The Story of the Virgins
Today we start out with Jesus telling a parable about 10 virgins. I think in order to really understand this parable we have to dive into the culture. In this parable, 10 virgins does not necessarily mean that they were actual virgins, just to throw that one out there, But it did represent young unmarried girls.
In ancient Jewish culture, a wedding ceremony typically consisted of two parts: the betrothal and the wedding feast which could last upwards of 7 days! (think of when Jesus turned water into wine, it was possible that that happened a week into the party).
During the betrothal, the bridegroom would go to the bride's home and formally ask for her hand in marriage. The bride and her family would then accept the proposal, and the couple would be considered legally married. However, the couple would not live together or consummate the marriage until the wedding feast, which typically took place a year later. -
(There is speculation that when Jesus gave adultery as grounds for divorce it was specifically referencing this year of engagement, the couple was considered legally married at this point even tho there had not been a ceremony nor a consummation of the marriage. An example of this would be when Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant with child, this would have taken place during this season of waiting and Joseph wanted to divorce her quietly since it was evident at the time she had been with someone and got pregnant, which of course we understand that it was the Holy Spirit embodying Jesus inside her.)
According to bible.org "The Groom would prepare a place for his bride. It might be his own house or a place at his father’s house. Then he would go to her father’s house to get her. There might be a small party at her house, so there was a small delay. Then the Bride and Groom would return to his father’s house for the marriage feast or banquet. The ten young ladies would be somewhere along the route between the bride’s house and the groom’s house. They are waiting for the bride and groom to return and they hope to join the procession and enter with them into the party. If they are with the crowd, they will be able to slip right in. If they aren’t with the procession, then the door keepers will turn them away because they don’t know them. They don’t have an invitation."
Jesus was talking to people who would have understood the context of this parable in a way that we may not be able to as our wedding customs are very different.
Jesus was making this parable about the Kingdom of God, the bridegroom is Jesus and the message is that we don't know when he will come back, as we discussed in the previous chapter.
““So stay alert. You have no idea when he might arrive.”
Matthew 25:13 MSG
The Old Testament the concept of God being husband was not foreign, you can almost look at it as tho the period between the promise given to Adam and Eve in the garden -
Genesis 3:14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
is when God asked mankind to "marry God". well perhaps it was more formal when he initiated a covenant with Abraham. Anyways, it's echoed throughout the old testament -
Isaiah 54:5: "For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth."
Isaiah 62:4-5: "No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you."
Jeremiah 3:14: "Return, faithless Israel,” declares the Lord, “I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,” declares the Lord, “I will not be angry forever."
Jeremiah 31:32: "Not like the covenant I made with their forefathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord."
Ezekiel 16:8-14: "‘When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,’ says the Lord God."
Hosea 2:16-20: "‘In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.’ I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they will be remembered by their names no more. I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and will make you lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love and mercy. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord."
Jeremiah 2:2: "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: 'This is what the Lord says: I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown."
The new testament also has a lot to say about this concept. my favorite is from Romans -
Romans 7
The Message
Torn Between One Way and Another
7 1-3 You shouldn’t have any trouble understanding this, friends, for you know all the ins and outs of the law—how it works and how its power touches only the living. For instance, a wife is legally tied to her husband while he lives, but if he dies, she’s free. If she lives with another man while her husband is living, she’s obviously an adulteress. But if he dies, she is quite free to marry another man in good conscience, with no one’s disapproval.
4-6 So, my friends, this is something like what has taken place with you. When Christ died he took that entire rule-dominated way of life down with him and left it in the tomb, leaving you free to “marry” a resurrection life and bear “offspring” of faith for God.
Basically what Paul is saying is that Jesus died ending the covenant marriage God had with Israel since they were unfaithful and didn't really want it anyways, freeing them to enter into a new marriage or a new covenant with Jesus in the era after Christ had risen from the grave.
Back to the parable, Jesus uses this imagery to explain and expand on the thoughts we were presented with in chapter 24 about the end times and Jesus's coming back in a way we won't miss and unexpectedly. Jesus is simply putting the context of his return into a parable for common every day comparison.
When Jesus says in the parable
““He answered, ‘Do I know you? I don’t think I know you.’”
Matthew 25:12 MSG
This was the same warning given in Matthew 7:21-23
I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
The parables take a turn here -
The Story About Investment
This parable is often interpreted as a warning about the use of the talents, gifts, or resources that God has entrusted to us. The talents represent the gifts and abilities that God has given us and the expectation that we will use them to serve him and others. The servants who received five and two talents represent those who use their talents to serve God and others, and are rewarded for their faithfulness. The servant who received one talent and buried it represents those who do nothing with the talents they've been given and will be punished for their laziness and lack of faithfulness.
In the story we see three people given three levels of Talents (in some translations) these talents are literally translated as money but we can take them to mean any level of resources or ability. In the story two of the servants invested and doubled what they had been given, when the master returns they are praised for this.
We each have been blessed with specific skills, resources and talents and it's our choice how we choose to invest those things over the course of our life. Proverbs 13:22: "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous."
Our capitalist mindset here in the USA seems to gravitate towards financial wealth, however that's not the legacy i think the bible is really talking about here, tho money and resources are a part of it, culturally the entire family would have lived on the same estate, the dwellings would have grown with the family and they would have stayed close for the most part, so an inheritance was also the land, customs, traditions, oral traditions and stories and hopefully a relationship with God!
This parable serves as an example of what the Kingdom of God is like, generous gifts left with us. I am assuming that Jesus may have been speaking in advance for what was to come, since his goal was to usher in God's Kingdom - which came after his resurrection. I believe he may have been preemptively been telling us about the power of the Spirit and that we should take heed what we have been given and take advantage of the reap and sow economy that God has established.
This looks like taking the ground you have seriously, your family and friends, school or workplace, children and their friends and seriously invest in their lives.
Proverbs 11:24-25: "One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed."
We are free to give generously, of our time, affection, grace, mercy, love, kindness. . . and we will never run out of these resources because God will replenish them daily.
The Sheep and the Goats
This story starts of with Jesus Giving warning of the Judgment that will come and how the righteous will be separated from the wicked. Righteous to the right hand and the wicked are sent off to the left.
““Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’”
Matthew 25:34-36 MSG
Now here is the kicker, It sounds like Jesus is saying that "you did this to me" which he is . . .
““Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’”
Matthew 25:37-40 MSG
Now this sounds like new age theology where every person is a fragmentation of the divine and we as a collective make up the etherial divine god. The New Age belief that each individual is a fragmented part of the divine, and collectively make up God, is at odds with the biblical teaching that God is one, unique, and separate from his creation. The Bible teaches that God is the creator and ruler of the universe, and that all people are created in his image, but they are not God, they are created by God and this is not what Jesus is implying here.
““Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’ “He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’”
Matthew 25:44-45 MSG
Here is the thing, you don't have to be a saint or someone of some outstanding rapport to accomplish these things. . . and i also don't think you have to roll down your window for every transient person asking for money on the side of the road. As you enter into and develop your relationship with God these things will happen to you as he transforms you from the inside out.
Philippians 2:3-8: "Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, by becoming like human beings. And when he had come as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross."
James 4:6: "God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble."
1 Peter 5:5-6: "In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."
Matthew 20:26-28: "It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Romans 12:2: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Galatians 5:16-17: "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want."
Ephesians 4:22-24: "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Titus 3:5: "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit."
2 Peter 1:4: "Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."
It is ultimately the Holy Spirit that transforms and changes us, I don't believe that God will loose a single one of us who choose him, even if we have a season where we walk away. If you are pursuing Christ and seeking wisdom and understanding, God will always always pursue you and your heart from the day you were born till the day you take your last breath, and when you allow yourself to see that God has been an integral part of your life from day, you will see how much He truly loves and desires to be in relationship with you!
Job 32
Elihu, is a younger spectator who has been watching and listening all along, he had been holding his tongue out of respect for his elders, Elihu is frustrated with their lack of answers and decides to speak up. Elihu, delivers a long speech in which he argues that Job's friends are wrong in accusing Job of wrongdoing, and that Job should not be blamed for his suffering. He also states that the wisdom of the old is not always true and that the young should also be heard. Elihu believes that Job's suffering is not a result of his sin, but rather is a test of his righteousness.
Although all of Job's friends made good arguments that sound right, there was a lot mixed in with their arguments that are ideology and not God's character, and we have to learn to discern those things, Elihu here offers sound insight into this.
“This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said: “I’m a young man, and you are all old and experienced. That’s why I kept quiet and held back from joining the discussion. I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell. The longer you live, the wiser you become.’ But I see I was wrong—it’s God’s Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible. The experts have no corner on wisdom; getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense. So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well! I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.”
Job 32:6-10 MSG
I have met people much older than me who seem to be at the maturity level of a young teenager, and i have met people much older than me that seem so wise it hurts your head, age in fact does not bring wisdom, only the asking and pursuit of wisdom brings wisdom, The book of proverbs will cover wisdom in great detail when we get to it.
Chapter 32 is just the warm up for Elihu - getting his gears turning and giving the three friends his "here it comes". And well, he sounds super disrespectful to these elders. A good lesson to take from Elihu is that it's wise to try and be one of the last ones to speak in an argument, if you can sit and hear everyone else's side of the argument and everyone else's point of view, not only does it give you more time to think of your own stance, but it gives you the opportunity to change your mind based on new information provided during the argument.
Proverbs 17:27-28 (NIV)
The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.
Of course Elihu kinda goes off the rails here, but perhaps they still found him wise since he took the time to listen first . . .
““Do you three have nothing else to say? Of course you don’t! You’re total frauds! Why should I wait any longer, now that you’re stopped dead in your tracks? I’m ready to speak my piece. That’s right! It’s my turn—and it’s about time! I’ve got a lot to say, and I’m bursting to say it. The pressure has built up, like lava beneath the earth. I’m a volcano ready to blow. I have to speak—I have no choice. I have to say what’s on my heart, And I’m going to say it straight— the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I was never any good at bootlicking; my Maker would make short work of me if I started in now!””
Job 32:15-22 MSG
The way that the bible explains how to get wisdom -
Proverbs 2:6: "For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."
Proverbs 4:7: "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight."
James 1:5: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."
Colossians 2:3: "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Psalm 111:10: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!"
Isaiah 33:6: "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure."
Job 33
““So please, Job, hear me out, honor me by listening to me. What I’m about to say has been carefully thought out. I have no ulterior motives in this; I’m speaking honestly from my heart. The Spirit of God made me what I am, the breath of God Almighty gave me life!”
Job 33:1-4 MSG
God Always Answers, One Way or Another
““But let me tell you, Job, you’re wrong, dead wrong! God is far greater than any human. So how dare you haul him into court, and then complain that he won’t answer your charges? God always answers, one way or another, even when people don’t recognize his presence.”
Job 33:12-14 MSG
Elihu continues his speech from chapter 32, and he asserts that God speaks to people through dreams, visions and through a mediator, an angel or a human being. He argues that God gives people a chance to repent and turn away from their sins before punishing them. He also states that Job should listen to God's words and humble himself before God, for God is merciful and will forgive him.
Elihu also asserts that God does not afflict people arbitrarily, but he does so to test them, to reveal their true character, and to teach them. He also emphasizes that God is just, and that he is not like humans who can be bribed or swayed.
““Or, you may fall on your knees and pray—to God’s delight! You’ll see God’s smile and celebrate, finding yourself set right with God. You’ll sing God’s praises to everyone you meet, testifying, ‘I messed up my life— and let me tell you, it wasn’t worth it. But God stepped in and saved me from certain death. I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’”
Job 33:26-28 MSG
Elihu seems to see God's character and His endless pursuit for our hearts and affection!
““This is the way God works. Over and over again He pulls our souls back from certain destruction so we’ll see the light—and live in the light!”
Job 33:29-30 MSG
More tomorrow.
Psalm 25
“Show me how you work, God; School me in your ways. Take me by the hand; Lead me down the path of truth. You are my Savior, aren’t you? Mark the milestones of your mercy and love, God; Rebuild the ancient landmarks! Forget that I sowed wild oats; Mark me with your sign of love. Plan only the best for me, God!”
Psalms 25:4-7 MSG
Psalm 25 is a song written by David, in which he expresses his trust in God, his desire for guidance, and forgiveness. He acknowledges his own sinfulness and asks for forgiveness, confesses that he has put his trust in God alone, pleads for God to remember his loyal love and faithfulness, and to guide him in the way of righteousness. He also prays for God to protect him from his enemies, to give him the strength to endure their attacks, and to help him overcome his fears and anxieties and to be able to live a life of faith and obedience.
This is such a loaded chapter, for example
“My question: What are God-worshipers like? Your answer: Arrows aimed at God’s bull’s-eye.”
Psalms 25:12 MSG
The term "sin" comes from the Greek word "hamartia" which means "to miss the mark" or "to fall short."
I also love this one here “Keep up your reputation, God; Forgive my bad life; It’s been a very bad life.”
Psalms 25:11 MSG - I often pray this one, asking God to stand true to His character!
I would encourage you to pray through the Psalms! At times when I pray through them i will modify them to match my situation, by simply adding my own names and situations into the wording. for example i don't need to pray against my enemies who want to kill me but i do need to pray against those who want to damage my reputation with lies about me. those are things to pray about.
“Do you see how many people Have it in for me? How viciously they hate me?”
Psalms 25:19 MSG
(I asked ChatGPT to define sin)
"In the Bible, the term "sin" is often used to describe actions or attitudes that are in opposition to God's will or character. It is often defined as falling short of God's standard of holiness and righteousness. The term "sin" comes from the Greek word "hamartia" which means "to miss the mark" or "to fall short." This metaphor is often used in the Bible to describe how sin is an action or attitude that falls short of God's standard of perfection.
Sin is also described as rebellion or disobedience against God and His commandments. It is a state of being estranged from God, resulting from disobedience to God's laws and commandments."
Until tomorrow!
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