The story of the ten virgins in the Bible is very compelling when you really study it, and has a vital message for us during the time we live in. I pray that you will be challenged by this Bible study and that you would pray for God's guidance before you delve into it.
Matthew 25:1-6 ...'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.'
First off, who do these virgins represent? I believe that the Bible clearly teaches us that a woman represents a church, or any people who profess to be a Christian. In Revelation 12 we have the pure woman who represents God's church and in Revelation 17 we have the harlot, Babylon the great, who is an apostate church. The very fact that Christ is the Bridegroom in this story of the ten virgins, makes the bride, the ten virgins THE CHURCH.
Who makes the call "behold the Bridegroom cometh"?
Now something that really stands out in the above Bible verses is that ALL of the virgins slumbered and slept. Which means ALL of God's church is sleeping when the loud cry comes. The interesting thing is, WHO MAKES THE CALL? If all of the church is asleep, represented by all ten virgins sleeping, then who makes the call to say that Christ is coming? I believe this could be the role of God's special chosen end time saints, the 144,000 as described in Revelation 14. These are the ones who truly follow Christ and give their all for Him, and they have not defiled themselves with women, ie, they have not been deceived and got into bed with the fallen churches of the world. God has chosen them out of His church to give a special message during the end time.
There is a popular belief that the 144,000 are literal Jews. This is not true. Please see Israel in the end times and the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel study pages for the truth about Israel.
What is the cry that the 144,000 make to the ten virgins? "Behold the Bridegroom cometh". We know that this is pointing to Christ Jesus, as He is the Bridegroom who will come for His bride, the true, pure church. Now in Matthew 24:36 it says that no one knows the day or the hour of Christ's return, but in verse 33 it confirms that we CAN know when His return is NEAR. So this loud cry from the saints comes in the "season" of Christ's return, when it is near. And this group of chosen saints know that it is near, or as it says in Matthew 24:33, "at the door", because they have devoted their lives to Jesus each and every day. They study His Word each day to find the truth. They have been filled with the Holy Spirit, and they have been watching the unfolding events around the world and have recognized the signs of the times. They also have the truth about the mark of the beast.
The ten virgins all have lamps, which symbolizes the Word of God ... Psalm 119:105 ...'Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.' ... So the Word of God in the Bible is a light that shines for us to guide us in the way we walk. Now those who HEED the Word of God will walk according to that Word, just as Christ says to each of the seven churches in Revelation 2:7 ...'He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.' ... If you are willing to hear what Jesus has to say to you through His Word in the Bible, then He will give you the Holy Spirit, which is symbolized by the oil for the lamp and the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to the truth.
Luke 21:34 ...'And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.'
Those who truly belong to Christ and follow Him and His Word, will heed what His Word says in the Bible. The Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to them, and they will separate themselves from the things of this world, from the false churches and "religions" of this world, and they will develop the character of Christ in their lives. Our walk with Christ is a continual walk, and we will continue to develop His character in our daily lives. Unfortunately from this parable of the ten virgins, Jesus tells us that there will be those who profess to know Him. They have His word, represented by the lamp, but they have no oil in their lamps. The problem is, they have not heeded God's Word in the Bible and instead of separating themselves from the world, and growing in Christ each day, they have maybe thought that all they needed to do was to "believe". Well, the demons "believe", but they are not saved!
It's interesting that the loud cry goes out to the world at "midnight". This represents the world being in spiritual darkness. Sin abounds everywhere, and the fallen church "Babylon" (Roman Catholic Church) and her many daughters (Protestant churches) have deceived the world and made the world drunk with her false doctrines. And the five foolish virgins are all those people who have been deceived by Babylon. They have not truly studied the Word of God for themselves and received the Spirit of truth, and have been caught by the "strong delusion" (2 Thess. 2:11) and they believed the lie that Babylon gave them.
Remember, the ten virgins do NOT include the Gentile world. They are NOT people outside the faith, but are people INSIDE the faith, those who believe in Christ Jesus.
Matthew 25:6-9 ...'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.'
So the cry goes out to the world from the end time group of saints chosen by God, and that cry is during great spiritual darkness. And what do the ten virgins do? They "trim their lamps". What is the purpose of trimming a lamp, or candle? To make is shine more brightly. Now if the lamp represents the Word of God, then these virgins, after receiving the call, go back to the Word of God to check the call against God's Word, so as to make it SHINE MORE BRIGHTLY. But only five of these ten virgins have lived their lives in accordance with God's Word, and they have enough Holy Spirit to carry them forward in the "DARKNESS" to meet Jesus. The other five virgins realize they do not have the Holy Spirit, and don't fully understand the call, which causes them to go and "buy" the Spirit from their own pastors and teachers. But as we know, we cannot "buy" the Holy Spirit, as Simon the sorcerer found out in Acts 8. And what happens while the five foolish virgins go off the buy some oil?
Matthew 25:10-12 ...'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.'
The five foolish virgins were not ready when the last cry went out. They have been taken by surprise and have not prepared themselves, and have not received the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The sad thing is, they call Jesus "Lord". They believe in Him and think that they are saved, because they come back after they have gone to "buy" of the Spirit from their pastors and ask Jesus to open the door for them. But Jesus says ..... "I KNOW YOU NOT"
When the final cry goes out to the world saying we are in the "season" of Christ's return and His second coming is imminent, we need to BE READY. It's no good starting to GET ready then, no, we need to BE READY. So what can we learn from this parable of the ten virgins? Well, we need to get on our knees and ask Christ into our hearts again. We need to study His Word in the Bible each day to find out the truth for ourselves and ask God to fill us with His Spirit and show us the truth, rather than relying on the pastor at church for the truth. We need to be actively separating ourselves from this world. We are IN the world, but we must not be OF the world. We need to put off sin from our lives and let Christ cleanse us. This world is already in darkness, but there is a greater darkness to come, like the beast mark, and we need to be prepared for it, and have the oil of the Holy Spirit in our vessels to be able to get through the darkness that is to come. It's time to learn to be a no compromise Christian. TODAY is the day to get ready, for when that last call goes out, if you are not ready like the five foolish virgins, then it will be too late.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 ...But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.'
Please give your all to Christ Jesus today. Don't wait another day, as none of us know when our last day will be. Hand everything in your life over to your Saviour and let Him take control of your life. Learn the lesson of the ten virgins, walk in the light and BE READY!