In Part One and Two we saw that according to Jewish custom in the time of Jesus, a Father had chosen a bride for his son. The parents had agreed a contract, and the son had to build their wedding chamber at his father’s house. The Bride was not aware when her Bridegroom would return for her. While waiting for her Bridegroom, the bride would ready herself in anticipation of his arrival. She would burn a lamp in case he came at night. Eventually, without warning he would arrive and take her away to the marriage chamber. We saw that those who are born of water and born of the spirit are the Bride of Christ and need to ready themselves for His coming to collect them. In the parable of the 10 virgins, we saw that the virgins represented the Church. Five of them ran out of oil and were not ready when Jesus came to collect them….
In Part One we saw that according to Jewish custom in the time of Jesus, a Father had chosen a bride for his son. A contract had been agreed by the parents, and the son had to build their wedding chamber at his father’s house. The Bride was not aware when her Bridegroom would return for her….
Preparing Herself
She busied herself collecting items for her trousseau and getting her wedding gown ready. Whenever she went out, she wore a veil over her face to show that she was betrothed. This would discourage any other man from approaching her father for her hand in marriage.
As time moved on she would light an oil lamp and keep it in her window, in case her bridegroom arrived at night.
Stolen Away!
The Jews of the day had an understanding of the heart of a woman and therefore, they would ‘steal’ their brides away. For the most part, the best time to do this would be at night. As time drew near, the bride and her maids slept together in their wedding garments. They did this in readiness for being stolen away.
Eventually the bridegroom arrived. As he neared his bride’s home, a shout would go up, “Behold the Bridegroom”! With that, his party would rush in and snatch the bride and her maids away. The merry group would go down the village street singing and shouting. People would peer out of their windows to watch the merrymakers passing by. They could identify the groom, but the bride wore her veil so she would not be known.
During the seven day period in the chamber together, they would become acquainted and according to Jewish law, were not allowed out, until their marriage was consummated. Following this event, they celebrated their wedding feast with all their guests.
How shall we now relate this traditional Jewish marriage ceremony with our interpretation of the parable in Matt.25?
We must begin by understanding that the major purpose of our salvation is that we, the body of Christ, the Church, must be made ready to be married to the Lamb – Jesus.
It is God the Father, who has chosen a bride for Jesus from His body of believers. Even as the first Adam’s bride was taken from his side, whilst in a dead sleep, likewise, did the second Adam, Jesus, have His bride taken from His side after He died; His bride is His Church.
These works however were only works that emanated out of their love relationship with the Father. Why emanating from a love relationship with the Father? Because no works of eternal value, can be achieved any other way.
Jesus does not want His disciples to walk in the world without a veil of righteousness; they must never flirt with the world’s system. In other words, they must be seen to be believers.
Believers are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and thus forgiven their sins. They have the power of the Holy Spirit to be overcomers in this life. Their relationship with God the Father will prepare them, in this life, for the Lamb’s wedding feast in Heaven.
Who are the 10 Virgins?
Ten Virgins
In the parable, there are ten virgins. Who do the virgins represent? The Greek root word says they were unmarried daughters, brides, and separated, to mention just a few definitions. In terms of our day, we would say that these virgins are symbolic of the Church.
Just the wise ones? No, both the wise and the foolish. We say this because they were all waiting for the arrival of the Bridegroom.
If the bridegroom had arrived before midnight, would they all have been ready? Yes.
What caused the five foolish not to be ready? They ran out of oil. What is the importance of oil? Oil is symbolic of a relationship with God. No oil – no relationship with God!
Be Continued….. The Divine Romance Part Three will follow next week.
From: “…time with the Master…”
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Ad Crucem Christi - The Cross of Christ 