Nothing Like Being Prepared
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.” Matthew 25:1-2
I remember back in elementary and high school, there was always this one kid, usually a boy, but not always, who was never prepared in school. He was always asking to borrow a pencil or a piece of paper when the teacher called for a “pop test”. I wasn’t the smartest kid in the class, but my parents always made sure that I had the materials necessary to do my schoolwork. I still have the plastic pencil box that my mother, and that’s my mother, not my “birthing person”, bought me for 25 cents at a local five and dime store. The top was a ruler which slid to open the pencil box and had a pencil sharpener on the end of the ruler. I have not always been prepared for all situations either, but I have tried to be an organized and efficient student, worker, wife, and mother. That’s just common sense. However, not everyone has a good dose of common sense. Just look at some of our politicians!
Being prepared for a school test, a job interview, the family meal, to teach a Sunday School lesson, or a multitude of things that require diligent preparation is important. However, there is one thing that is more important than any of those things, and that is being prepared for eternity because eternity will come upon each one of us sooner or later. There is no escaping one’s final destination. One might get through school on borrowed pencils and paper, but he or she usually is not the one who is selected as the valedictorian. He or she can change and become a superstar in school, but not without some hard work. It is different with eternity. No work is required on the part of the man or woman, but it does require some spiritual preparation.
Jesus illustrated the need for preparation in His parable of the ten virgins wherein a marriage feast was about to be held. Five of the virgins brought extra oil for their lamps, but the other five only had what was in their lamps. Because the bridegroom delayed his arrival, all ten fell asleep, but upon awakening when they heard that he was on his way, the lamps of the five who had no extra oil had gone out, and they demanded that the five wise virgins share their oil. “No, we might not have enough if we give some to you. Go and buy some for yourselves”. The five who were unprepared had no option but to leave to find more oil. You see, the light was how they would find their way into the wedding feast. We might could say it was like a ticket to a ballgame–no ticket, no entrance. While the five were gone, the bridegroom arrived, the five wise virgins went in with him to the marriage feast, and he shut the door. When the other five returned, they demanded that he open the door, but he told them they were not on the guest list. They were strangers to him. Jesus ended His parable saying, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 25:13).
There is a lot in this parable that time doesn’t permit here, but this illustration primarily points to those who will be separated, the saved from the unsaved, the sheep from the goats, when Jesus returns. Scholars have interpreted this passage several different ways, but it is always best to let the Bible interpret itself. If we go back to the disciples’ original question concerning the signs of Jesus’ coming and the end of the world (Matthew 24:3), Jesus’ parable seems to reflect events after the rapture of the church and the 1,000-year reign. The ten virgins represent people who will be alive on the earth at that time. When Jesus returns, He will bring all those who were saved prior to the rapture, during the “church age” or “the dispensation of grace”, and then He will gather the church on earth who will come forth to meet Him, the result of gospel preaching during the 1,000-year reign. Many will claim to receive Christ, but only a portion of them will be prepared to enter the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).
Those who will come forth to meet Him either will truly know Him or profess to know Him but are not truly saved. The oil in the lamps represents the Holy Spirit which is the key to the difference between the five wise and the five foolish virgins. The foolish thought that their oil (works) was sufficient. All ten had sufficient light to light their way through life. Even sinners, while they walk on earth, are under the care and protection of the Lord whether they realize it or not, but they do not have the Holy Spirit. The five foolish assumed that the Bridegroom would accept them on their own merit. They didn’t bring any extra oil because they didn’t have any. They had made a profession so that they could join the procession but were left out because they never had Christ in possession. They knew what was required to meet the Bridegroom, but they chose to ignore the truth and depend on their own efforts. Where could they buy oil at midnight when all the shops were closed? They had plenty of time beforehand, but they saw no need to come prepared. Is this not where vast multitudes of folks are today?
There will not be any “wedding crashers” at the marriage supper of the Lamb. There will only be those whose names are recorded in the guestbook, the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27).