Season 5 Podcast 33 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew 25, “The Parable of the Ten Virgins Pt 2.”

Season 5 Podcast 33 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew 25, “The Parable of the Ten Virgins Pt 2.”If you have not listened to “The Parable of the Ten Virgins,” Pt 1, may we invite you to do so. In Pt 1 we analyzed Revelations 18 and 19 as they related to the Parable of the Ten Virgins. In this podcast we shall examine the text of the parable itself.“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.”One of the primary purposes of all the parables is to teach us about the Kingdom of Heaven and how to get there. To do that we must first understand which Kingdom of Heaven Christ is referring to. Paul, who was caught up in the third heaven, speaks of three degrees of Glory. He uses light to separate them.“There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:” (1 Corinthians 15:40-42)When Christ is describe he is often described by the light of the sun. Paul described Christ this way.“At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”  (Acts 26: 13-15)John the Revelator describes the resurrected Lord in the same way.“His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. (Revelation 1:14-16)In the transfiguration, the face of Christ also shown like the sun.6 LINDA“And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” (Matthew 17:2)Christ promises that those who live with him will also shine like the sun.“Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:43)It follows then that the Kingdom of Heaven spoken of in the Parable of the Ten Virgins is the Celestial Kingdom. The others shine like the moon and stars.  What we have then with the Parable of the Ten Virgins is a representation of the separation of heavens. All are virgins, meaning they lived chaste lives. All began with full lamps.  The five wise Virgins are invited into the Celestial Kingdom where the Marriage supper of the Lamb is held. Those five foolish virgins will by default enter the Terrestrial Kingdom, where their bodies will shine like the moon. It is a kingdom of heaven, but Christ does not live there. They will not have a fullness of his light and glory; nevertheless, it is still a kingdom of heaven. There is nothing in their behavior that suggests that they go to hell. They are negligent, but they are not evil. Their sorrow is because they were denied the highest degree of glory where Christ lives.