THE TEN VIRGINS by Editor

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 29, 1858

THE TEN VIRGINS.

By Editor

We are now prepared for the application of the parable of the ten virgins of Matt. xxv.

“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil: for our lamps are gone out. 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. 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. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily, I say unto you, I know you not.” Verses 1-12.

In the light of the facts already established, and the points already proved by our investigation thus far, the application of this portion of Scripture will not be difficult. The phrase, kingdom of heaven, is used in different places to signify different things. We believe all are agreed in the present instance in its application to the church. There are then certain events to take place in the church's history, which may be likened to some of the events of an eastern marriage. The adverb, then, by which the parable is introduced, shows that it is at a particular and definite time that this comparison is to be instituted. When is it? We answer, it must be after the events themselves have taken place. No comparison of course can be drawn between the ceremonies of an eastern marriage, and certain events in the history of the church, before those events come to pass. The church therefore must have come down this side of all transactions specified in the parable before the language can have its application, “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened,” &c.

Many have condoled their ignorance of the ceremonies and proceedings of an eastern marriage. If we only knew the history of an eastern marriage, they have said, we should then know how to make the application; and so they have hesitated to make any, on account of some imaginary knowledge which they did not possess. But there is no necessity for this. Our Lord has given all necessary particulars. He does not say, “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to an eastern marriage,” and leave us to search up the history of that ancient ceremony, and make the application for ourselves; but he specifies all the particulars to which the history of the church would bear resemblance. They are, the going forth of the virgins; the taking of oil by the wise, and the lack of it with the foolish; the tarrying of the bridegroom, and the slumbering and sleeping of the virgins; the cry at midnight; the arising of the virgins; the departure of the foolish to buy oil; the coming of the bridegroom, and the entrance of those who are ready with him to the marriage; and finally the return of the foolish virgins too late for admittance. Now it would be of no advantage to us, if we had a minute and accurate history of a thousand eastern weddings. The above are all the main particulars to which the experience of the church is to bear a resemblance; and these are all given.

We believe these particulars are now all worked out in our history, and that the time has come for the application. If we mistake not, it is as follows:

The virgins took their lamps. Thy word, says the Psalmist, is a lamp unto my feet. But a lamp is useless without oil. So the word of God would be but darkness to our path, unless we had faith in the same. The wise virgins took both their lamps and oil in their vessels with their lamps.

They went out to meet the bridegroom. Roused by the increasing light on the prophecies which showed the end of all things at hand, the people of God in 1843 and previous, went forth to proclaim and prepare for the coming of the Lord from heaven.

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. After 1843 passed, there was a seeming tarry. That year, according to Bible reckoning, extended to the spring of 1844. Before that time passed it was confidently believed that the Lord would come. The cause of that mistake we have already explained, and need not repeat. As the time went by, darkness settled upon the prophecies, and drowsiness upon the people.

And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Midway between this and the tenth day of the seventh month, light came which showed the ending of the 2300 days in the autumn of 1844, instead of the year 1843. Then indeed there was a cry made, as had never been heard before, Behold, the bridegroom cometh.

Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. No better description could be given of the movement that then took place in the Advent body. All who were so fortunate as to have a personal experience in that work can testify to this. They can also bear witness to the course of the foolish virgins while the cry was going forth. Perhaps the terms, provident and careless, would better express the force of the original words in this instance, than wise and foolish. The provident took oil in their vessels with their lamps; the careless neglected this. Their faith in the word of God was weak, and their understanding darkened as to its fulfillment; and they sought of their brethren such assistance as it was not their province to confer.

And while they went to buy the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage. The proclamation was, that on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Lord would come. The day came. The 2300 days ended; and what then? The Lord did not appear in the clouds of heaven as was expected; but he did change his position in the Sanctuary from the holy to the most holy place. Did this move answer to the coming of the bridegroom in the parable? We answer, Yes; for mark, it is not the coming of the Lord to the earth that is referred to, but only his going in to the marriage; and it has already been shown that the marriage takes place before the Lord comes. It is at the change of his ministration in the Sanctuary that one like the Son of man is brought by his angelic attendants near before the Ancient of Days, as seen by Daniel. He appears there to receive a kingdom, power and glory; and this reception of the kingdom, constitutes, as already shown, the marriage of the Lamb. At the appointed time therefore the Bridegroom went in to the marriage; and the cry, Behold the Bridegroom cometh, referring as it did only to this event, was no false alarm. No other event can be pointed to, as the going in of the Bridegroom to the marriage, except the change of ministration in the heavenly Sanctuary. Let this be remembered. Then he who takes the position that Christ has not yet gone in to the marriage, must admit that he has not yet changed his position in the heavenly Sanctuary; and that consequently its cleansing is not now going on. But to admit this, is to demolish the main and central pillar of present truth, and precipitate the whole structure to irrecoverable ruin. Being satisfied that there is no other place for Christ to go in to the marriage, except when he changed his ministration at the end of the 2300 days, we are to remember in connection with this, another fact, namely, that it is when the Bridegroom goes in to the marriage, and not a score or so of years afterwards, that

The door is shut. What event can be pointed out by this language? This we must determine in the light of the facts already established. What the marriage of the Lamb is, we know; what the going in of the Bridegroom to the marriage is, we know; and when this took place, we also know. But when he goes in, the door is shut. What is this? Says Christ to the Philadelphia church, [Rev. iii, 7.] speaking of himself, “These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth.” He then tells them in the next verse, that he has set before them an open door. But he shutteth as well as openeth. And from the significant connection of this transaction with the phrase, “He that hath the key of David,” that is, the power to take the throne and government of David, we conclude that it has some connection with that event. The assumption of David's throne is the marriage of the Lamb. He that hath the key of David openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth. When the bridegroom went in to the marriage, the door was shut. At the same time says he to the church of Philadelphia, I have set before thee an open door. From this it is evident that when the door, or when one door, is shut, another is opened. Now if the door that is shut, is, as some have called it, the door of mercy; that is, if there is no more mercy for the human race after it is closed, what is that door which is opened? We understand that by the open and shut doors is simply brought to view the change of ministration in the Sanctuary. The ministration in the first apartment was finished and closed: Christ entered within the veil and the ministration of the most holy opened. But how does this affect the condition of the human race? Much every way; for a consistent faith in Christ involves the necessity of an understanding of his position and of his work; here therefore a restriction must be made. Light enough has been given us in the Word to trace our Saviour through all his characters as Prophet, Priest and King, and we must keep our eye fixed upon him. He says, “I am the way, the truth and the life;” and unless we heed the light which reveals to us his position and work, he witnesses against us when he says, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” To come to him therefore at the present time, and to exercise an effective faith in him, we must have an understanding of his present position. We come to him therefore as our great High Priest, performing his last and special work, pleading his blood before the mercy-seat, beneath which reposes God's righteous law, a violation of which has made his sacrifice and mediation necessary; and as the scene is thus presented before us, we see the necessity of keeping that law in all its requirements. Those who therefore, with the present light on this subject, shall attempt to find in Christ a Saviour, while living in violation of that holy law, or shall seek him as minister in the first apartment of the Sanctuary, will find that he has withdrawn himself from them, and knows them not. That door is shut.

But while Christ exercises the office of Priest, he is a mediator between God and man, and those who will come unto him may avail themselves of his mediation. He is Priest in the second apartment as well as the first. If we confess our sins, he is yet “faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” But as surely as Babylon is fallen, and evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse, and all are being drawn into the absorbing whirlpool of spiritualism, so surely his Spirit and sympathy is withdrawn from them as a body. Some may here call us bigoted and exclusive; but they may as well say the same of the whole plan of salvation, because it contains prescribed conditions with which men must comply, or they can never be saved.

It has been claimed by some that the doors of both apartments of the heavenly Sanctuary are now open. This is simply to adopt the absurdity that a ministration is carried on in both apartments at the same time; for the expressions, open, and shut door, as applied to either apartment of the heavenly Sanctuary, must mean simply that the ministration of that apartment is either going on or is finished.

The going in of the Bridegroom to the marriage, can be located nowhere else but at the change of the ministration in the Sanctuary; and the door that was shut when he went in to the marriage, can only be the door of the first apartment, the ministration of which then and there closed.

Again, some have inquired, Can any of those who have been wise virgins be lost? Can any of the foolish be saved? and what of those who were once included in neither class? The only difficulty that can arise here is from allowing the virgins to represent individuals instead of a class. Representing, as we think they do, the latter, we see that an individual may, without difficulty, though belonging at one time to one class, at another, help compose the other.

Let us, brethren, who have by faith followed the Bridegroom in to the marriage, see to it that our loins are girt about, and our lights burning, and that we are like unto men who wait for their lord when he will return from the wedding.

(To be Continued.)