A Tale of Two Parables

A Tale of Two Parables 1. Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5. While the bridegroom lingered, they all slumbered and slept. 6. And at midnight an announcement was made, Behold, the bridegroom is coming; 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; because our lamps have gone out. 9. But the wise answered, saying, No way; there may not be enough for us and for you: you had better go to the shop, and buy some for yourselves. 10. And while they were out buying some more, the bridegroom came; and the ones that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11. Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12. But he answered and said to them, truly I do not know you. 13. Watch therefore, for you do not know either the day or the hour when the Son of man will come. Matthew 25:1-13 24. He told them another parable saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then the tares appeared also. 27. So the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then have these tares come from? 28. He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Should we go and gather them up then? 29. But he said, No; in case while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. 30. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together the tares first, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. Matthew 13:24-30

Fables (or anecdotal stories) are stories with a profound meaning, parables are stories with a heavenly meaning. Observe the former and they will benefit you in this life, observe the latter, and they will save your life for eternity! Jesus was fond of parables; they convey meaning in an easily remembered format. The subject matter contained in His parables are invariably a matter of life or death, and these two are no exception, in fact they are particularly pertinent to the church, especially in these last days, when the thief in the night is surveying our house as it were. The wheat and the tares is quite straightforward, so let’s look at it first. Any gardener will know that crops need cultivating and feeding, while weeds need no encouragement to grow. They will take advantage of the conditions created by the farmer to grow profusely, and rob the crop of its sustenance. If you get to them shortly after they have seeded themselves, you can pull them up quite easily, but if you are not on the ball, they soon grow deep roots, and entangle themselves with the crop, and then become difficult to uproot without damaging the crops. This is a parable of the Kingdom. It concerns the Church of God. The wheat is the genuine children of the Kingdom, and the Tares are imposters sent to rob the children of their sustenance and cripple their growth. A few observations need to be made here. The Tares enjoy all of the benefits that the farmer has created for the wheat. They are in the same field, are fed by the same fertiliser, and are protected from pests just the same. They might appear to the casual observer to be the same as the wheat, but the farmer is well aware of the difference. Although they are close genetically, and look similar, they are wild, they bear no fruit. They are destined to burn. Meanwhile, they have an effect on the wheat. Is the field one of wheat with tares in it, or tares with wheat in it? There can be confusion. If they look the same, how can one tell the difference? If they were not separated at harvest, how would a customer react to buying a sack of wheat only to find it was half filled with tares mixed up with the wheat? Notice that an enemy of the farmer was responsible for introducing the tares into the field. Satan will utilise any means to nullify the Church of God. The church poses an existential threat to the Devil, because it grows by rescuing people from his kingdom of darkness and death, to God’s Kingdom of light and life. Satan will happily see Christians killed for their faith, but if that is not

possible, he will sow confusion in an attempt to render the church impotent. To this end the Devil who is a liar, is the author of false religion that masquerades as the real thing. This tactic was employed right from the beginning, and reached its most effective manifestation in the formation of the Roman state Church in the 4th century under the emperor Constantine. Since then, the deception has manifested in myriad forms, as there is only one truth, but many lies, only one wheat, but many weeds. So when a priest abuses young boys, the witness of Christians is compromised, when an evangelical pastor has an affair with one of the congregation, the witness of Christians is compromised, and when a mega church leader embezzles funds donated by the congregation, the witness of Christians is compromised. Job done! At judgement day, there will be many who identify as Christians who will be assigned a portion with the unbelievers in the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14-15) The question I want to look at here, is this; are these two parables talking about the same thing? On the surface it looks that way, but if we delve deeper, I believe we will see major differences. The first thing to realise is the context. The parable of the virgins comes immediately after Jesus’ discourse in chapter 24 of the signs of the end of the age. As far as the church is concerned, one of the major challenges of the last days is deception leading to apostasy, as you will see if you read Matthew 24. I believe this parable is unpacking that issue further. Of course the parable of the wheat and the tares is also dealing with deception, but I believe that the reasons for the deception are not totally similar, and the consequences are different. In the parable of the wheat and the tares, the deception is a spoiler, it is aimed at discrediting the church in the eyes of the world, thus crippling evangelism. In the parable of the virgins it is a wrecker, robbing Christians of their relationship with God, and their salvation. Let me be clear from the outset, that no one can separate us from God, but we can by our own actions or inaction, push Him away. (See Romans 8:38-39, Matthew 10:33 and Hebrews 6:4-6) So lets look closely at the parable of the virgins. Firstly let’s identify the elements of the story. 1. Virgins. All 10 were virgins. In ancient Israel a reputable man would only become betrothed to a virgin. This was the dilemma that faced Joseph when he realised that Mary to whom he was betrothed was pregnant. It is to his credit that he trusted God enough to go through with the wedding. This

concept of purity is reflected in the parable, where 10 virgins are betrothed to the bridegroom. 2. The bridegroom. This is Jesus, who elsewhere is identified as the groom, and the church as the bride of Christ. (See Revelation 19:7) 3. Lamps. This is the word of God, the Bible. (See Psalm 119:105) 4. Oil. This is the Holy Spirit. Exodus 29:1-7 shows how Aaron was anointed with oil to become a priest before God. David was anointed with oil by the high priest Samuel to be king. We are described as priests and kings before God, and that is because we are anointed and consecrated with the oil of the Holy Spirit. (see Revelation 1:6) These then are the elements of the parable, now let’s take a look at how they interact in the story. The first thing to note is that all 10 are virgins, and are betrothed. Virginity speaks of purity, which can only come as a result of repentance and salvation in Christ Jesus, at which time one is welcomed into the body of Christ, which is His bride to be. All 10 therefore are genuine Christians, not imposters as in the parable of the tares. (Some commentators identify the 5 foolish virgins as churchgoers, nominally Christian, but not born again. If that is the case, they are in fact tares as in the other parable. I do not believe that to be the case, as this parable follows on from the theme of falling away which is at the heart of the previous chapter. Of course they do end up as churchgoers, but they start out not as tares, but as betrothed virgins, although foolish). In addition to being saved, they also receive the Holy Spirit, as a deposit guaranteeing their status as belonging to Jesus Christ. (Sere 1 Corinthians 1:21- 22) We also have the lamp, which is the word of God to guide us, revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. (see 1 Corinthians 2:9-14) So these are saved, sanctified believers, entrusted with the light of the scriptures, who have received the Holy Spirit to guide and empower them. Yet, as we see in verses 10-12, half of them find themselves shut out at the end when Christ returns! How can this be? Well, they had to wait a long time, and they all fell asleep. They are not criticised for this, so it seems that their slumber is an understandable human weakness. Oil lamps had an adjustment which reduced the oil burnt and

dimmed the light for night time use. So if you woke in the dark, there would be enough light to move around, and if necessary trim the lamp to increase the light. Obviously it would be wise to ensure the lamp was full before retiring for the night, otherwise you might have to stumble around in the dark for a flint and oil to re-light it. And that it seems is their failure. They were too careless to ensure enough oil was in their lamps to last the night, and when the bridegroom turned up, they had no light to see by to make their way to the wedding venue. Unfortunately many Christians today allow their oil to run out. They neglect to maintain a vibrant relationship with God, they neglect to study or even read His word, and they fail to seek a continual filling of the Holy Spirit. Their faith is allowed to slowly die out. When Jesus returns, he will be looking to receive those who have a living faith, not a dead one, those who are awake and ready, not those who are trying to replace the free oil of the Holy Spirit with some other source of light purchased from the world. (See Luke 18:8, and 1 John 2:15-17) In summary then, this parable is directed at Christians who have compromised with the world, and allowed their faith to die out, who no longer walk in the light of God’s word, and are no longer led by the Holy Spirit. They still go to church, but seem oblivious to, or unconcerned by their spiritually comatose state. They have substituted the wisdom of this world for the wisdom of Christ. They like Esau, have exchanged their birthright for a pot of worldly stew. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, so that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? . Just answer me this one question; did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain? If indeed it was in vain. Therefore he that ministers the Spirit to you, and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Therefore know that only those that are of faith, are the children of Abraham. Galatians 3:1-7