Ping!
“Matthew 25:1-13
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming;[a] go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour[b] in which the Son of Man is coming.”
The passage presumes that the foolish virgins were able to buy their oil, they just weren’t let back into the house. Hence I don’t get the connection between the oil and the Holy Spirit. They were foolish to let the oil run out but they were more foolish to have left the house and the celebration, knowing that the groom’s arrival was imminent!
The groom might have been in the mood to be generous and forgiving of the foolish virgins had they stayed in place and begged forgiveness. Instead The virgins left their place of waiting and bought their oil, but the celebration was over.... and they were left out of it. They had recovered zeal but had left the faith to do so.
“Matthew 25:1-13
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming;[a] go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour[b] in which the Son of Man is coming.”
The passage presumes that the foolish virgins were able to buy their oil, they just weren’t let back into the house. Hence I don’t get the connection between the oil and the Holy Spirit. They were foolish to let the oil run out but they were more foolish to have left the house and the celebration, knowing that the groom’s arrival was imminent!
The groom might have been in the mood to be generous and forgiving of the foolish virgins had they stayed in place and begged forgiveness. Instead The virgins left their place of waiting and bought their oil, but the celebration was over.... and they were left out of it. They had recovered zeal but had left the faith to do so.
As for why I think the groom might have forgiven the foolish virgins...think on the 2 thieves on their crosses, each on one side of Christ. One rejected him, the other acknowledged him and asked that Christ would remember him in his kingdom. Both had “no oil”, death was near, yet the author of their Salvation was in their midst...both were as the ‘unprepared virgins’ yet one was accepted into God’s grace and the other rejected it!
Yes the foolish virgins should have kept enough oil for themselves, but the worst mistake they made was to leave the wedding!