Matthew 25:1-13
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish
and five were wise. 3 The
foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise, however, took
oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they
all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to
meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to
the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you.
Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom
arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And
the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door
for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch,
because you do not know the day or the hour.
How do
we prepare ourselves for the bridegroom of Christ? What is the oil that we need to be well
supplied with?
I
wondered why Jesus would have used the illustration of oil in this passage
other than it fits the story. I looked
up other verses with the word “oil” and this is what I found:
1.
Oil was part of a
lasting ordinance with the Israelites
Exodus 27:20-21
New International
Version 1984 (NIV1984)
20 “Command the Israelites to bring you clear
oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept
burning. 21 In the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that is
in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to
keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning.
This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the
generations to come.
Leviticus 24:1-3
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
24 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command
the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that
the lamps may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the
curtain of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps
before the Lord from
evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.
For the Jewish people this illustration should have
been clear. It was so important to have
lamps lit at all times that priests were assigned to take care of them
throughout the night. The lamps lit the
courthouse where sacrifices were made to the Lord, where the entrance to the
temple was, a holy place where God commanded that Aaron and his sons eat the
meat of the sin offering (Leviticus 6:24-30).
It was a holy place and a place where there should always be light.
2.
Oil provides light
I John 1:5 – 9
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:
God is light; in him there is no darkness
at all. 6 If we claim to have
fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by
the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we
have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us
from all sin. 8 If
we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
The light in the courtyard where sin sacrifices were eaten, was to
always be burning as an outward sign that we can always come to God with our
offerings. To me the light represents
the light of Christ, who was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. If we come to Him and confess our sins to Him
there will be light but if we choose to not attend that lamp and let it burn
out we are in darkness.
3. Oil
is our Lord that keeps the Word burning to light our paths
Psalm 18: 28
28 You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
The oil
is our Lord who sacrificed Himself for us.
Once we have Him in our lives, the Words that He speaks make sense to us
but we have to read them. This became
clear to me the other day when I had the privilege of leading a little girl to
the Lord. As she was working on
memorizing a Bible verse, Romans 6:23, I was given the opportunity to explain
that verse to her. Her face lit up and
she wanted to receive Christ in her life.
We prayed and she had the biggest smile on her face after the
prayer. She went on to memorize the
other verses and it seemed to me that it just clicked with her. No longer were these just words to memorize
but were a part of her life. Jesus is
the oil that provides light to His words.
Without Him there is no light.
In closing today, there are a few more points that I
would like to write about but I am briefly going to mention them and hope that
you will look it up yourselves. Oil
provides gladness, Isaiah 61:3 and Oil provides joy, Hebrews 1:9. Yes, Christ has given us the opportunity to
have both gladness and joy through Him.
As you seek Him may you use His Words to light your
path with the Oil of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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