Virgins, Foolish

Jesus gave the Parable of the Ten Virgins to encourage His disciples to be watchful and to make preparations for His return and the end of the age.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins is prophetic concerning the attitude of Christians at the end time. The wise and foolish virgins each have things to teach us.

The Holy Spirit is only a portion of what oil represents. If the Holy Spirit is all we think of when we read about oil, we will miss miss much meaning.

John Ritenbaugh, reflecting upon an 1858 speech of Abraham Lincoln, in which he warned of a deadly enemy from within which would be many times more dangerous than any external foreign power, suggests that the attack has already begun. This deadly attack de. . .

The Hebrew word translated as "oil" literally means "fat" or "grease," but figuratively, it means "richness," an important idea to keep in mind. The word is also translated as "fruitful." ...

The foolish virgins did not have enough oil because they did not pursue God's spiritual abundance, nor consistently seek the Source of the oil as a way of life.

Solomon declares in Proverbs 22:7, "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." How true that is! ...

John Reid, reflecting on Christ's admonition to watch, suggests that to watch world events, but to ignore our spiritual progress and overcoming, is a foolish and futile exercise. We need to watch how we conduct ourselves. The oil that the wise and foolish . . .

David Grabbe, cuing in on verses in Matthew 24 and Luke 17, referring to the sign of eagles or vultures gathering together in the wake of God's impending judgment, corrects some misapplications of these verses, wherein people believe it refers to the Raptu. . .

The three parables in Matthew 25 (The Ten Virgins, The Talents and The Sheep and Goats) all focus on the importance of spiritual preparedness.

In Luke 21:36, our Savior gives us two essential keys to being accounted worthy and escaping the terrors of the close of the age: watching and praying always. Pat Higgins explains the role of faith in the use of these keys, especially in our prayer life.

Reflecting on the foolish practice of setting dates for Christ's return, John Reid reminds us that, though He has warned us to be aware of the signs of the times, we need to be more alert to how we are living. End-time events should lead us to repentance, . . .

John Ritenbaugh, focusing upon II John 5, an epistle which cautions about deceivers who would denigrate the value of work, considers the straining on the point "we cannot earn salvation" a red herring, diverting our attention from the true value . . .

Martin Collins assures us that we are not alone in our faith, but we have an overwhelming cloud of witnesses, both from the physical and spiritual realm. Christ's trial and crucifixion were not historical accidents, Rather, God prophesied both events in mi. . .

Jesus Christ's Olivet Prophecy provides a handful of specific signs of His return, one of which seems particularly obscure. David Grabbe analyzes His saying, "Wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together," in Matthew 24:28, explainin. . .

John Ritenbaugh, reflecting on the parable of the faithful and wise servant and the evil servant as well as the wise and foolish virgins, suggests that the Day of Trumpets emphasizes the state of caution and faithfulness required at the turbulent end times. . .

Our special position before God gives us an equally unique opportunity that we do not want to squander.

Richard Ritenbaugh, reminding us that we have a perennial mandate to examine ourselves, warns that the cesspool of this world's culture is deep and getting deeper. Even though the world is waxing progressively worse, many of us live in a comparatively safe. . .

Charles Whitaker, focusing on Paul's admonition to the Ephesians that there be unity in the Body of Christ, suggests that, in the interests of preserving unity, God judges and then surgically separates hypocrites from real believers. This judgment-resultin. . .

Kim Myers, reminding us that the Egyptian army perished on the Last Day of Unleavened Bread, suggests that the army typifies the aggressiveness of sin determined to utterly destroy us. He suggests we are admonished to diligently deleaven our homes demonstr. . .