An interesting parable is found in Matthew.
Matthew 25:1 Then the kingdom of Heaven shall be compared to ten virgins who taking their lamps, went out to a meeting of the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five foolish.
3 Those being foolish, taking their lamps, did not take oil with them.
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 But the bridegroom delaying, all nodded and slept.
6 And at midnight, a cry occurred: Behold, the bridegroom comes! Go out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins were aroused and prepared their lamps.
8 And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, No, lest there not be enough for us and you. But rather, go to those who sell and buy for yourselves.
10 But they going away to buy, the bridegroom came. And those ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.
11 And afterwards, the rest of the virgins also came, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But answering, he said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you.
13 Therefore, watch, for you do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man comes.
Jesus is describing what it will be like when He suddenly comes to take His bride! He says, watch and be ready!
In Jewish weddings of that day, it was customary for the wedding party to be made up of girls to make the Bride more comfortable. These girls were waiting for the Groom to bring His Bride to his home. It was also necessary for the Groom to provide these "ladies in waiting" for the Bride if she had no friends to go with her or if she lived too far away. These girls were specifically there to light the way for the Groom and His Bride...therefore the lamps.
Lamps provide light for the feet and light the path--the Way to go. Jesus' emphasis was not on who these girls were. It was on the 5 girls that were ready to light the way. The lamps that were used for this purpose could only hold enough oil for about 15 minutes. Since the girls had no idea when the Bridegroom would arrive, the whole point here was on being ready with the light which meant extra oil would be needed if the groom didn't come within 15 minutes.
The oil could be the Holy Spirit; I have heard it preached that being ready with the oil meant those girls had the Holy Spirit and only those in possession of the Holy Spirit can go into the wedding feast. I'm not sure about that interpretation frankly. I need to pray about it some more. The parable is not about who the 10 girls are, but that the 5 who were ready and the other 5 were not ready, therefore since they were not ready the groom said "I do not know you!"
The unpardonable sin is not accepting Jesus as Savior. It is the only unforgivable sin. The 5 that were not prepared did not have Jesus as their Savior...they did not have the Oil and they did not have the Light.
4 comments:
You mentioned that the oil could possibly represent the Holy Spirit.
Did you maybe consider that the oil represents the sufferings and trials we encounter as we die to flesh daily.
Oil is a precious commodity--and yet the only way to obtain oil from the olive tree is to first pick the olives and then to press or crush them.
just a thought... :)
i enjoy reading your blog.
This is a good one Gina, really gives a person something to think about.
But I think it may have more then one interpretation. I think the focus has to be on do you believe in God.
Even though I believe in Jesus as my Savior, What about all of the other religions, milllions of people around the world that also believe and worship in God, but have a diferent savior or prophet as the call them? Interesting theory, but it's hard for me to believe that all thoughs millions of people who worship so lovingly and faithfully would be doomed.
Perhaps the answer would be that since there are so many different religions and so many interpretations or veriations in them that God in his infinite wisdom makes allowances and takes that all into account and keeps the focus on do we believe in him and how have we lived our lives.
I think the point that God makes through His Son is when Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
I do not know how it is possible for some people to believe in God and believe there is a God, but who reject Jesus. It happens, but if they really believe what God says, then how can they reject Jesus the Son? It boggles my mind.
When someone attacks or rejects either of my daughters or my Mom, I come unglued. It makes me angry when someone treats them that way. I think that is very similar to how God feels about His Son. When a person rejects Jesus, that person is actually rejecting God, too. But, since God is God, He forgives us the fact that Jesus had to die, but I think He does not forgive those who reject the gift of salvation.
Just a thought...
Exo 25:6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
Oil for the lamp is usually noted to be olive oil...olive oil at it's best is the Extra Virgin Oil that comes from the first pressing, for olive oil was extracting by beating the tree with sticks to cause the olives to fall and pressing with beam presses...The Garden of Gethsemane means the "oil press or oil vat".
Olive oil is used as food, medicine, and fuel for lamps,cosmetics,soap, and lubricants...wow give me oil for my lamp....Jesus provides all of these..He is food for the hungry, He is the Healer, He adorns me as a Bride, He annoints me with His annointing...I could go on and on...thanks for the inspiration.. Oil....The Holy Spirit has been symbolized in scripture by water, wine, and a dove....Oil...I believe to be everything that Jesus possessed within himself, he allowed himself to be pressed out in that Garden that night....Prayer is what Jesus was doing that night...prayer like an incense a perfume...he prayed until he could say Not my will but thine be done....if the Word is a lamp...then what ignites...Jesus was seen by John in Rev. in his glorified stated to have eyes like flames of fire..prayer could that be our oil...pray without ceasing...stay awake..be ready..with effective fervent prayers...James 5:14 comes to mind here...I don't pretend to know anything but this is what your post did it made me think....and pray....
Post a Comment