Lessons from parable of the Ten Virgins
She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. (Judges 16:20)
The parable of the ten virgins (see Matthew 25) tells a story of those who are zealous for God. These anticipated the return of their master, they have been doing all that is required of them as stewards and thus, were prepared for him. But the master tarried in his coming and they fell asleep. Not that they fell asleep consciously or intentionally but unconsciously; the result of weariness (you dont know when you doze off, until someone taps you from behind and alerts you, you have been sleeping) such was the case. They waited until they fell asleep unconsciously — unknown to them.
Suddenly, there was a shout, calling attention to their lord’s arrival; this is synonymous to when you are indoors in your house sleeping and suddenly you hear someone hard banging at the door. You wake up from your sleep, startled at the sound you heard, not knowing where it originated from, you eventually realise its from the door. You ask who it is, you find its a person of interest and want to go and open, but then you realise that you are not prepared to open the door because you have no clothes on. You put something decent on and go and open. Such is the case of these ten virgins, a loud sound awoke them from their slumber, found its the alert to the arrival of their master, then they trimmed their lamps with Oil. 5 trimmed their lamps and 5 could not — we know the end of the story according to the text.
Why is the trimming of their lamps so important? If 5 can trim their lamps, why cant the other 5 share in the glow of the other 5 until the arrival of their lord? Why is the oil so important, that they have to go and get it? We must understand what these instruments symbolises, if we are to understand these parable.
According to the revelation given by the Holy Spirit, the lamps represent the Zeal of each virgins. The Oil represent The Spirit of God. While they slept unconsciously or slumber as you may put it, they forgot the coming of their master and their lamps (Zeal) started to die out. Their slumberness equates the dying out of their lamps. The bible counts those that brought oil with them as wise and those that didn’t as foolish. Car engines run on gas or petrol for cars to function, the lamps (Zeal) run on Oil (the Spirit of God) to glow. Can you forget your phone at home or someplace and not worry but these people forgot the Oil (the Spirit of God). Can a lady forget to wear her makeup in anticipation of the coming of her beloved, but these people forgot the Oil (the Spirit of God). But why will they forget such an important ingredient? The answer — the Value they placed on the Oil. They did not anticipate for the long tarrying of their master and hence, believed that a little Oil will suffice them: ‘Oh, little oil will be enough, we dont need much’. It reflects the usage of the Oil in their daily dealings of their stewardship, their usage of it not only to provide light but to lubricate meshed joints (life challenges) — the value they placed on it, is less. If they had placed much value on it, definitely they must have said ‘We may need the Oil’. Such, is the type that arise from slumber, like Samson and lo and behold, no Oil. Such is the type with big visions about revival, but lo and behold, no Oil.
Perhaps, its high time we ask ourselves; Where is your Oil?
