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THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Tuesday, January 6, 1885

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 62, No. 1

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THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS.

By Editor

BY THE EDITOR.
TEXT: Matt. 25: 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.”
If there is one point in the Christian’s experience which is of supreme importance, a moment which he should contemplate with the profoundest interest and concern, it is that hidden line that marks the limit of his probation, that moment which decides his eternal destiny.
“There is a time—we know not when; A point—we know not where; That marks the destiny of men, To glory or despair.”
Such a moment is brought to view in the text. A certain class, there represented as ready, go in with the bridegroom to the marriage; and then the door is shut; and afterward, when another class come and seek admittance, they cannot find it.
Is it possible for us to understand our relation to this decisive moment, and to know when we are drawing near thereto?
In the great advent movement of forty years ago, this parable was instinctively turned to as one which had a vital connection with the movement, and illustrated its principal features. It was given that prominence and importance to which its evidently solemn truths entitle it. The Adventists of that day well understood the general scope of the parable; and although they had not then light sufficient to discern the real meaning of one of its essential features, they had an application for it all, and used it with wonderful effect. We hear not so much about it now. Further light was needed to a full understanding of it, and the subject has grown, to those who have rejected that light, darker and darker. The disappointment of the passing of the time threw them into confusion; their misapplication of the parable threw them into still worse confusion. They have lost their bearings; and, locating in the future what belongs to the past, they now look for the fulfillment of events which they will ever expect in vain; for they are already accomplished.
There is just one key to the solution of this parable, just one subject which explains it; but only one people have as yet been willing to receive the light on this subject. The subject to which we refer is that of the sanctuary, and the people are the Seventh-day Adventists. When we say that Seventh-day Adventists are the only ones who can explain this parable, it is simply saying that they have adopted the only position on the subject of the sanctuary which makes its explanation possible; for without a correct view of the sanctuary question it is no more possible to explain the parable of the ten virgins than it would be possible to explain the movements of the heavenly bodies without a knowledge of the Copernican theory of the solar system. But that Seventh-day Adventists can explain the parable, and make an application of all of its solemn and important lessons, it is the purpose of these remarks to demonstrate.
The intuitions of believers in 1844, as to the importance of this parable, were correct. The occasion, the subject, the speaker, all show this. It follows that discourse in Matt. 24, which is justly termed, “Our Lord’s great Prophecy.” It is designed to illustrate the experience of the church in connection with the doctrine of the second coming of Christ; for to this point, as its ultimate object, the whole of Matthew 24 is devoted. We are taken down step by step through the whole dispensation from the first to the second advent of the Saviour. The chapter closes with the church standing in the last generation ever to live on the earth, and with a warning against the danger and doom of the evil servant who says in his heart, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” “Then” says the opening sentence of the parable, “shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.” The expression “kingdom of heaven” is here used, as in many other instances in the New Testament, to denote the work of the gospel among men; as in the parable of the net, the mustard seed, the leaven, etc. And by it we are taught that at the time referred to, the experience of the church in the advent movement might be likened to the events of an eastern wedding.
The time and the circumstances being thus clearly defined, let us look at the movements connected with an eastern marriage ceremony, and also at the experience of the church at the time when the coming of Christ is drawing nigh, and mark what events in the latter we are instructed to look for by the illustrations of the former.
The first movement was on the part of the bridegroom, who came with a procession, with torches, timbrels, and song, to the place of the marriage. Meanwhile virgins were waiting to greet him on the way, and join the procession to the appointed place. If there chanced to be some delay on the part of the bridegroom beyond the hour when he was expected, the virgins would naturally incline to drowsiness as they waited, and suffer their lights to grow dim. But when the procession did finally come, they were to proceed with them to the common destination. The householder who made the wedding, provided each guest with a suitable garment in which to appear at the ceremony, called the “wedding garment.” And in these garments the guests, having reached the appointed place, were to array themselves. A suitable time being given for this purpose, the master came in to examine them to see if all had complied with the regulations, and were properly arrayed in the wedding garment; then the marriage took place, and the prolonged festivities of the marriage feast in due time followed.
Such were the essential features of an eastern marriage; and through these Christ would instruct us in regard to certain positions which he is to fill, and certain experiences through which the church is to pass in connection with his second coming. First, he is the divine Bridegroom; secondly, there is a definite object called “the bride;” thirdly, there is coming a specific time when a union is to be consummated between the two, called “the marriage of the Lamb;” fourthly, there is a season of joy and heavenly entertainment to follow, called “the marriage supper of the Lamb;” but fifthly, this season immediately follows the redemption of God’s people (Rev. 19: 1–8), clearly implying that the marriage is, at least, closely connected with the coming of Christ; and sixthly, these events were to excite great interest among men, and cause a movement to be made which would be aptly illustrated by the going forth of virgins to meet the bridegroom at an eastern wedding.
Having now before us the events and the actors concerned in these events, it remains that we locate them and trace, as far as we can, the fulfillment of the parable.
As Christ is the bridegroom, and the leading event of the parable is the coming of the bridegroom, it follows that the virgins represent the church; for the church are the ones to be interested in, and to make preparations for, that event. When Mr. Miller and his co-laborers, at the beginning of the present generation, preached that the Saviour was soon to appear, the church arose, took their lamps—the word of God—and went forth to meet him. This “going forth to meet him” of course implies only the attention that would be given to the subject of the coming of the Lord, and the requisite work of preparation for that event. Ten virgins are introduced to represent the whole body of believers, as that was, perhaps, the usual number who acted this part in the eastern wedding. The fact that just five of these virgins were said to be foolish, shows that no definite proportion was designed to be expressed between the wise and foolish; inasmuch as this is the only division which would not seem to denote definiteness. The foolish virgins, that is, that part of the professed believers in the advent movement represented by them, took no oil in their vessels with their lamps; they had only the oil with which their lamps were first filled; but nothing to replenish them with, when the first supply was exhausted; in other words, they had only the first impulses to carry them forward in the work; the motives by which they were impelled into it were not true and genuine, and they had not the grace to stand should delay occur and a special strain be made upon their endurance.
“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” There could not be even a seeming tarry on the part of the bridegroom, until some definite point of time, at which he was expected to appear, had been reached and passed. This shows that in this movement there would be a definite time set for the Lord to come; but the time would pass by, and there would be a seeming delay in his appearing. It was precisely so in the advent movement. The close of the year 1843, Jewish time, which ended with the first new moon after the vernal equinox in 1844, according to our calendar, was fixed as the date which would not pass before the Lord would come. When that time did pass, more or less uncertainty and confusion followed. Those engaged in the movement, being thrown by this unexpected occurrence into a condition of doubt and perplexity, naturally began to lose their faith and zeal. They all slumbered and slept.
“And at midnight there was a cry made, ‘Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.’” The use of the term “midnight” clearly implies that the period of waiting would be a time of darkness; and in the very midnight of that darkness, a cry would be raised, “Behold the bridegroom cometh.” This must be owing to some new evidence which would spring up, and some new tokens which would appear, to show that the delay was soon to end, that the bridegroom was indeed coming, and that the cry should accordingly be made. Three months from the passing of the time in the spring of 1844 passed by. With every declining day the doubt and uncertainty and darkness of the situation increased. The midsummer of 1844 was reached—and then occurred a movement which is a phenomenon among religious revivals. All at once was heard in different parts of the land, the cry, “Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him,”—a cry, raised by men simultaneously, although they knew nothing of each other’s movements. The result was a sudden awakening and as powerful a spiritual work as has, perhaps, ever appeared in the Christian church. It will be of interest, as it is also necessary to an understanding of the subject, to inquire into the causes which led to this movement.
In this tarrying time the Adventist leaders had not been idle. Men of clear minds and careful thought (and there were not a few educated and able men among them), were earnestly seeking to solve the mystery of the delay. They suddenly discovered new light—some on the prophetic periods, others on the types of the former dispensation, all of which threw light at once on their position. The great prophetic period, the termination of which was supposed to mark the time for the coming of the Lord, and which was the great foundation of the Advent movement, was the 2300 prophetic days (literal years) of Dan. 8: 14: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” It was proved beyond all contradiction that those days began in 457 B. C. An argument was then constructed, somewhat loosely as it now appears, as follows: “457 B. C., and 1843 A. D., together make 2300; therefore the days will terminate by the last day of the year 1843, Jewish time.” They discovered that if they did end thus, they must have commenced with the very first day of 457 B. C.; for it takes 457 full years before Christ and 1843 full years after Christ, to make 2300. Further study showed that they did not begin with the first day of 457 B. C., but in the autumn of that year; consequently their termination would not be reached till the autumn of the year following 1843; that is, the autumn of 1844. And inasmuch as the event to occur at the end of the days was the cleansing of the sanctuary, they looked back to the type, and found that the sanctuary was always cleansed on the tenth day of the seventh month; which again pointed to the autumn according to our calendar. Putting these facts together, they concluded that the days would end, not in the spring of 1844 as they had at first supposed, but the autumn of the year, on the 10th day of the 7th month, Jewish time, which in that year fell on the 22d of October. That day of that month was therefore set as the time when the days would end, and the sanctuary be cleansed. The sanctuary they supposed to be the earth, and that its cleansing would be by fire at the revelation of the Lord Jesus. Therefore the cry was raised, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him,” and the whole church, like the virgins awakened by the cry at midnight, bounded to their feet as the proclamation rang through the land.
They were all aroused and trimmed their lamps, but the foolish had no oil in their vessels. Some did not seem to be able to enter into the movement with the earnestness, zeal, and joy that others experienced. They were told to go and buy for themselves; that is, to seek for themselves individually, the light and the blessing of the Lord. And it is a significant fact that this movement was just midway between the passing of the time in the spring of 1844, and the autumn of that year where it was finally ascertained that the days would end. The cry thus raised continued to be given, with ever-increasing power, though all did not receive it, till that point of time was reached which had been set for the end of the days, “While they went to buy, the bridegroom came.”
Did the bridegroom come when the days ended? He certainly did not come to this earth as they had expected. But is it a coming on the part of Christ, in the clouds of heaven to this earth, which the parable brings to view? The question now to be answered is, “What is the coming of the bridegroom brought to view in the parable?” Is it the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven? or does it point out some other event? Let it be marked, first of all, that the bridegroom in the parable was coming to the marriage. That, of course, illustrates the coming of Christ to that event which is called his marriage, or the marriage of the Lamb. But does the marriage of the Lamb take place upon this earth? By no means. Then his coming to the marriage is not his coming to this earth. When he comes to his people here, he returns from the wedding. Luke 12: 36. Then his coming to the wedding is some other event. What is it?
To ascertain this, several other questions must be answered; namely, What is the bride? what is the marriage? and when, where, and how, is the marriage to be consummated? A word may be necessary in regard to a widespread misapprehension as to what constitutes the bride. Almost uniformly, in the religious world, the church is called the bride, because Paul uses the marriage relation to illustrate the union which exists between Christ and his church. If this be so, then the marriage of the Lamb has been going on ever since souls began to be united to him. But does any one believe this? No one can believe it, in view of the fact that the marriage of the Lamb is set forth in the Scriptures as a definite event to be accomplished in connection with the redemption of his people; for as they enter the joys of the glorified state, they sing, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come; and his wife hath made herself ready”—not, and we, as the bride, have made ourselves ready. Rev. 19: 7. And certainly the church cannot be the bride in this parable; for here the church is represented by the virgins. The bridegroom does not come to marry the virgins; but the virgins go forth to meet him as he is coming to the marriage to take to himself another party which is called the bride.
The church not being the bride, we extend the inquiry, “What is the bride?” a step further. In Rev. 21: 9, 10, John declares that one of the seven angels which had the seven last plagues (one who has to do with the closing scenes of this world’s history) addressed him thus: “Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” Then the angel took him away to a high mountain, and showed him the city of God, the New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. This city, then, is plainly called the bride; for we may be sure the angel did not mingle deception with the holy vision he was imparting to John.
To parry the force of this testimony, those who claim that the church is the bride, affirm that this city is merely a symbol of the church. But to make this city, with its four-square form, its foundation stones and wall, its gates and streets, its four outlooks toward the four points of the compass, its river and tree of life, and its throne of God and the Lamb, simply a figure of the church, is too great a paroxysm of mystification to be entertained by any at least for whom these remarks are intended; and we therefore dismiss at once this supposition. Moreover, John says that when this city comes down from God out of heaven, it is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21: 2), and Paul, speaking of the same city (Gal. 4: 26) says that it is “the mother of us all.” By the phrase “us all,” Paul certainly means the church. We, then, are the children of that city, not the city itself. The children must not be confounded with the mother.
With this city, the Lamb, when he takes it as his own, is to be intimately connected. The Lamb’s twelve apostles have their names upon its twelve foundation stones. Verse 14. The Lamb’s people in twelve divisions have their names upon its twelve gates. Verse 12. The Lamb in connection with God is the temple of it. Verse 22. He is also the light of it. Verse 23. And the Lamb’s book of life is the great register of the names of all those who are entitled to enter therein. Verse 27. And above all, and over all, is the throne of the Lamb from which proceeds the river of life that makes glad this city of God. Rev. 22: 1; Ps. 46: 4. And the prophet Isaiah, addressing this city, as a representative of the new covenant, says: “Thy Maker is thy husband.” Isa. 54: 5. Paul, in Gal. 4: 26, 27, applies this very prophecy to the New Jerusalem above, which is the mother of us all. Christ is the author of the covenant. He is the maker of the city. He is the husband of this city, which, in the illustration used to set forth the events connected with the carrying out of the great plan of salvation, is called the bride.
Having now learned from the testimony of the Scriptures who the bridegroom is, and also what the bride is, it is not difficult to tell what the marriage is—it is a special relation which these parties at some time enter into with each other. Is there, then, ever to come a time when Christ is to enter into such a relation with this city, and so receive it unto himself that the event may be called the marriage of the Lamb?—Most certainly; for this city is to be the grand metropolis of his future kingdom. There is his throne; and when he takes his throne, he receives the city as his own, the ornament and glory of the occasion when he is crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. As he therefore takes the kingdom when he takes the city, his marriage may be described as his reception of the kingdom. But he receives his kingdom before he comes in the clouds of heaven; for he represents himself in Luke 19: 11, 12, by the nobleman who went away into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return; so Christ has gone away to receive his kingdom and then return; and when he appears in the clouds of heaven, it is after he has been invested with royalty; for he is then seated upon the throne of his glory. Matt. 25: 31. If therefore we can ascertain when, and under what circumstances Christ receives his kingdom, we can tell what the marriage is, and when he comes to it.
(Concluded next week.)