“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened into ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.” Matt.25:1
Then—at the time when the faithful and the wise servants, having
marked the signs which were to indicate that the Son of Man must be near, according to his word, is giving the meat in due season to the household; and the evil servant saith in his heart, My Lord delayeth is coming, and beings to smite his fellow servants (the wise and faithful,) and to eat and drink with the drunken,—then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened unto these virgins which went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Does the word of God give us any information upon these particulars in the case of the marriage of the Lamb?
Q: Who is the Bridegroom?
A: It is hardly necessary to answer, The Son of God.
Matthew 9:14, 15; John 3:29
Q: Who is the Bride?
A: “And there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, ‘Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lambs wife.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper-stone, clear as crystal: and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angles, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east, three gates; on the north, three gates; on the south, three gates on the north, three gates; on the south, three gates; and on the west, three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
Q: Who may be the paranymphs—the friends of the Bride and Bridegroom?
A: If, as Dr. Clarke informs us it was their office to make the covenant between the parties; and, according to Calmet, (Dic. Act. Marriage,) “to perform the ceremonies of the wedding,”
-- it would seem that “the King who made a marriage for his Son,” Matthew 22:2, must be the Friend of the Bridegroom,
--“and the Spirit,” Revelation 17, the Friend of the bride.
Q: Who are the virgins, their companions?
A: May not the companions of the bride, then, be brought to view, singing “the wedding song,” in Revelation 6, 7? And I heard the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying,
Halleluiah!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him,
For the marriage of the Lamb is come,
And his wife hath made herself ready!
Q: Who are the guests?
A: All those who are gathered from the highways, by the servants, who are found with the wedding garment on at the time of the marriage feast. Matthew 22:8-14.
Q: When does the marriage of the Lamb take place—before or after he comes, as the King of glory, to make his people immortal?
A: In what character, then, do they meet him? Not as the Bridegroom coming to the marriage, but as the Kings of glory—the lord returning from the wedding. Luke 12:35-37.
Although he is “the appointed heir of all things,” “in the world to come,” and the decree has given him “the heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession,” still, he does not receive his kingdom, in fact, till the Ancient of Days sits in Judgment.
Then one like the Son of Man comes to the Ancient of Days, and
they bring him near before him, and there is given him “dominion, and glory, and a kingdom.”
Must not this actual bestowment of power and territory be identical, as to time, with the marriage of the Lamb—if it be not indeed the event denoted by his marriage?—his inauguration in the holy city—when “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David,” according to the words of the angel Gabriel? Luke 1:32.
It certainly is very clear that it must be so. And if so, the coming of the Bridegroom of the marriage must denote that change in his heavenly state, in which he comes to the Ancient of Days to receive dominion, and glory, which we know must take place before he can come in his glory, and as he comes in his glory to gather his elect, his coming as the Bridegroom must precede his marriage, and the presentation of the “chosen” guests at the marriage super, when the final decision is made.
vs. 2 “And five of them were wise,” careful, provident, “and five were foolish,” careless, improvident.
vs.3,4 “They that were foolish,” careless, improvident, “took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise,” careful, provident, “took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”
These lamps were evidently what we call torches, made by winding a bunch of flax or cotton upon the end of a stick and saturating it with oil; and as this would soon burn out unless it were often supplied with oil, the oil in the vessel for that purpose, though a small matter in itself, was indispensably necessary.
The omission indicated a want of hearty interest in the marriage arrangement.
vs.5 “While the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept.” The wise slumbered, the foolish slept.
Every one knows the difference between these two states naturally and between the states with which they correspond, spiritually.
vs.6 “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh! go ye out to meet him.”
If other parts of the parable had spoken of days or nights, it might be supposed at once that this “midnight” was a chrological mark; though it may be understood in that light, it is more likely to express the state of things when the cry is made—the security of midnight.
vs. 7, 8, 9 “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, Last there be not enough for us and you, go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves,.”
The “not so” of our version, supplied by the translators, gives the answer of the wise virgins a harshness that does not belong to it.
The reading here [original illegible] is authorized by the best critics. (See Dr. Clarke.) They had proceeded so far as companions, and the wise would have aided the foolish, if it could have been done with safety to themselves; while they pity them, they give them the only advice which can be of any service.
vs. 10 “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.” the same carelessness which disposed them to go forth without oil, at first, seems to have marked this last efforts also. The advice could not have been a mockery; they did not follow it as they should have done.
vs. 11, 12 “Afterward came also. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” The master of the house has risen up, the careless are too late."
AdventMirror/1845
Then—at the time when the faithful and the wise servants, having
Does the word of God give us any information upon these particulars in the case of the marriage of the Lamb?
Q: Who is the Bridegroom?
A: It is hardly necessary to answer, The Son of God.
Matthew 9:14, 15; John 3:29
Q: Who is the Bride?
A: “And there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, ‘Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lambs wife.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper-stone, clear as crystal: and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angles, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east, three gates; on the north, three gates; on the south, three gates on the north, three gates; on the south, three gates; and on the west, three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
Q: Who may be the paranymphs—the friends of the Bride and Bridegroom?
A: If, as Dr. Clarke informs us it was their office to make the covenant between the parties; and, according to Calmet, (Dic. Act. Marriage,) “to perform the ceremonies of the wedding,”
-- it would seem that “the King who made a marriage for his Son,” Matthew 22:2, must be the Friend of the Bridegroom,
--“and the Spirit,” Revelation 17, the Friend of the bride.
Q: Who are the virgins, their companions?
A: May not the companions of the bride, then, be brought to view, singing “the wedding song,” in Revelation 6, 7? And I heard the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying,
Halleluiah!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him,
For the marriage of the Lamb is come,
And his wife hath made herself ready!
Q: Who are the guests?
A: All those who are gathered from the highways, by the servants, who are found with the wedding garment on at the time of the marriage feast. Matthew 22:8-14.
Q: When does the marriage of the Lamb take place—before or after he comes, as the King of glory, to make his people immortal?
A: In what character, then, do they meet him? Not as the Bridegroom coming to the marriage, but as the Kings of glory—the lord returning from the wedding. Luke 12:35-37.
Although he is “the appointed heir of all things,” “in the world to come,” and the decree has given him “the heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession,” still, he does not receive his kingdom, in fact, till the Ancient of Days sits in Judgment.
Then one like the Son of Man comes to the Ancient of Days, and
Must not this actual bestowment of power and territory be identical, as to time, with the marriage of the Lamb—if it be not indeed the event denoted by his marriage?—his inauguration in the holy city—when “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David,” according to the words of the angel Gabriel? Luke 1:32.
It certainly is very clear that it must be so. And if so, the coming of the Bridegroom of the marriage must denote that change in his heavenly state, in which he comes to the Ancient of Days to receive dominion, and glory, which we know must take place before he can come in his glory, and as he comes in his glory to gather his elect, his coming as the Bridegroom must precede his marriage, and the presentation of the “chosen” guests at the marriage super, when the final decision is made.
vs. 2 “And five of them were wise,” careful, provident, “and five were foolish,” careless, improvident.
vs.3,4 “They that were foolish,” careless, improvident, “took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise,” careful, provident, “took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”
These lamps were evidently what we call torches, made by winding a bunch of flax or cotton upon the end of a stick and saturating it with oil; and as this would soon burn out unless it were often supplied with oil, the oil in the vessel for that purpose, though a small matter in itself, was indispensably necessary.
The omission indicated a want of hearty interest in the marriage arrangement.
vs.5 “While the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept.” The wise slumbered, the foolish slept.
Every one knows the difference between these two states naturally and between the states with which they correspond, spiritually.
vs.6 “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh! go ye out to meet him.”
If other parts of the parable had spoken of days or nights, it might be supposed at once that this “midnight” was a chrological mark; though it may be understood in that light, it is more likely to express the state of things when the cry is made—the security of midnight.
vs. 7, 8, 9 “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, Last there be not enough for us and you, go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves,.”
The “not so” of our version, supplied by the translators, gives the answer of the wise virgins a harshness that does not belong to it.
The reading here [original illegible] is authorized by the best critics. (See Dr. Clarke.) They had proceeded so far as companions, and the wise would have aided the foolish, if it could have been done with safety to themselves; while they pity them, they give them the only advice which can be of any service.
vs. 10 “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.” the same carelessness which disposed them to go forth without oil, at first, seems to have marked this last efforts also. The advice could not have been a mockery; they did not follow it as they should have done.
vs. 11, 12 “Afterward came also. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” The master of the house has risen up, the careless are too late."
AdventMirror/1845
