Matthew 25: 1 – 13: 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. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
The parable of the ten virgins is a beautiful illustration as to the state of readiness a believer ought to be in at Jesus’ second coming. Christ is coming for a Bride who has both the lamp and the oil. The lamp represents the Word according to Psalm 119: 105 (Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.), and the oil represents the Spirit of the Word, so Christ is marrying a woman who has become the Word made flesh by the Spirit of God quickening the Word inside of Her. The importance of having the Word and the Spirit of the Word is explained in 2 Corinthians 3: 6: Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. Virginity speaks of the moral or spiritual condition of a person, so the ten virgins are a sanctified people, but one group was ordained to receive the infilling of the Spirit (Acts 13: 48) whilst the other group was not.
The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 follows the end time signs described by Jesus in Matthew 24. The disciples had come to Jesus and asked Him three questions: (1) “When shall these things be?” (the destruction of the temple); (2) “What shall be the sign of Thy coming?”; (3) “What shall be the sign of the end of the world?” Jesus answered the questions and then began to speak in parables throughout Matthew 25 concerning the time of His coming and the state of readiness that a believer ought to be in. We learn from this that there are signs connected with the coming of the Lord and that there is a state of readiness the believer must be in at the time of Christ’s coming.
It was the state of readiness or lack of it that determined who was wise and who was foolish. Jesus was showing us the importance of being ready for the Bridegroom’s coming so as not to be caught in an unprepared state. Revelation 18: 4 is the Voice from Heaven calling a people out of the harlot church systems whilst Revelation 19: 7 is the Marriage of the Lamb for those who have made themselves ready. The foolish virgins have come out of the world and out of church systems, but they have not gone into the Holy Ghost for the Word to be quickened inside of them. They have experienced the first part of redemption (the coming out of… “Go ye OUT to meet Him” [Matthew 25: 6]), but they have not experienced the second part of redemption (the going into).
Jesus does not bring the whore and the harlots of Revelation 17 into the picture of this parable, but is speaking about a people who have been called out by the prophet’s message, a people who have been separated from the church systems. Catholicism is the great whore whilst the denominational world are the harlots who claim Christ as their Headship, but they are impure having received the seed (teaching) of other men, and the children they are producing do not display the characteristics of Christ. The prophet indicted the harlot church and called a people out from those systems, so the parable of the ten virgins does not pertain to people who refuse to come out of an unclean system.
The parable of the ten virgins has its complete fulfilment in this final age, because this is the time when the darkness of the night of seven church ages is dispelled by the rising of the S-O-N, the return of the Bridegroom after His ascension to Heaven in Acts 1. In every age there was a group of people waiting for the Bridegroom to return, but because He tarried, the wise and foolish of each age slept in the grave, but in His return at the end time, it would bring an awakening of the wise from every age (at the first resurrection) for the great translation of seven ages of saints.
Because the virgins fell asleep, they could not know when the midnight hour was, but when they heard the midnight cry, then they awoke to the realization of the time. It was the shout that made known the time, but the identity of the one making the announcement is kept a secret. The one who made the midnight cry is announcing the arrival of the Bridegroom because it has already been revealed to him. This special one making the announcement is the prophet for the age, and his message is the Shout of 1 Thessalonians 4: 16. The prophet is waking the people up from an unconscious state of mind and is calling them out of the world and church systems to receive Christ the Word and His Spirit (Revelation 18: 4: And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.).
When the Shout went forth, the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, but some realized that they had run out of oil. So the message of the hour awakens both wise and foolish. The wise receive a filling of the Holy Ghost, but the foolish only had a temporary anointing of the Spirit upon them, not an infilling of the Holy Ghost by the new birth.
The Bridegroom is Christ who has come in Word form (as King Theophany Jesus), unseen to the natural eye, but seen by faith. Christ has come to unite with His Bride in marriage and consummate the marriage by placing His seed inside of Her. The foolish are not of the Bride group, so they cannot receive the seed of life (which is the Spirit of the Word) in the womb of the soul by the new birth. It is not that the foolish are of a lesser quality than the wise as to why they have not the Spirit, but rather, it is because they were not of God’s sovereign choosing as to who His Bride would be. Like any man looking for a wife, although many girls would make a wonderful potential helpmate, yet the man selects one of His own choosing to be at His side.
When the Bridegroom came, they that were ready united with Him in an invisible union whereby He revealed (unveiled and exposed) Himself to His Bride by tearing off the seven seals that covered Him, and then poured Himself into the woman He is having a relationship with. This He will not do for any woman that is not His Bride. This invisible union between Bride and Bridegroom by an exchange of seed is what produces the life of Christ inside the believer, bringing them into the image of the Word and sealing them into Christ (Ephesians 4: 30). When the door is shut at the end of the Gentile Dispensation of Grace, those who are sealed by the Spirit of the Word will be translated into Glory for the Marriage Supper, but the foolish who were not ready and sealed will be cast into the Tribulation to seal their testimony with their blood in martyrdom.