In
Matthew 25, Jesus relates for us the prophetic historical parable of the ten virgins.
Below are his words:
1 ¶ Then shall the kingdom of
heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth 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
tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a
cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins
arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto
the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9 But the wise answered,
saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather
to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy,
the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage:
and the door was shut.
11 Afterward came also the
other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said,
Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye
know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Jesus
starts out this parable by saying “then” which is a time-related adverb that
puts what He is about to say in this parable in the same historical time frame
with what He just stated in Matthew 24 (and parallel passages of Mark 13, Luke
17:20-37 and Luke 21:5-38) concerning the great tribulation (GT) and His second
coming for the rapture of the elect and the final judgment of this world. So
the timing of the fulfillment of the parable is in the GT which from all
Biblical information started on Sunday, May 22, 1988, (i.e., Saturday, May 21,
1988 at evening, Jewish dating). This date is developed later in the study.
Verse
1 is essentially a summary of what the whole parable is about: the nature of
the kingdom of heaven during the time of the GT and the very beginning of the
final judgment.
So
with this background, let’s take a look at what is the kingdom of heaven from
an earthly view point. From Matthew 13, we get an understanding that the
kingdom of heaven is a mixed multitude (wheat-saved and tares-unsaved) of
people who are identified with Jesus Christ in this world usually via the
external institution known as the corporate church:
24 ¶ Another parable put he
forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man (Jesus
Christ) which sowed good seed (the wheat-saved elect) in his field
(the
external church in the world):
25 But while men (church
overseers) slept, his enemy (Satan) came and sowed tares (non-elect,
unsaved) among the wheat (saved elect), and went his way.
26 But when the blade was
sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the
householder (Jesus Christ) came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow
good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy
hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather
them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest
while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together
until the harvest (the end of the world): and in the time of harvest I will say to
the reapers (the good angels), Gather ye together first the tares, and bind
them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Our
commentary above is obtained from Jesus’ expounding of this parable later to
His disciples:
37 He answered and said unto
them, He that soweth the good
seed is the Son of man;
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children
of the kingdom; but the
tares are the children of the wicked one;
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world;
and the reapers are the angels.
40 As therefore the tares are
gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send
forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that
offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a
furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Continuing
in Matthew 25 verse 1, we are told that the kingdom of heaven —the external
institution of the worldwide church is similar to the experiences of ten
virgins as outlined in this parable. Virgins are supposed to be a portrait of
those who are truly saved:
Re 14:4 These are they which were
not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are
they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from
among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
And,
also the Corinthian church was viewed as a virgin:
2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you
with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present
you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
However,
“virgins” can also depict those who externally appear to be saved but are not
and are still naked having no covering for their sins and are under the
vengeance of God:
Isa 47:1 ¶ Come down, and sit in the
dust, O virgin daughter of
2 Take the millstones, and
grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over
the rivers.
3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame
shall be seen: I (God) will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a
man.
And,
1Pe 5:13 The church that is at
So
the term “virgins” denotes people who identify with the external church and
they can be saved or unsaved.
Now,
we are told the number of virgins: ten all together. The number “ten”
spiritually refers to completeness being the number which is a complete
representation of the whole group that is in view:
Zec 8:23 Thus saith the LORD of
hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all
languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying,
We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
Ge 24:10 And the servant took ten
camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all
the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to
Mesopotamia, unto the city of
Jud 20:10 And we will take ten men of an hundred
throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an
hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand,
to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of
Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel.
So
the “ten virgins” represent the completeness of the persons in the external church
in the world at the end of the church age and the start of the GT.
Next,
we are told that these ten virgins took their lamps and went to meet the
Bridegroom. The lamps are a depiction of the Spirits of God before Heaven’s
throne in the activity of the sending forth of the gospel, the lamp and the
light from the lamps both portraying the gospel itself as it is perfectly shone
by the Holy Spirit directly into the hearts of the elect:
Re 4:5 And out of the throne
proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning
before the throne, which are the seven (perfectly pure) Spirits of God.
Ex 27:20 And thou shalt command the
children of
Ps 119:105 NUN. Thy word (the
gospel) is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my
path.
Pr 6:23 For the commandment (the
gospel) is a lamp; and the law is light; and
reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
2Cor 4:3 But if our gospel be hid,
it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image
of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus
the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts,
to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. {hath: Gr.
is he who hath}
And
the bridegroom is Christ Himself, the potential husband of these virgins:
Isa 62:5 For as a young man
marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth
over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you
with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head
of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Now,
the virgins are all going forth in anticipation of meeting Christ because they
see the “signs of the times” (revival of Israel as a nation in 1948 and one
generation of 40 years later, wars and rumors of wars-the 6 day Arab-Israeli
war, the “Cold War”, the European Economic Community being the ten horns, etc.)
coupled with various renowned dispensational pre-millennial pastors and
televangelists predicting the rapture to occur in 1988 (using the creation dating of 4004
B.C. by Bishop Ussher, they assumed a 7000 year earth’s existence because
God rested on the 7th day of creation and a day is a thousand years,
so there would be 2996 years in the AD era, then the subtracted the 1000 years
millennium reign on the earth which left 1996 A.D. and then they subtracted the
7 year tribulation which left 1989 A.D and so the rapture could occur any where
within the year from March-April 1988 [the start of the Biblical year] to
March-April 1989 thus enclosing the 40 years from 1948) and various books
(including “The Late,
Great Planet Earth” and “88 Reasons Why the
rapture could occur in 1988” by Edgar C. Whisenant)
were written about it and published and sold millions and had converts to this
teaching in the millions. The a-millennials also supported the year 1988/89 as
they viewed the earth as lasting only 6000 years (See Usshers’ Chronology)
and so with 4004 year in the BC era then there would be only 1996 years of the
AD side and then subtract a 7 year tribulation lands them right on 1988/89.
Also, various smaller Christian/Jewish groups who view the Bible sometimes with
a symbolic understanding, arrived at 1988 by equating the revival of Israel out
of the nations of the world in 1948 with the historical revival and departure
of the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt which had the ascendancy in the
political and military world in the era of Moses. The nation of Israel was then
in the wilderness for 40 years before coming into the land of Canaan, the land
flowing with milk and honey, portraying heaven. So, these groups also
symbolized the revived
Well,
as it turns out, this verse 1 (of Matthew 25) is indeed referring to the
rapture. This is evident by looking at the unique combination of Greek words (<529> and <1519>) translated “to meet”:
Mt 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of
heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to
meet <529> <1519> the
bridegroom.
This unique
combination is used only four times and is always translated “to meet”. Three
of the four times the person that is to be met is Christ. The other two places
where meeting Christ is in view is in this same parable:
Mt 25:6 And at midnight there was
a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to <1519> meet <529> him.
And, also at
Christ’s coming for the rapture of the elect:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to <1519> meet <529> the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
So,
we can see clearly that the going forth of the ten virgins to meet the
bridegroom in Matthew 25:1 is definitely the anticipation of the rapture both
from scripture and from the historical experiences of the external world
church. However, notice that these ten virgins did this anticipation of the
rapture on their own accord as they had no directive or injunction from
scriptures:
Mt 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of
heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the
bridegroom.
In
stark contrast, however, in verse 6, they were given an explicit command to go
out to meet the Bridegroom!
So, the prophecies relating to the rapture in
1988 failed as the rapture did not occur and any anticipation thereof was
solely on the part of the ten virgins and their blind guides and not mandated
from scripture.
Well, as we have stated the introduction to the
parable sets its context in the GT. We find that instead of the rapture, it was
the GT that commenced in 1988.The GT, which is the spiritual judgment of God
upon the world and which commences firstly on the churches, started on Sunday,
May 22, 1988. The church age which commenced at Pentecost on Sunday, May 22, 33
A.D. (Gregorian dating—See The Biblical Calendar, Page 26) suddenly ended on
Saturday, May 21, 1988 (the day before Pentecost in 1988) thus completing 1955
exact years of God using the external church as His primary vehicle of sending
forth the gospel. God then begins the GT with His judgment upon the external
churches throughout the world on Sunday, May 22, 1988 (Pentecost—known as
Shavuot—See Hebrew Perpetual Calendar,
click the “Today” button first then chose the date):
Perpetual 
Hebrew
/ Civil Calendar v.1.0 beta May 1988 Iyyar 5748 / Sivan
5748
|
Su |
Mo |
Tu |
We |
Th |
Fr |
Shabbat |
||||||||||||||
Pesah sheni |
|
|
|
Lag B'Omer |
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
Yom Yerushalayim |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
Pentecost/Shavuot |
Shavuot (d) |
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin
at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the
end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
So,
the expectation of meeting Christ at the rapture did not materialize and as a
result of Christ’s tarrying of the rapture, the ten virgins all went to sleep
for a period of time as shown later in the parable.
Next
in verse two of the parable we are a given a breakout of the ten virgins into
two groups of five each:
2 And five of them were wise,
and five were foolish.
The
number “five” spiritually speaks of both that which is saved and under grace
(i.e., the wise) and that which is unsaved and under the wrath of God (i.e.,
the foolish). First, we will look at a passage illustrating the dual meaning of
the number “five”:
1Sa 17:40 And he (David)
took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a
shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his
hand: and he drew near to the Philistine (Goliath, the champion)…49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took
thence a stone, and
slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his
forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a
sling and with a stone,
and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the
hand of David.
In the above passage we have the epic confrontation of David and
Goliath. The five smooth stones represent Christ and His body of elect:
1Pet 2: 5 Ye (elect) also, as lively stones,
are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
6 Wherefore
also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone,
elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 7 Unto you therefore which believe he is
precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of
offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient:
whereunto also they were appointed.
The
one stone used by David represents Christ Himself (the chief corner stone) as
He is victorious over His enemy and brings grace and deliverance to the Israelites.
On the other hand, for Goliath and the Philistines, this act meant judgment and
defeat. So, here, we see the number five represents both grace and judgment.
Another
passage portraying the number “five” as identified with grace or redemption is:
Nu 18:16 And those that are to be
redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for
the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is
twenty gerahs.
Passages
displaying the number “five” as connected with judgment include:
2Co 11:24 Of the Jews five times
received I forty stripes save one.
Jos 10:23 And they did so, and
brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king
of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of
Eglon. … 26 And afterward Joshua smote
them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and
they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.
Next,
we will look at the descriptive terms “wise” and “foolish”. From the following
verses we can clearly see that the wise are the ones who are truly saved and
the foolish are yet unsaved and still under God’s wrath:
Pr 3:35 The wise shall
inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Pr 14:16 A wise man
feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and
is confident.
Ps 5:5 The foolish shall not
stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Pr 15:24 The way of life is
above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
So
then we conclude that the five virgins that are wise would be the saved
(wheat—from earlier parable above) elect members of the worldwide church who
have received God’s grace and redemption while the five that are foolish would
be the non-elects (tares—from earlier parable above) who are under God’s
judgment although they are members of the churches.
Continuing
in the parable, we read:
Mt 25:3 They that were
foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
We
discovered earlier that lamps identify spiritually with the activity of the
Holy Spirit in the gospel. Now we find that the “oil” is a representation of
the presence of the Holy Spirit in His anointing role for service in the gospel
which a person receives at the point of salvation. This is evident from the
following verses:
1Sa 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed
him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day
forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
Heb 1:9 Thou (Jesus) hast loved
righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee (Jesus)
with the oil of gladness above thy fellows (the elect).
Lu 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me (Jesus), because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised,
1Jo 2:27 But the anointing (the
Holy Spirit) which ye (elect) have received of him abideth
in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all
things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall
abide in him.
So,
what then can we say about these five foolish virgins from all of what we have
uncovered in verse 3? They were externally identified with the sending forth of
the gospel but they themselves did not have the anointing presence of the Holy
Spirit (who is TRUTH!) in their person and in their activity of sending forth
the gospel and did not have the teaching of the Holy Spirit and never ever
abode in the Holy Spirit, all because they had no oil! This implicates the
foolish virgins as having a false (UNTRUE) gospel even as they are the tares
sowed by Satan within the churches and as such are unsaved and under the
condemnation of God’s judgment!
To
bear out this discovery even further, we find that the Young’s Literal
Translation (YLT) rendition of this verse shows:
3 they who were foolish
having taken their lamps, did not take <2983> with
themselves oil;
Thereby
indicating that at the point in time when the foolish virgins first became
identified with the sending forth of the gospel, they did not at that point
receive the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit within themselves! The Greek of
“take” being equally translated as “receive” as shown from the Online Bible:
2983 lambanw lambano lam-ban’-o
AV-receive 133, take 106, have 3, catch 3, not tr 1, misc 17; 263
The
foolish virgins are those then that are identified with Satan’s activities in the
churches and are deceived by Satan even as he beguiled Eve at the beginning in
11013 B.C. (See Adam’s
Likeness and Image) and thus are not even aware of their falsehood in their
service as ministers of righteousness in the congregations wherein they are
worshipping Satan:
2Cor
11: 1 ¶ Would to God ye could bear with me a little in
my folly: and indeed bear with me. 2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:
for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a
chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent
beguiled (deceived) <1818>
Eve through his subtilty,
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus,
whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye
have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well
bear with him. ….. 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to
their works.
2Th 2:3 Let <1818> no man deceive <1818> you by any means: for that
day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man (Satan)
of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. …. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom
the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the
brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after (against)
the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Now,
we will move on and consider the contrast given (as indicated with the
transitional conjunction “but”) with the wise virgins given in verse 4:
Mt 25:4 But the wise took (received
<2983>) oil in their vessels <30> with their
lamps.
We already know what the
oil and lamps depict. Let us look at the term “vessels”. Another parable that is similar in its interpretation and helps
somewhat in understanding the significance of the vessels is:
Mt 13:47 Again, the kingdom of
heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every
kind: 48 Which, when it was full,
they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels <30>, but cast
the bad away. 49 So shall it be at the end
of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the
just, 50 And shall cast them into
the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
So
“vessels” represent spiritual receptacles wherein the saved (the wise
virgins--who have the anointing oil within them) are gathered for heaven at the
end of the world while the unsaved (the foolish virgins) are cast into hell
fire.
The
five wise virgins then in stark contrast to the foolish virgins are saved under
God’s grace and are identified with the sending forth of the true gospel as
they have received the Holy Spirit of Truth within themselves and He teaches
them all things and they abide in Him forever.
So
we see the dire calamity of the churches at the time of the early onset of the
GT with their mixed multitudes of saved and unsaved, true teachers and false
teachers all believing that they are espousing truth even as they are taking their
lamps! No wonder, the external church fell (into God’s desolating judgment in
1988 as indicated earlier) as it was divided against itself:
Lu 11:17 But he, knowing their
thoughts, said unto them, Every
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation;
and a house divided against a house falleth.
This
desolation is further emphasized in the next verse of the parable:
5 While the bridegroom
tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
The
YLT shows that this “sleep” is a gradual nodding off to sleep and not a sudden
sleep:
5 And the bridegroom
tarrying, they all nodded and were sleeping,
Thereby
indicating that while Jesus is tarrying His anticipated coming at the rapture
(for the rapture did not occur as anticipated in 1988, but instead the GT
judgment commenced), the activities (identifying with sending out the gospel as
indicated by their taking lamps) of all ten virgins are gradually being
diminished and eventually end as they gradually nodded off and then went fully
to sleep. This sleeping emanated from the judgment of God:
Ps
90: 5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they
are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which
groweth up. 6 In the morning it flourisheth,
and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
And
this sleep (wherein all the church is unconscious and unaware of the spiritual
judgment of God upon them and of Satan’s deceptive activities within their
midst) started on May, 22, 1988 and lasts for exactly 2300 days during which
the church was unaware of what was taking place spiritually and both the elect
and the unsaved within the church are trampled under the foot of Satan:
Dan
8: 10 And it waxed great, even to the host of
heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the
ground, and stamped upon them. {to the host: or, against the host}
11 Yea, he (Satan)
magnified himself even to the prince (Jesus Christ) of the host, and by him (Jesus Christ) the daily sacrifice
(the true gospel) was taken
away, and the place of his sanctuary <04720> (the
external church) was cast down. {to: or, against} {by him: or,
from him}
12 And an host was given him
against the daily (the candlestick--the gospel that should be going forth daily) sacrifice
by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth (the word of God--the
gospel) ground; and it practised, and prospered. {an host…:
or, the host was given over for the transgression against the daily sacrifice}
13 Then I heard one saint
speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the
vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of
desolation, to give both the sanctuary <06944> (the saved elect within the external
church-portrayed by the wise virgins) and the host (the
others that are identified with Christ via the external church) to be
trodden under foot? {of…: or, making desolate}
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three
hundred days; then shall the sanctuary <06944> (the
saved within the external church-portrayed by the wise virgins) be
cleansed. {days: Heb. evening morning} {cleansed:
Heb. justified}
Please
note that the sanctuary in verse 11 represents the external church in its
entirety and is translated by a different Hebrew word (<04720>) than the Hebrew term (<06944>) translated “sanctuary” in verses
13 and 14, thereby indicating that God is switching to a another “entity”
although this is not shown in the English. The “sanctuary” used in verses 13
and 14 is abundantly translated “holy” and hence represents the saved within
the external church. These elects are finally cleansed corporately of being
unequally yoked with unbelievers and being tarnished with the latter’s sins at
the very end of the 2300 days when in verse 6 of the parable they are commanded
to come out of the churches (covered later in our study). This conclusion is
further supported by Gabriel’s interpretation of the vision later in the
passage:
24 And his power shall be mighty,
but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper,
and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
The
world "holy" in verse 24 has the same root in Hebrew as the word
"sanctuary" which was cleansed according to verse 14. So we know that
"sanctuary" is used in reference to specific group of saved
individuals within the churches, they are the “holy people”.
So
the above desolations of Daniel 8 are happening because Christ had promised the
churches that if they (the churches) were not faithful to Him then He would
come and remove their candlesticks (the light of the gospel):
Rev 2:1 ¶ Unto the angel of the
church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in
his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; ……
4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against
thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5 Remember therefore from
whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
…..
7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of
the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
And,
that He, Jesus Christ, would spew them out of His mouth:
Rev
3: 14 ¶ And unto the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou
art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art
lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Note
that verse seven of Revelation 2 shows that what is said in terms of judgment
on the church at
So,
Christ fulfilled His promise starting on May 22, 1988 by:
- Divorcing the
churches and departing (See “Why
I no longer attend church”).
- Removing His Holy
Spirit from the midst of the churches.
- Permitting Satan to
desolate the churches for 2300 days by removing the light of the
candlesticks.
- Allowing Satan to
eventually sit and be worshipped as Supreme God in the churches by the end
of the 2300 days so that Satan has effectively achieved his greatest
ambition (See “When
Did Satan Sin?”).
The
spiritual ruin of the churches during these 2300 days is further indicated for
us and it happens while the virgins are asleep:
Pr
24: 30 ¶ I went by the field (the churches in the world)
of the slothful, and by the vineyard (Mat 20:1--the kingdom of heaven—the churches)
of the man void of understanding;
31 And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and
nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken
down.
32 Then I saw, and
considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
33 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of
the hands to sleep:
34 So shall
thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.
At
the end of the 2300 days (literally, because each day is an evening and morning
as indicated by the Online Bible commentary above) on September 7, 1994 the transgression
of desolation of the churches is complete based on Dan 8:13-14 above. This
desolation of the churches wherein the host is trodden under the foot of Satan
and given into his hand is also shown as a formula:
Da 7:25 And he (Satan)
shall speak great words against the most High (Christ), and shall wear
out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they (the
host-saints) shall be given into his (Satan’s) hand until a
time and times and the dividing
of time.
The YLT shows the verse in this manner:
Da 7:25 and words as an adversary
of the Most High it doth speak, and the saints of the Most High it doth wear
out, and it hopeth to change seasons and law; and they are given into its hand,
till a time, and times, and a division of a time.
Now,
if we express this formula in this fashion:
Time
+ Times = Time
+ Time + Time = 3
(Times being equal to 2 X Time)
Time Time
We
get the solution as 3 indicating that for whatever period “Time” represents,
the saints are given into the hand of Satan for this period multiplied by 3!
Now
God gives us the length of “Time” in the formula as 1290 days:
Dan 12:11 And from the time that
the daily (the candlestick—the gospel) sacrifice shall be taken
away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a
thousand two hundred and ninety days. {the abomination: Heb. to set up the
abomination}
Also,
we learn that when God is bringing judgment, He often uses a day to represent
an actual year of 365.2422 days:
Eze 4:6 And when thou hast
accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the
iniquity of the house of
Nu 14:34 After the number of the
days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and
ye shall know my breach of promise.
Also,
the Hebrew word for “day” used in Daniel 12:11 is not the same as that used in
the 2300 day (literal evening and morning—24 hour periods, as shown earlier)
and so we know that the 1290 days are not necessarily 24 hour periods.
So
applying a day for a year principle to the 1290 days we get 1290 years and then
applying the “Time, Times, and Dividing of Times” formula we get 1290 X 3 =
3,870 years!
When
we go from 1877 B.C. (the year that Jacob and his family left Israel to go into
Egypt during the great tribulation of the famine of his time, Acts 7:11-15,
depicting the light of the gospel being ended as the church comes under bondage
in Egypt—See The
Biblical Calendar Page 14 for dating) 1290 years we get to 587 B.C. which
was the physical destruction of the Kingdom of Judah at the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar (picturing Satan—See The Biblical
Calendar Page 25 for dating) and then go another 1290 years twice for 2580
years we land on 1994 A.D. (there being no year zero at the changing of the
Gregorian calendar from B.C. to A.D.—See The Biblical
Calendar Page 26). So that all the years from 1877 B.C. to 1994 A.D. are
exactly 3870 years or 3 X 1290 years!
Additionally,
the year 1994 is the 40th Jubilee from the birth of Jesus Christ who
was born in 7 B.C. which was also a Jubilee year, the jubilee years in the BC
era started in 1357 BC (See The Biblical
Calendar Page 17) and occurred every 50 years and those in the AD started
in 44 AD (50 years after 7 BC, no year zero as shown earlier) and so every year
ending in 94 and 44 with each century in the AD era are jubilee years:
Lev
25: 9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the
jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of
atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. {of the
jubile: Heb. loud of sound}
10 And ye shall hallow the
fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the
inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every
man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
11 A jubile shall that
fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of
itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.
But
we saw that the 2300 days landed on September 7, 1994. Well, the day of
September 7, 1994 was the first day of the seventh month in the Hebrew calendar
(known today as Rosh Hashana, see Hebrew
Perpetual Calendar, click the “Today” button first then chose the date), an
important memorial day:
Perpetual Hebrew/Civil
Calendar v.1.0 beta September 1994 Elul 5754/Tishrei 5755
|
Su |
Mo |
Tu |
We |
Th |
Fr |
Shabbat |
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
Rosh Hashana |
Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashana |
Fast of Gedalia |
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Yom Kippur |
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
Sukkot |
Sukkot |
Sukkot |
Sukkot |
Sukkot |
||||||||||||||
Sukkot |
Sukkot |
Sukkot |
Sukkot (d) |
|
|
|
Lev 23:23 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 24 Speak unto the children of
Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month,
shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy
convocation. 25 Ye shall do no servile work
therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
The YLT shows this passage thusly illustrating that it was a time of shouting:
Lev 23:23 ¶ And Jehovah speaketh unto
Moses, saying,
24 ‘Speak unto the sons of
25 ye do no servile work, and
ye have brought near a fire-offering to Jehovah.’
It was a
time for a holy gathering of the people of God unto one man (Christ) in the
street (out of their houses) for Him to read the scriptures and give them the
understanding:
Neh
8: 1 ¶ And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the
street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the
scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.
2 And Ezra the priest (portrait of Christ, the High
Priest) brought
the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with
understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
3 And he (Ezra-signifying Christ) read therein before the street
that was before the water gate (this gate in the wall was east towards the
rising of the sun-symbolizing their worship towards Christ, Himself who is the
Sun of Righteousness and supplies the water of life) from the morning
until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could
understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book
of the law. {from…: Heb. from the light}
4 And Ezra the scribe stood
upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him
stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah,
on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah,
and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. {pulpit…:
Heb. tower of wood}
5 And Ezra (Christ) opened the book in the sight
of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it,
all the people stood up: {sight: Heb. eyes}
6 And Ezra blessed the LORD,
the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their
hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their
faces to the ground.
7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and
Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah,
Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites (these portray teachers that are specially
endowed by God to teach), caused the people to understand the law: and
the people stood in their place.
8 So they read in the book in the law of God
distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the
reading.
So,
spiritually, this is what takes place at the very end of the 2300 days (the
period during which the ten virgins were being assaulted by Satan and they were
sleeping) on September 7, 1994. Because of the tremendous significance of
September 1994 and the numerous timepaths leading to the year 1994 as
illustrated earlier, Harold Camping of Family Radio predicted in his book “1994?”
that this year would most likely be the end of the world. Edgar C. Whisenant
made a similar prediction in “And now the
earth's destruction by fire, nuclear bomb fire.
Prediction for 1994.”
Then
continuing with our parable, we read:
6 And at midnight there was a
cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
So,
we are now up to September 7, 1994 and it is spiritually midnight:
Ps 119:62 ¶ At midnight I (Jesus) will rise
to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments (the
judgments that had been occurring on the churches for 2300 days).
63 ¶ I (Jesus) am a
companion in to all them (the elect-portrayed by the five wise virgins)
that fear thee (God), and of them that keep thy precepts.
So,
Christ rises from His throne (He had been sitting at the Father’s right hand
from His ascension, Heb 12:2) at midnight and now He will be a companion to all
that fear God which would be the elect depicted by the five wise virgins! And,
based on Nehemiah 8 quoted above, Christ will now be reading and teaching the
Word of God to the elect and causing them to understand with the help of His
teachers (portrayed by the group of individuals named in verse 7).
Now,
based on Matthew 25:6, Christ makes a cry and commands (Greek of the words
“Behold” and “go out” are both in the imperative mood) the virgins that the
Bridegroom is coming and that they should go out (of wherever they were which
were their churches) to meet Him. This conclusion is further illustrated as the
Greek of the word “go out” (1831 exercomai exerchomai ex-er’-khom-ahee
) is also translated “Come out”:
Re 18:4 And I heard another voice from
heaven, saying, Come <1831> out of her (
Here
also, “come out” is in the imperative mood! And God is commanding His people to
come out of
Isa
52: 11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing;
go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.
12 For ye shall not go out
with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of
Israel will be your rereward. {be…: Heb. gather you up}
The
YLT translates verse 12 thusly:
12 For not in haste do ye go
out, Yea, with flight ye go not on, For going before you is Jehovah, And gathering you is the
God of Israel!
(Note:
this topic of the churches becoming spiritually desolate and God commanding the
elect to depart the churches is more fully developed in the study: “Why
I no longer attend church”).
Continuing
with our study, once more, the imperative command to come out and be separated
is repeated below:
2Cor
6: 14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath
light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or
what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the
17 Wherefore come out <1831> from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto
you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
And
remember this command (cry—shout as shown in Lev 23:24) comes at midnight at
the end of the 2300 days on September 7, 1994, the first day of the seventh
month to bring together a holy gathering unto Jesus Christ who is out in the
street (Neh 8:1) and is no longer in the external churches as shown earlier by
His divorcing the churches officially on May 22, 1988!
Continuing
in the next verse of our parable, we read:
7 Then all those virgins
arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Trimming
the lamps means that they (the ten virgins) are once more resuming their
activities of sending forth the gospel (after arising out of the 2300 days of
judgment sleep) and further indicates that they were now refining their
doctrines even as Christ is now at the helm once more and is beginning to teach
them with understanding based on our conclusions reached earlier.
Next,
in the parable, we read something startling:
8 And the foolish said unto
the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. {gone out:
or, going out}
The
five foolish virgins, the ones that are not elect and are still unsaved are
asking for oil (the Holy Spirit that the elect receives at the point of
becoming saved and who anoints them for service in the gospel, as shown
earlier) from the five wise virgins because their lamps (the light thereof
which is the gospel, as shown above) are expiring! This request of the foolish
virgins shows their lack of understanding of the essentials of the true gospel.
By their doctrine, they believe that salvation (which comes with receiving the
oil, the Holy Spirit) can be obtained from a man which is the basis of the
false freewill gospel (wherein the pastor or church leader or evangelist conveys
salvation unto to those that come forward asking for salvation and they only
have to accept such salvation by their own faith). They, the foolish virgins,
fail to comprehend that at the point of salvation, we individually receive
in our new souls the indwelling of the Triune God by the Holy Spirit (the oil).
This fullness of God is a one-time instantaneous filling, we get
all of God. This is a gift from God above and it cannot be passed on
to any other person fractionally or as a whole. It is the work of God alone!
This was the case of Simon of Samaria:
Acts
8:19 Saying, Give me also this power, that
on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
20
But Peter
said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the
gift of God may be purchased with money.
21
Thou hast
neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of
God.
22
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray
God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
23
For I
perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of
iniquity.
24 Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the
Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.
The
Apostle Peter had to send Simon to God for forgiveness and salvation which is
the evidence that God has given us forgiveness of our sins. In their response
to this ludicrous request they (the five wise virgins) too refer the foolish
virgins to God showing that they understand the true gospel and abide by it in
their witnessing:
Mt
25:9 But
the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be <714> not enough <714> for us and you: but go
ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
To better understand
what the wise are answering we find that the YLT states the verse in this
manner:
9 and the prudent answered,
saying—Lest there may not be sufficient for us and you, go ye rather unto those
selling, and buy for yourselves.
And elsewhere in the
KJV, the Greek of Strongs # <714> is translated in this manner:
Joh
6:7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is <714> not sufficient <714> for them, that every one of them may
take a little.
Joh
14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth <714> us.
2Co
12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient <714>
for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me.
Therefore
by considering all of these verses, we find that what the wise are answering is
that they have only sufficient oil for themselves individually and thereby
indicating that they are aware that the Holy Spirit (the oil) is given to each
believer in fullness and cannot be shared.
Now
let us consider the second portion of the response from the wise:
Mt 25:9 But the wise answered,
saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye
rather to them that sell <4453>, and buy <59> for
yourselves.
This last portion is where they are referring the foolish virgins
to “them” which is a reference to the Triune God, as they are the Ones that
spiritually “sell” the true gospel to the elect in the process of salvation but
firstly God had to make the provision for this salvation by selling all He had
in order to pay for the salvation that He would provide:
Mt 13:44 Again, the kingdom of
heaven is like unto treasure (the elect) hid in a field (the
world); the which when a man (Jesus) hath found, he hideth, and
for joy thereof goeth and selleth <4453> all that he
hath (Jesus giving Himself to God as the payment for sins of the elect),
and buyeth <59> that field (the world, so He could get the
elect, the treasure).
Having therefore procured this salvation, God then spiritually
“sells” it to the elect who He commands and causes to buy same without any cost
to them:
Isa
55: 1 ¶ Ho, every one that
thirsteth, come ye (the elect) to the waters (the gospel), and he that hath no
money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine (the blood of Jesus that remits
sins) and milk (salvation-even as Canaan flows with milk)
without money and without price.
In both uses, the Hebrew of “buy” is in the imperative mood showing
a command is being given even as the wise virgins gave a command to the foolish
virgins because the Greek word for “buy” in Matthew 25:9 is in the imperative
form also!
This next passage establishes the fact that it is the triune God
who is all together involved in the whole salvation process of the elect:
1Pet 1:1 ¶ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the
strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the
Spirit, unto
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you,
and peace, be multiplied.
Returning to next verse of our parable we read:
Mat 25:10 And while they went to buy <59>, the
bridegroom came; and they that were ready <2092> went in
with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
In the outset of this verse we see that the foolish virgins went
off to buy the oil. Now, we indicated that the wise virgins told them to go to
God to purchase oil but God was to be only found where the five wise virgins
were as God had already departed from the churches and the five virgins had
also departed out as they were instructed to come out as covered earlier in
verse 6 of the parable. So since the foolish virgins left to go purchase oil
then where did they go? Well, we find that during the GT, when God has departed
the churches (Mystery Babylon, Rev 17:5, see earlier where Babylon is the
churches and is a mystery even as the church was a mystery until God revealed
it -- Eph 5:32 “This
is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church”.), only
those who have the mark or name of the beast or the number of his name were
allowed to be buying and selling in Babylon:
Re 13:17 And that no man might buy <59> or sell <4453>, save he
that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Therefore only those intimately identified with Satan’s activities
will be declaring the gospel in
Re 18:23 And the light of a candle
shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom
and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were
the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
In other words there is no true oil there only a counterfeit even
as we showed earlier that Satan is transformed to be as an angel of light and
his ministers in the churches are likewise transformed into ministers of
righteousness!
Now continuing in Matt 25:10, we find that in the duration of time
that passes while the foolish are off to procure oil for themselves, alas, the
Bridegroom (Christ) finally came! And the five wise virgin brides who were
ready entered in with Jesus, their Groom, into their marriage which is a
portrait of the full completion of their salvation as they are eternally united
and identified with Christ! The state of readiness of these brides is shown to
us by the further uses of the word “ready” in other passages:
Mt 22:4 Again, he sent forth other
servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my
dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are
ready <2092>: come unto the marriage.
Mt 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready
<2092>: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of
man cometh.
Thus, the wise virgins were “ready” thereby indicating that by
Divine providence they had an understanding of the hour that their Bridegroom
would come and this understanding is from of their own human cogitations! We
will look further into this conclusion later.
Now let us consider the ending phrase of the verse “and the door
was shut <2808>”. What does this mean? Well, in the parable it
simple is indicating that the door to the marriage feast was closed so that no
one else could enter from the outside and no one from the inside could go out:
Joh 20:19 Then the same day at
evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut <2808> where the
disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the
midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Ac 5:23 Saying, The prison truly
found we shut <2808> with all safety, and the keepers standing
without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.
Now it is God who had opened the door of the marriage feast and
who also shuts the door thereof thereby closing out salvation to those who are
on the outside of the marriage hall and when He shuts it no man can open it:
Re 3:7 And to the angel of the
church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he (Jesus) that is holy, he
that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man
shutteth <2808>; and shutteth <2808>, and no man
openeth;
We also find that immediately when God shuts the door, judgment
comes on those on the outside:
Gen 19; 10 But the men (God,
in the form of two men) put forth their hand, and pulled
The phrase “small and great” when applied to those who are under
judgment pictures those who are under the eternal ultimate judgment:
Re 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books
were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and
the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works.
This is the case also that the same day that God shut the door of
the ark after Noah and his seven family members had entered the flood judgment
came upon all who were not in the ark:
Gen 7: 11 ¶ In the six hundredth year
of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same
day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of
heaven were opened. {windows: or, floodgates}
12 And the rain was upon the
earth forty days and forty nights.
13 ¶ In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and
Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his
sons with them, into the ark;
14 They, and every beast after
his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every
bird of every sort. {sort: Heb. wing}
15 And they went in unto Noah
into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
16 And they that went in, went
in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
Now both historical accounts (that of
Luke 17: 26 And as it was in the days
of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank,
they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the
flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of
29 But the same day that Lot
went out of
30 Even thus shall it be in
the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Now, let us not miss the significant time clue that God gives to
us Genesis 7:11. He states there that the very day that Noah entered the ark
which was the same day the judgment flood started was 17th day of
the second month in the six hundred year of Noah’s life which (from The Biblical
Calendar--page 10) was 4990 B.C. Why did God give us such specific dating?
Well, we also find that God had earlier told Noah beforehand how long
it was from that time that God was speaking to Noah up to the time of the
flood:
Gen 7: 4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to
rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance
that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. {destroy:
Heb. blot out}
So, historically when God spoke “yet seven days” the actual day He
made this statement was the tenth day of the second month of the sixth
hundredth year of Noah’s life and then the flood came precisely as prophesied
seven days later on the seventeenth day!
However, we also find that God compares and links the world flood
judgment to the final world judgment in the last days such that the first is a
depiction of the latter:
2Pet 3: 3 ¶ Knowing this first, that
there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the
promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue
as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are
ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth
standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then
was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the
earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
In this context, God also emphasis that there is one most
important fact that the elect beloved should know:
8 ¶ But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day.
So, applying this most important time clue linking both judgments
(of one day being a thousand years and vice versa) back to the original time
clue given to the beloved and elect Noah of seven days to the flood we get
7,000 years (7 days each day being 1000 years long!) and the starting point was
the year when Noah was six years old:
Gen 7: 4 For yet seven days, and I
will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every
living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the
earth. {destroy: Heb. blot out}
5 ¶ And Noah did according unto
all that the LORD commanded him.
6 And Noah was
six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
Therefore going from 4990 B.C. (the sixth hundred year of Noah’s
life), 7,000 years later lands us on the year 2011 A.D.! (There being no year zero
at the changing of the Gregorian calendar from the B.C. era to the A.D. era, as
shown earlier).
Then, also applying the specific dating given to us of the
seventeenth day of the second month, we find that the very day in the Hebrew
calendar in the year 2011 A.D. is May 21, 2011 (See Hebrew Perpetual Calendar where May 21, 2011
is the 17th day of Iyyar 5771 [Iyyar is the second month and 5771 is the
number of years since 3761 B.C., when the modern Hebrew Calendar has its
foundation date] click the “Today” button first then chose the date):
Perpetual Hebrew
/ Civil Calendar v.1.0 beta May 2011 Nisan 5771 / Iyyar
5771
|
Su |
Mo |
Tu |
We |
Th |
Fr |
Shabbat |
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Yom Ha'Atzmaut |
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Pesah sheni |
|
|
17th of the
2nd month |
||||||||||||||
Lag B'Omer |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Indeed, the parable has now taken us from September 7, 1994 all
the way to May 21, 2011 and strongly indicating that this day is the very day
that the gospel of salvation could be shut to the unsaved members of the
churches (typified for us in our parable by the five foolish virgins) who are
still in their churches and having not departed and shut also to the rest of
the unsaved world and with the final judgment starting immediately thereafter!
Another path that leads us to the year of 2011 A.D. as the
possible date of the commencement of the final judgment after all the elect are
saved is that Noah and his seven other family members saved in the ark were
portraits of Christ (depicted by Noah) and the elect body of believers
(pictured by the seven family members) saved at the end of time before the
final judgment:
1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were
disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah,
while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
2Pe 2:5 And spared not the old
world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher
of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
Now God
tells us that Noah lived for a total of 950 years and he died 350 years after
the flood in 4990 B.C.:
Gen 9: 28 ¶ And Noah lived after the
flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all the days of Noah
were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
So if we
take the 350 years of Noah’s life span after the flood and then add 7 times
Noah’s Lifespan (950 years), one lifespan for each of his seven family members
we come up with a cumulative total of exactly 7,000 (350 + [950 X 7] = 7,000)
years as the cumulative lifespans of the elects aboard the ark at the flood,
the whole picture depicting the elect body in Christ at the final judgment. So,
once more we see that get we get to 2011 A.D. being 7,000 years from the start
of the flood in 4990 B.C.!
But if you recall, we started our parable at the very beginning of
the Great Tribulation (GT) on Sunday, May 22, 1988 A.D. and now we have come in
time to the possible shutting of the door in verse 10 of the parable and it is
Saturday, May 21, 2011. So we have covered exactly 23 years with the first part
of the GT being 2300 days, both periods featuring the number “23” which is a
number associated with God’s judgment upon the external church, the visible
house of God even as the following passages illustrate this point:
Jer 52:30 In the three and twentieth year of
Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the
Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred
(4600
=2300 X 2). (Note: these were the
Jewish captives from the external
1Co 10: 6 ¶ Now these things were our (the
external church) examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil
things, as they also lusted….
8 Neither let us commit
fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
Additionally, we find that the 23 years from May 22, 1988 to May
21, 2011 is exactly 8400 days and the number 84 is the number that the Bible
uniquely identifies with the period of the great tribulation. This conclusion
has been thoroughly researched and discussed in the study “Noah’s 70 year
Tribulation” and is not repeated here for the sake of space. Please refer to
that study for further information on this point.
So now we our parable has brought us to the very end of the GT as
May 21, 2011! But is this the end of time and the very end of this world? No!
Remember we saw that when the door was shut judgment started immediately
thereafter well the same applies with the GT as we read:
Matt 24: 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those
days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the
sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. {with…: or,
with a trumpet, and a great voice}
So we see that there are a number of events yet to take place
immediately after the GT, but remember the door is shut and there is no more
salvation! Additionally, we read that there will be some days still remaining
after the GT and it is in these days (collectively known as the Day of the
Lord—See the Sequence
of events during the Day of the Lord) God is doing His final wrap up of the
physical judgment upon the world before translating into the final eternal
judgment:
Mark 13: 24 ¶ But in those days, after that
tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light,
25 And the stars of heaven
shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see the
Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall he send his
angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the
uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
We will now go on with our parable and we read:
Matt 25: 11 Afterward came also the
other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said,
Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
So we see that sometime afterwards (the length of the duration of
this time period since the foolish virgins departed company with the wise to go
purchase oil being from September 7, 1994 through at least May 22, 2011, the
day after the door is shut) the foolish virgins came asking the Bridegroom for
entry to the marriage feast, the door being shut by God before they arrived.
Christ answers them telling them that He truly did not know them! What a
crushing blow? But it is reality, these foolish virgins NEVER had the oil at
the beginning and still never had the true oil when they returned and as such
they were not worthy when they were first bidden (simultaneously as the wise
virgins):
Mt 22:8 Then saith he to his
servants, The wedding is ready <2092>, but they
which were bidden were not worthy.
Once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door, no
one else can enter even if they were intimately identified with the sending
forth of the gospel even as the five foolish virgins had lamps and even trimmed
them:
Lk 13:25 When once the master of the
house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without,
and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer
and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and
drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not
whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Then we come to our final verse of our parable:
Matt 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein
the Son of man cometh.
Here, Christ is issuing a warning that as a result of what He just
illustrated in the parable we should all be watching so that we do not end up
as the five foolish virgins did! There is therefore strong indication that the
five wise virgins were watching and were not overtaken unawares:
Lu 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be
overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so
that day come upon you unawares.
The wise virgins of our time will not be taken as a thief in the
night as the foolish virgins will be:
1Thess 5: 1 ¶ But of
the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a
woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that
day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children
of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 ¶ Therefore let us not sleep, as do others;
but let us watch and be sober.
THE END
Click here for Personal
Studies
*************************