gave the Holy Spirit and Christ then baptized His followers into the Spirit, and they began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). About 10 years later, according to Acts 10:44—46, when the Apostle Peter dared to preach to the Gentiles for the first time (Acts 11:19), these same Gentiles received exactly the same experience that the apostles and the disciples of Christ had on the day of Pentecost. The record says, “And they of the circumcision [Jews] were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God” (Acts 10:46). The Jewish Christians in Jerusalem objected to all this. (Acts 11:2). Then Peter in his defense said, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 11: 15, 16). In other words, it was the same Baptizer who baptized into the same element, with the same consequences. The consequences were what convinced the Jewish Christians that the experience of the Gentiles was valid, for they heard them speak with tongues (Acts
10:46).
From this record it is quite clear that during the first decade Peter and the church in Jerusalem believed that Jesus is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit and that “speaking with tongues” was the immediate consequence or confirmation of this baptism. During this last decade in our time the Christian world has become more conscious of the Holy Spirit and many are reaching out for His power and a charismatic ministry. However, it seems to me that unless the church once again lifts up Christ as the Baptizer, many will seek the blessing from the Holy Spirit and fail to find it because He will always honor Christ.
To get the baptism in the Spirit everyone must seek an encounter with the Baptizer, who began this ministry on the day of Pentecost when He truly came back in the Spirit to baptize His disciples. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever (Heb.13:8).

David Duplessis .......[Mr. Pentecost]


Orm



 2006/10/2 19:00
rookie
Member



Joined: 2003/6/3
Posts: 4821
Savannah TN

 Re:

I have never been around oil lamps before, so I did a little research and found this explanation in expedia...

Quote:
In ancient Greece and Rome, lamps were fueled by olive oil; in ancient India, by ghee; in ancient Persia, by petroleum that was found oozing freely from the ground.



Olive oil lamps continued in wide use in countries around the Mediterranean Sea well into the 19th century, with the lamps being mass produced out of metal (most commonly brass or bronze), but otherwise little changed in design from lamps of some 2,000 years earlier. In 1780 the Argand lamp was invented and quickly replaced the ancient form. It was, in turn, replaced by the kerosene lamp in about 1850. In small towns and rural areas these continued in use well into the 20th century. The light given by an olive oil lamp is significantly brighter than a candle, but significantly less than the Argand lamp or the kerosene or paraffin burning lamp.



So olive oil was used in the time of Jesus's teaching.

To trim a lamp requires that one cut the burnt end off and shape it according to the type of flame one desires. So then tying in this procedure with what Jesus is teaching. The following occured.

First we know the 10 virgins went out with lamps in hand to meet the bridegroom.

Matthew 5:

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

The bridegroom was delayed and the virgins fell asleep.

5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

Then the bridegroom's arrival was announced...

Matt. 25:6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

At this point all the virgins cut the burnt end of the wick off and lit their lamps.

Then the foolish cried...

8 And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

So then all ten lamps were lit and five of the virgins were witnessing the event of their lamps going out.

So then, can one assume that when Jesus began this teaching that the virgins went out with their lamps lit? And that while they slumbered the lamps went out because the level of the oil dropped below the end of the wick?

Or did they leave at day light and expected to be out beyond the fall of darkness?

I believe they all left with oil in their lamps, but the five foolish ones did not prepare for the length of the journey, otherwise the remaining part of the parable does not align with what made the virgins foolish.

Darkness surrounds the light. If one looses the light how will he or she find the door to that was open for a time and now shut.

In Christ
Jeff


_________________
Jeff Marshalek

 2006/10/3 4:13Profile
philologos
Member



Joined: 2003/7/18
Posts: 6566
Reading, UK

 Re:

Everyone may not be familiar with the works of Alfred Edersheim but this quotation comes from his momumental two volumes [url=http://philologos.org/__eb-lat/book507.htm]The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.[/url]

Another archæological inquiry will, perhaps, be more helpful to our understanding of this Parable. The 'lamps' - not 'torches' - which the Ten Virgins carried, were of well-known construction. They bear in Talmudic writings commonly the name Lappid, but the Aramaised from the Greek word in the New Testament also occurs as Lampad and Lampadas.3 The lamp consisted of a round receptacle for pitch or oil for the wick. This was placed in a hollow cup or deep saucer - the Beth Shiqqua4 - which was fastened by a pointed end into a long wooden pole, on which it was borne aloft. According to Jewish authorities,5 it was the custom in the East to carry in a bridal procession about ten such lamps. We have the less reason to doubt that such was also the case in Palestine, since, according to rubric, ten was the number required to be present at any office or ceremony, such as at the benedictions accompanying the marriage-ceremonies. And, in the peculiar circumstances supposed in the Parable, Ten Virgins are represented as going forth to meet the Bridegroom, each bearing her lamp.

The first point which we mark is, that the Ten Virgins brought, presumably to the bridal house, 'their own6 lamps.' Emphasis must be laid on this. Thus much was there of personal preparation on the part of all. But while the five that were wise brought also 'oil in the vessels'7 [presumably the hollow receptacles in which the lamp proper stood], the five foolish Virgins neglected to do so, no doubt expecting that their lamps would be filled out of some common stock in the house. In the text the foolish Virgins are mentioned before the wise,8 because the Parable turns to this. We cannot be at a loss to interpret the meaning of it. The Bridegroom far away is Christ, Who is come for the Marriage-Feast from 'the far country' - the Home above - certainly on that night, but we know not at what hour of it. The ten appointed bridal companions who are to go forth to meet Him are His professed disciples, and they gather in the bridal house in readiness to welcome His arrival. It is night, and a marriage-procession: therefore, they must go forth with their lamps. All of them have brought their own lamps, they all have the Christian, or say, the Church-profession: the lamp, in the hollow cup on the top of the pole. But only the wise Virgins have more than this - the oil in the vessels, without which the lamps cannot give their light. The Christian or Church-profession is but an empty vessel on the top of a pole, without the oil in the vessels. We here remember the words of Christ: 'Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Which is in heaven.'9 The foolishness of the Virgins, which consisted in this that they had omitted to bring their oil, is thus indicated in the text: 'All they which [aitineV]10 were foolish, when they brought their own lamps, brought not with them oil:' they brought their own lamps, but not their own oil. This (as already explained), probably, not from forgetfulness - for they could scarcely have forgotten the need of oil, but from the wilful neglect, in the belief that there would be a common stock in the house, out of which they would be supplied, or that there would be sufficient time for the supply of their need after the announcement that the Bridegroom was coming. They had no conception either of any personal obligation in this matter, nor that the call would come so suddenly, nor yet that there would be so little interval between the arrival of the Bridegroom and 'the closing of the door.' And so they deemed it not necessary to undertake what must have involved both trouble and carefulness, the bringing their own oil in the hollow vessels in which the lamps were fixed.

We have proceeded on the supposition that the oil was not carried in separate vessels, but in those attached to the lamps. It seems scarcely likely that these lamps had been lighted while waiting in the bridal house, where the Virgins assembled, and which, no doubt, was festively illuminated: Many practical objections to this view will readily occur. The foolishness of the five Virgins therefore consisted, not (as is commonly supposed) in their want of perseverance - as if the oil had been consumed before the Bridegroom came, and they had only not provided themselves with a sufficient extra-supply - but in the entire absence of personal preparation,11 having brought no oil of their own in their lamps. This corresponds to their conducts, who, belonging to the Church - having the 'profession' - being bridal companions provided with lamps, ready to go forth, and expecting to share in the wedding feast - neglect the preparation of grace, personal conversation and holiness, trusting that in the hour of need the oil may be supplied out of the common stock. But they know not, or else heed not, that every one must be personally prepared for meeting the Bridegroom, that the call will be sudden, that the stock of oil is not common, and that the time between His arrival and the shutting of the door will be awfully brief.

For - and here begins the second scene in the Parable - the interval between the gathering of the Virgins in readiness to meet Him, and the arrival of the Bridegroom is much longer than had been anticipated. And so it came, that both the wise and the foolish Virgins 'slumbered and slept.' Manifestly, this is but a secondary trait in the Parable, chiefly intended to accentuate the surprise of the sudden announcement of the Bridegroom. The foolish Virgins did not ultimately fail because of their sleep, nor yet were the wise reproved of it. True, it was evidence of their weakness - but then it was night; all the world was asleep; and their own drowsiness might be in proportion to their former excitement. What follows is intended to bring into prominence the startling suddenness of the Bridegroom's Coming. It is midnight - when sleep is deepest - when suddenly 'there was a cry, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh! Come ye out to the meeting of Him. Then all those Virgins awoke, and prepared (trimmed) their lamps.' This, not in the sense of heightening the low flame in their lamps, but in that of hastily drawing up the wick and lighting it, when, as there was no oil in the vessels, the flame, of course, immediately died out. 'Then the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying: Not at all12 - it will never13 suffice for us and you! Go ye rather to the sellers, and buy for your own selves.'

This advice must not be regarded as given in irony. This trait is introduced to point out the proper source of supply - to emphasise that the oil must be their own, and also to prepare for what follows. 'But while they were going to buy, the Bridegroom came; and the ready ones [they that were ready] went in with Him to the Marriage-Feast, and the door was shut,' The sudden cry at midnight: 'The Bridegroom cometh!' had come with startling surprise both to the wise and the foolish Virgins; to the one class it had come only unexpectedly, but to the other also unpreparedly. Their hope of sharing or borrowing the oil of the wise Virgins being disappointed, the foolish were, of course, unable to meet the Bridegroom. And while they hurried to the sellers of oil, those that had been ready not only met; but entered with the Bridegroom into the bridal house, and the door was shut. It is of no importance here, whether or not the foolish Virgins finally succeeded in obtaining oil - although this seems unlikely at that time of night - since it could no longer be of any possible use, as its object was to serve in the festive procession, which was now past. Nevertheless, and when the door was shut, those foolish Virgins came, calling on the Bridegroom to open to them. But they had failed in that which could alone give them a claim to admission. Professing to be bridesmaids, they had not been in the bridal procession, and so, in truth and righteousness, He could only answer from within: 'Verily I say unto you, I know you not.' This, not only in punishment, but in the right order of things.

The personal application of this Parable to the disciples, which the Lord makes, follows almost of necessity. 'Watch therefore, for ye know not the day, nor the hour.'14 Not enough to be in waiting with the Church; His Coming will be far on in the night; it will be sudden; it will be rapid: be prepared therefore, be ever and personally prepared! Christ will come when least expected - at midnight - and when the Church, having become accustomed to His long delay, has gone to sleep. So sudden will be His Coming, that after the cry of announcement there will not be time for anything but to go forth to meet Him; and so rapid will be the end, that, ere the foolish Virgins can return, the door has been for ever closed. To present all this in the most striking manner, the Parable takes the form of a dialogue, first between the foolish and the wise Virgins, in which the latter only state the bare truth when saying, that each has only sufficient oil for what is superfluous. Lastly, we are to learn from the dialogue between the foolish Virgins and the Bridegroom, that it is impossible in the day of Christ's Coming to make up for neglect of previous preparation, and that those who have failed to meet Him, even though the bridal Virgins, shall be finally excluded as being strangers to the Bridegroom.

3. Jer. Yoma 41 a, line 24 from top. 4. Kel. ii. 8. 5. See the Arukh, ad voc
6. The better reading in ver. 1. and again in ver. 7, is not autwn 'their,' but eautwn.

7. The word autwn in ver. 4, 'their vessels,' is probably spurious. In both cases, as so often, the 'improving' copyists have missed the deeper meaning.

8. In ver.2, according to the better reading, the clauses should be inverted, and, as in ver. 3, 'the foolish' first mentioned.

9. St. Matt. v. 16. 10. quæcunque, eæ omnes quæ.
11. So especially Goebel, to whom, in general, we would acknowledge our obligations.
12. Mhpote. See Grimm, ad voc. But it is impossible to give the full force of the word.

13. The better reading is ou mh, which double negation I have rendered, for want of better, by 'never.'

http://philologos.org/__eb-lat/book507.htm
Edersheim indicates that these were a kind of combination of oil lamp and torch. The were affixed to a long pole to be hold aloft and had a built in reservoir to hold the oil. Edersheim says that this attached reservoir is what is being referred to as a 'vessel'. The language would support this. The Greek translated vessel here is capable of a wide range of translations and 'reservoir' would certainly be one of them.

BTW I am not the 'philologos' whose website this comes from. :-)


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Ron Bailey

 2006/10/3 5:40Profile





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