learning DAILY



Matthew 25:1-2, "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who 
                            took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.  Now five of
                           them were wise and five were foolish."

Be sure to read the entire parable, Matthew 25:1-13 to gain the full insight to what Jesus was teaching His disciples.  The tradition of ancient Jewish weddings was quite different from what we think weddings to be today.  When the marriage was to be completed the bridegroom would go to the home of the bride to bring her to his home.   The bride would not know exactly when the bridegroom would arrive at her house; the expectation was for the bride to be ready to leave at any moment.  It was not unusual for the bridegroom to arrive in the middle of the night.  In the parable, the bridegroom was delayed and the ten virgins fell asleep.  When the shout came that the bridegroom was coming and they were to go out to meet him, only five could do so because they had oil in their lamps.  The other five had no oil and were forced to go find oil for their lamps.  That’s the background to the parable.  What does it mean for us today?

Nothing surprises the Lord; He was prophesying that the Church would be asleep when He comes for His bride.  All believers are responsible for being spiritually ready, to persevere in faith so when the day and hour of His coming occurs they will not be excluded from His presence and kingdom.  It is interesting that all the virgins (both faithful and unfaithful) were taken by surprise at the bridegroom’s coming.  It was an unexpected time – there were no unmistakable or specific signs that could be observed.  The Lord is indicating that a large part of the Church will not be ready.  In the Church today there is strong and weak, spiritual and carnal (see 1 Corinthians 3), and mature and immature.  Here, Jesus calls them “wise” and “unwise”.

The parable of the ten virgins stresses the importance of being ready, of perseverance in faith.  The “wise virgins” took extra oil in jars for their lamp.  The “unwise virgins” did not.  The oil represents true faith, righteousness, and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  The emphasis is on watching and being ready, both accomplished by faith in Jesus Christ the Messiah.  Only “wise ones” enter the marriage feast.

Tomorrow we will begin a new direction with Learning Daily.



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