Tonight I am thinking about a post that I wrote ten years ago, and will share it with only a few minor edits.

Wise or Foolish – 8/4/2013

One of my favorite parables is the Parable of the Ten Virgins.

One of the reasons is because it is about being prepared. I am an Eagle Scout, and this parable brings to mind the Boy Scout Motto of “Be Prepared.”

The parable is given in Matthew 25: 1-13. The verses below are from the English Standard Version. Also, stay tuned for a few notes about the images.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

The virgins were all looking forward to the coming of the bridegroom. However, they were divided into two groups by how they prepared.

Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.

As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

As you can see in the picture above, an oil lamp is not very large. The time the lamp would burn would be limited, and since the bridegroom was delayed they would need to trim and refill their lamps.

But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’

The juglets that the virgins would probably be using were not very large. They probably only contained enough oil for one refill of the lamp. If the oil had been divided there would not be enough to light the lamps for the required time.

And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Being late at night, the foolish virgins probably had difficulty finding someplace to buy more oil. In any case, they were excluded from the marriage feast since they were not ready and waiting for the bridegroom to come.

We need to remember that we do not know the day nor the hour when Christ will come again and that we always need to be prepared. We must not let our oil run out.

Seeing these pictures along with the story help me to better understand this parable. I hope that they helped you as well.

A little bit about the pictures

The oil juglet and oil lamp were purchased by my friends, Trent and Rebeka, while we were in Israel and Palestine last year. The pictures were taken by Barry, another friend from the tour. You can visit Barry’s blog at: Exploring Bible Lands

I don’t remember which shop they bought the items at, but here are two antiquities shops that we visited.

I was more interested in coins when we visited this shop at Samaria.

This shop is in the Old City of Jerusalem. You can see many different types and sizes of pots and jugs. Again, I was looking at coins 🙂

Steven