Today I would like to discuss the Parable of the Ten Virgins which is mentioned in Mathew 25 in the Bible.
I have not found many other accurate interpretations of it online, so I would like to dedicate this Blog Post to just what that parable means. This parable is a Very Strong Warning to People that don’t believe in and/or are not currently following God’s Word.
Here is the Parable as it was told by Jesus:
“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. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone 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. And 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. 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.”
Mathew 25: 1-12 (KJV)
What it means:
This Parable is a dire warning to Non-Believers. Below I will dissect this Parable word for word. As always, Because Jesus always crams a lot of meaning into small amounts of words, the best way to interpret this passage’s meaning is sentence by sentence.
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.”
What this passage means is simple. The ten virgins represent all of us as human beings, the lamps represent the works which we have done here on Earth, and the Bridegroom represents God. The easiest way to describe this part of the parable is like this: Imagine at the end of your life you are going forth to meet God and with you, you carry your lamp (all the works you have done throughout your life).
“And five of them were wise, 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.”
Now, Jesus uses 5 (half) and 5 (half) to symbolize the division between people. Even in society today, people are highly divided into different groups. We saw a good illustration of this during the last Presidential Election. Half of America is fed up with the way the other half is acting (or has been portrayed to act by the media). Even if the media has been feeding false information, people are inclined to believe whatever their side is telling them and in turn that makes people more frustrated with the other side. Jesus shows this kind of division in his Parable.
Now Jesus shows in the parable that there is a wise side that takes with them oil to fill their lamps and a foolish side which does not bring oil. So what does the oil represent? The oil represents the Word of God. From the previous verse, we determined that we are the Ten Virgins who at the end of our lives will come to face God’s Judgement. We know that “the lamps we carry with us” symbolize everything we did here on Earth. Now, we know that the “oil” symbolizes God’s Word. Essentially, without God’s Word we cannot keep our “Lamps” lit.
So what is God’s Word? God’s Word is just as it sounds. It is what the Father and Jesus, the Son taught us in the Bible. It is the same message the Apostles spread throughout the World and is the message that every Christian Religion was founded on.
Therefore in “simpleton’s terms”, what Jesus is saying is that if we choose not to live our life according to the word of God (If we choose to follow what the world/society teaches us instead), then we can end up like the Virgins who are carrying their lamps without oil.
“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.”
To me, this is one of the most interesting verses in the Parable. In this verse God just says it like it is. God is giving us a chance at life. He is giving us plenty of time to follow his Word. He wants us to be in Paradise with him after we pass from this World. However, the sad truth is that just as Jesus says in the verse, we are all "sleeping". So what does he mean by "sleeping"?
God gave us all free will. God does not interfere with our Lives. If you want to go steal from a grocery store, rob a bank, beat up a homeless man, etc, that is your right. If you want to lie, have premarital sex, do drugs (or drink), worry only about your personal wealth, etc, that is also your right. That is what free will is all about. When we live in a world in which God gives us that choice, essentially we are all living in ignorance. When you were a toddler maybe you saw a shiny knife and wanted to play with it. When your Parents took that knife away from you and scolded you, maybe you cried and hated them for it. As a toddler all we can think about is how appealing that knife looked. We didn't understand why our mean mother or father took that knife away from us. It wasn't until we grew up that we realized that they actually did us a favor. We could have drastically hurt ourselves. Our Relationship with God is the same way. We are all like children and he is our Parent. Sin looks attractive but it always leads to someone getting hurt whether that someone is yourself or someone else. God tells us not to sin and many people despise him for it. In reality, he is trying to save us from hurting ourselves. So the words "slumbered and slept" in this...Continued on http://brandonjchai.com/index/ten-virgins-parable/
I have not found many other accurate interpretations of it online, so I would like to dedicate this Blog Post to just what that parable means. This parable is a Very Strong Warning to People that don’t believe in and/or are not currently following God’s Word.
Here is the Parable as it was told by Jesus:
“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. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone 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. And 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. 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.”
Mathew 25: 1-12 (KJV)
What it means:
This Parable is a dire warning to Non-Believers. Below I will dissect this Parable word for word. As always, Because Jesus always crams a lot of meaning into small amounts of words, the best way to interpret this passage’s meaning is sentence by sentence.
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.”
What this passage means is simple. The ten virgins represent all of us as human beings, the lamps represent the works which we have done here on Earth, and the Bridegroom represents God. The easiest way to describe this part of the parable is like this: Imagine at the end of your life you are going forth to meet God and with you, you carry your lamp (all the works you have done throughout your life).
“And five of them were wise, 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.”
Now, Jesus uses 5 (half) and 5 (half) to symbolize the division between people. Even in society today, people are highly divided into different groups. We saw a good illustration of this during the last Presidential Election. Half of America is fed up with the way the other half is acting (or has been portrayed to act by the media). Even if the media has been feeding false information, people are inclined to believe whatever their side is telling them and in turn that makes people more frustrated with the other side. Jesus shows this kind of division in his Parable.
Now Jesus shows in the parable that there is a wise side that takes with them oil to fill their lamps and a foolish side which does not bring oil. So what does the oil represent? The oil represents the Word of God. From the previous verse, we determined that we are the Ten Virgins who at the end of our lives will come to face God’s Judgement. We know that “the lamps we carry with us” symbolize everything we did here on Earth. Now, we know that the “oil” symbolizes God’s Word. Essentially, without God’s Word we cannot keep our “Lamps” lit.
So what is God’s Word? God’s Word is just as it sounds. It is what the Father and Jesus, the Son taught us in the Bible. It is the same message the Apostles spread throughout the World and is the message that every Christian Religion was founded on.
Therefore in “simpleton’s terms”, what Jesus is saying is that if we choose not to live our life according to the word of God (If we choose to follow what the world/society teaches us instead), then we can end up like the Virgins who are carrying their lamps without oil.
“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.”
To me, this is one of the most interesting verses in the Parable. In this verse God just says it like it is. God is giving us a chance at life. He is giving us plenty of time to follow his Word. He wants us to be in Paradise with him after we pass from this World. However, the sad truth is that just as Jesus says in the verse, we are all "sleeping". So what does he mean by "sleeping"?
God gave us all free will. God does not interfere with our Lives. If you want to go steal from a grocery store, rob a bank, beat up a homeless man, etc, that is your right. If you want to lie, have premarital sex, do drugs (or drink), worry only about your personal wealth, etc, that is also your right. That is what free will is all about. When we live in a world in which God gives us that choice, essentially we are all living in ignorance. When you were a toddler maybe you saw a shiny knife and wanted to play with it. When your Parents took that knife away from you and scolded you, maybe you cried and hated them for it. As a toddler all we can think about is how appealing that knife looked. We didn't understand why our mean mother or father took that knife away from us. It wasn't until we grew up that we realized that they actually did us a favor. We could have drastically hurt ourselves. Our Relationship with God is the same way. We are all like children and he is our Parent. Sin looks attractive but it always leads to someone getting hurt whether that someone is yourself or someone else. God tells us not to sin and many people despise him for it. In reality, he is trying to save us from hurting ourselves. So the words "slumbered and slept" in this...Continued on http://brandonjchai.com/index/ten-virgins-parable/
