What is the meaning of the Parable of the Ten Virgins?

In the interpretation of a parable, the first thing to be ascertained is its main object. In that before us, it is evident from verse 13 that it is to impress upon us the need of being constantly ready, ever on the watch, for the Lord's return, because, as the day and the hour are unknown, it may occur at any moment. To turn aside from this, and to discuss the meaning of the number ten (albeit there may be significance in it according to its general usage), and to enquire whether, because half this number were wise, and the other half foolish, we are to conclude that half of all professing Christians are unreal, is altogether to miss the Lord's mind, and consequently to lose the solemn instruction conveyed. The characteristic of all the virgins is, that they go forth to meet the Bridegroom. All Christians therefore, all professing Christians even, are on one common ground, whether consciously or unconsciously, of waiting for Christ. But, owing to the Bridegroom's delay, all the virgins "slumbered and slept;" the whole church fell under the soporific influences of the world, and lost the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord. In mercy the Holy Spirit wrought and caused the cry to be rung out in the stillness of the night, "Behold the Bridegroom." The effect was to arouse all the virgins; and then those that were foolish made the fatal discovery that they were lacking in oil, the one essential element of readiness for "going out" to meet the Bridegroom. And, alas! they found still further, that it was now too late to repair the consequences of their neglect, for "while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came;" and, as the issue shows, they were, spite of their pleading entreaties, finally and for ever excluded. Only those "that were ready" went in with the Bridegroom to the marriage. The question then is one of practical readiness to meet Christ at His coming. There are four features of this indicated; first, there is the fundamentally essential one of having oil in our vessels, oil being, as ever, a type of the Holy Ghost. Unless, therefore, we are born again, and have the indwelling Spirit, we could not be ready to meet Christ. There must be, in addition, separation ("go ye out to meet Him"), lamps trimmed, that nothing might obscure the bright shining of the light (Christ displayed in the life); and, finally, as already noticed, there must be watching. The Lord give us grace to lay to heart the teaching of this parable.

In the interpretation of a parable, the first thing to be ascertained is its main object. In that before us, it is evident from verse 13 that it is to impress upon us the need of being constantly ready, ever on the watch, for the Lord's return, because, as the day and the hour are unknown, it may occur at any moment. To turn aside from this, and to discuss the meaning of the number ten (albeit there may be significance in it according to its general usage), and to enquire whether, because half this number were wise, and the other half foolish, we are to conclude that half of all professing Christians are unreal, is altogether to miss the Lord's mind, and consequently to lose the solemn instruction conveyed. The characteristic of all the virgins is, that they go forth to meet the Bridegroom. All Christians therefore, all professing Christians even, are on one common ground, whether consciously or unconsciously, of waiting for Christ. But, owing to the Bridegroom's delay, all the virgins "slumbered and slept;" the whole church fell under the soporific influences of the world, and lost the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord. In mercy the Holy Spirit wrought and caused the cry to be rung out in the stillness of the night, "Behold the Bridegroom." The effect was to arouse all the virgins; and then those that were foolish made the fatal discovery that they were lacking in oil, the one essential element of readiness for "going out" to meet the Bridegroom. And, alas! they found still further, that it was now too late to repair the consequences of their neglect, for "while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came;" and, as the issue shows, they were, spite of their pleading entreaties, finally and for ever excluded. Only those "that were ready" went in with the Bridegroom to the marriage. The question then is one of practical readiness to meet Christ at His coming. There are four features of this indicated; first, there is the fundamentally essential one of having oil in our vessels, oil being, as ever, a type of the Holy Ghost. Unless, therefore, we are born again, and have the indwelling Spirit, we could not be ready to meet Christ. There must be, in addition, separation ("go ye out to meet Him"), lamps trimmed, that nothing might obscure the bright shining of the light (Christ displayed in the life); and, finally, as already noticed, there must be watching. The Lord give us grace to lay to heart the teaching of this parable.

This then is what the kingdom of heaven (ver. 1) can be likened unto. "Then (at that time) shall the kingdom of the heavens be likened unto ten virgins," etc. That this is the correct interpretation is confirmed by the fact that though in ver. 13 the words "wherein the Son of man cometh" are found in our A.V. they have really no right there, and in this omission all Editors agree, including our Revised Version. "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour." One can readily see the temptation for a copyist to insert what he imagined was required to complete the sentence, as in verse 44 of the preceding section.

In these verses (1-13), we have true and false profession — virgins who went in to the marriage, and virgins shut out from it. This could not be said of the bride. For all who form the bride will enter within with the Bridegroom. The five wise, or prudent, virgins here represent those who elsewhere do form the bride. The lamp is profession. If a man professes to be a Christian he is supposed to have light. In Phil. 2:15 it is not lamps, but heavenly luminaries. In Luke 12:35 we get the girdle and the lamp. The oil is the Holy Spirit. It is quite a different thought in Luke to what it is here. You cannot associate a wedding feast with a court of judgment. The thought of a judge is one of terror, and trembling would be connected with it; a wedding is a joyous season. In the "virgins" you get the thought of purity, "I have espoused you … to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ," said the apostle and in Rev. 14 those are called "virgins" who are not defiled with the corrupt systems of the world. So these are professed Christians who go forth to meet the coming Bridegroom. He has been the coming Bridegroom from the very first. "If I go away, I will come again, and receive you unto myself." So it has always been presented as a present, and not a deferred hope. A deferred hope in the heart has a disastrous effect on the soul. Even if aged we ought to remember that the Lord is near, and may be here before we have finished our journey. This could not be "the remnant" going, or coming, forth to meet the Bridegroom, for they have to stay in the land till He comes; but the Christian, has to go forth. So they go forth to meet the Bridegroom, the Coming One. He was the coming One in the O.T. You get both comings in the O.T., His coming to suffer, and His coming to reign, but you could not there get His coming as the Bridegroom. That was a mystery not revealed till Ephesians. We get foreshadowings in the O.T., even of God's present ways with His own. For instance, Enoch taken away without dying before the judgment which fell in Noah's days, when a remnant is carried through the judgment for the peopling of a renovated earth. Then again, what more striking than Rebekah conducted through the desert to the land of Canaan by Eliezer the trusted servant of his master Abraham, to be united to Isaac raised (in figure) from the dead. Is not this the Holy Ghost's leading of a people now, through the wilderness for Christ the heavenly Bridegroom?

In the consideration of this scripture, it is above all necessary to point out the place it occupies. The whole passage from Matthew 24:31 to 25:30 is parenthetical, and gives the state of things that will spring up during the Lord's absence, and how He will deal with it on His return. We have thus, first, the servants who are entrusted with the care of the household, and with whom He will deal, "when He cometh," according to their conduct. Next, we find the ten virgins, introduced as a similitude of the kingdom of heaven, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom; and lastly, we have the comparison of "a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods," to use for their Master until He should come back, and take account of their stewardship. It is not the church, as will be noted, in any one of the three cases. The first gives rather the servant in the special aspect - answering to pastors and teachers; the second will include all profession, for it is "the kingdom of heaven"; and the third will likewise indicate all who profess to own Christ as Lord, but in the aspect of stewards. The goal to which the first and third classes look, placed as they are under responsibility to their absent Lord, is His appearing. In the second - the virgins - it is otherwise; the words at the end of v. 13, "wherein the Son of man cometh," should, according to the best authorities, be omitted. To those who know the true hope of the church, this will occasion no surprise, for, as they have learnt from other scriptures, the coming of Christ as Bridegroom is when He returns for His people, and hence before He comes with them. Entering into the significance of these statements, the parable of the virgins is not difficult to interpret. The character in which Christ is represented as returning is, then, the first thing to observe. In the next place it should be remarked that the ten virgins "went forth" to meet the Bridegroom. This the Jewish remnant who will be found on earth after the church is gone will never do. They will never be exhorted indeed to go forth without the camp unto Christ, bearing His reproach. Note also, that all ten virgins are alike in respect of having taken their lamps, and this fact justifies the observation already made, that under these ten virgins all professors are embraced; and it is clearly taught in the epistles that professors, equally with true Christians, are on the ground of waiting for Christ. This position is bound up with the confession of the name of Christ as Lord. The figure of virgins sets forth the moral character suited to those who profess to have gone forth to meet the Bridegroom: it speaks of purity, freedom from defilement or contamination from things around. On the Bridegroom's side, it is affection; on the virgins, the suited character for the One who has made them the object of His heart. The difference between the wise and foolish virgins is absolute, as shown by the fact that the latter "took no oil with them," and could not obtain any before the Bridegroom came. The wise, as well as the foolish, had "slumbered and slept," while the Bridegroom tarried; only when the cry was raised, "Behold the Bridegroom … go ye out to meet Him," they possessed the oil wherewith to trim their lamps; and thus being ready, through grace, they "went in with Him to the marriage." The foolish, on the other hand, lacking the essential qualification, the oil, never having been born of God, and never having received the Holy Ghost, could not prepare themselves, and were consequently, notwithstanding their entreaties, for ever excluded from the Bridegroom's presence and feast. That the parable is so constructed as to have a wider bearing than on the present period of grace is quite possible, but that its true significance for Christendom is, that those who have not obtained the "oil" before the return of our blessed Lord will for ever be shut out from His blessed presence, we cannot for one moment doubt. For all who are in this solemn position, professing the name of Christ, and yet unregenerate, the day of grace will be for ever closed when the Bridegroom cometh. Hence the importance of the concluding lesson, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour."

This parable speaks of the Christian profession during the time of Christ's absence. All the virgins had the lamps of testimony to indicate that they had light from God, but there were those who were mere professors, not having the oil that sustained the light. Without the possession of the Holy Spirit, testimony for God cannot be sustained. What appeared to be a real light is proved to be without divine life or power, for the lamp of profession not only deceives those around, but proves to be worthless to the one who carries it.

You will remember there were ten virgins, who went forth to meet the bridegroom. Five were wise, having oil in their vessels with their lamps. Five were foolish for they had no oil in their vessels wherewith to feed the flame. The lamps signify profession. All are professors. Happy is it when profession is real, typified by the oil in the vessels. Oil in Scripture is typical of the Holy Spirit, given to all believers, sealing the reality of their profession, and enabling their testimony to continue. The foolish virgins had the lamps of profession, but no oil of reality. When of all times they desired their lamps to burn, viz., when the cry went forth that the bridegroom was arriving, and they were bidden to meet him, their lamps were going out. While they went to buy oil, the bridegroom arrived, and those that were ready went in to the marriage, and the door was shut. The foolish virgins knocking at the closed door, beseeching for admission, heard the reply of the bridegroom,

"Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins." We have here the general aspect of those who bear the name of Christ. The kingdom of heaven here implies a certain economy at a given point of time. "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom" (ver. 1). "Their lamps" set forth the light of profession. They were witnesses for the Lord, and their calling was to meet the Saviour. That was to be the attitude of the Christian from the first, going forth to meet the Bridegroom. Christianity does not mean that its professors remain where they are, and so look for Christ, but that they leave everything in order to go out and meet the Bridegroom. Some of the early believers were Jews, and some were Gentiles; but they abandoned for Christ their previous connections, their position in the world, and all that they hitherto valued. They had a new object; they knew that the only blessed one in the sight of God was the Saviour; they were waiting for Him, who is in heaven, and they go out to meet Him who has promised to come again. This is the true expectation of the Christian. There ought to be no fixing of dates, but the certain hope that the Lord is coming — we know not when. The stronger such a hope is in our hearts, the more completely separated shall we be from the plans and projects of this world.

"And five of them were wise, and five were foolish." The kingdom of heaven becomes a thing of profession. As in the case of the servants there was an evil as well as a faithful servant, so here we have five wise and five foolish virgins. "They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them." They were persons who had the lamp of profession but no oil. Some have thought that they were Christians who failed in looking for the Lord to come. But I believe this to be false, because the foolish proved their folly in this — that they took no oil in their lamps. What does this imply? Oil is the type of the Holy Ghost. We read in 1 John 2 of an "unction from the Holy One." Will anyone maintain that there are real Christians who have not this "unction"? The wise virgins set forth true believers, the foolish ones mere professors; these took the name of Christ, but there was nothing that could fit them for the presence of Christ. Our power of enjoying Christ is entirely by the Holy Ghost. The natural man may admire Christ, but only at a distance, and without an awakened or a purged conscience. There is no living link of relationship between the heart of the natural man and Christ; and therefore man crucified Him. These foolish virgins, having no oil in their lamps, showed that they possessed nothing that could enable them to welcome Christ. The Holy Ghost alone can fit men to stand in the confession of His name to do His work. The oil was that which fed the lamp, and these foolish virgins had none. "But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept" (vers. 4, 5). They all dropped practically the hope of Christ's coming: there was no difference in that. There were true Christians and false, but all were in this respect asleep. Thus, while the original calling of Christians was to wait for Christ's return, being united to Him by the Holy Ghost, yet was there to be a universal slumber as to expecting Christ. But the Lord adds, "At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him" (ver. 6). Plainly, that cry was the movement of the Holy Ghost Himself. It was the power and grace of God which sent it out by the means that He saw fitting. We are not told how, but it plainly reveals a general movement among Christian professors — a revival of the truth of the coming of the Lord. "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps" (ver. 7). The cry affected even those who had not the Holy Ghost dwelling in them.

Now we find that, though all the virgins had the lamp of profession, they are divided into two classes, wise and foolish; and it is very important to understand the difference between the two. The wise had oil in their vessels with their lamps. The foolish had no oil.

(2) A great and fundamental contrast is found to exist between two classes of these virgins: "five of them were foolish and five were wise." And their folly or wisdom is shown in regard to that for which they had come out: "the foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps."

These "virgins" had previously gone forth. They had taken their lamps. They had assumed the position of expectants and attendants. They had given assent unto the truth that there should be a wedding — that a bridegroom would appear. They had faith; all of them possessed belief, such as it was. They openly professed that, by going forth all of them. Yet with very many this was but the excess of folly. "The foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps."