Read Matthew 25:1-13. In answer to the question of the disciples, our Lord describes the signs of the end of the age. His answer can be divided into two parts: the description of these times and parables for those who would be living during these days. As one comes to the study of these passages, the proper perspective must be kept in mind. Our Lord spoke and taught from the Old Testament viewpoint of Jewish history. This perspective does not see the church, which was a mystery; that is, it was hidden in the Old Testament. In His teaching about the days preceding His coming, the church age is not in view; it is invisible. The time period spoken of is the seven years before His second coming, the period we know as the Tribulation Period. Matthew 25 contains three parables not found in the other gospels. The first of these is the parable of the ten virgins. To fully understand this parable, it is helpful to understand the Jewish marriage customs of those days.
In that day and patriarchal culture, a husband and his bride would usually go live with the groom’s parents. Often a room or rooms were simply added on to the family residence for the newlyweds. When all was ready, the groom would go to the bride’s home and bring her back to his home. The wedding and the wedding feast would then take place.
1. Who were the ten virgins in the parable who went out to meet the bridegroom who was returning with his bride?
They were part of the wedding party or guests at the wedding. They were at the groom’s home waiting for him to return with his bride. They had left the house and had gone out to meet him as he neared home.
2. What mistake did half of these young women make?
The groom was delayed, it would seem, to well past sunset. This wedding party of young girls took lamps and left the house to meet the groom and his bride and escort them back. Half of these young women had thought to bring oil for the lamps; the rest did not do this. When the groom was sighted, those that forgot the oil could not light their lamps and had to leave to purchase oil. Upon returning, they found the party had started without them, and they were refused admittance.
3. What is the point and warning our Lord makes with this parable?
Be alert and prepared; you do not know when He will return.
Read Matthew 25:14-30. This is very similar to the parable our Lord told His disciples in Luke 19 as He was approaching Jerusalem. We would be remiss in our thinking if we did not believe our Lord used the same parables over and over in His teachings.
4. What is the point of this parable?
When the kingdom is established, the Lord (the Master of the house) will call His servants before Him to give account of their actions in His absence. Those that invested what He had given and had a return on their investment were rewarded. The one that hoarded what was given Him and did not use it was punished. The servants are those who live during these dark days of the Tribulation. While times are going to be tougher than at any other time in the history of the human race, God still expects those who truly trust Him to minister to others and share the gift given to them with others. They will enter the kingdom. Those who hide the gift away and do not minister are excluded from the kingdom.
Read Matthew 25:31-46. This is known as the sheep and goat judgment. It will take place after our Lord has returned, defeated the Antichrist, and set up His kingdom.
5. Who is gathered for judgment?
Everyone who is still alive on the earth, all the nations
6. Into what two groups are all peoples of the world divided?
Those on the right hand, the righteous, the sheep, are those that enter the kingdom, and those on the left hand, the accursed ones, the goats, are those who are cast into eternal punishment
7. What is the basis for judgment of these two groups? What determines into which group a person falls?
The basis for judgment seems to be how they treated the least of our Lord’s servants during the days preceding His coming.
8. Does this passage then teach that a person’s works determine his eternal destiny?
Admittedly this passage does not mention trust and faith in the Messiah at all. If this passage were all of the Scriptures we had, the answer would be a definite yes! Your destiny is determined by your actions, how you treat others, specifically, those servants of our Lord during these days. But we have much more Scripture than this passage alone. Our understanding of this issue must be determined not by one passage but by all of the Word of God. This again is the instance of faith being demonstrated in action rather than by the declaration of one’s words. See James 2:14-26. Justification has always been based on faith. Abraham was saved by faith. David was saved by faith. We today are saved by faith, and those living during the Tribulation will be saved by faith because of the sacrifice of our Savior. However, the demonstration of that faith (and true faith will always be demonstrated in some manner) may differ from age to age. During these days, it is clear that faith in the coming King of kings will be demonstrated by the refusal to accept the mark of the Antichrist, the refusal to bow before this false god, and by the way one treats God’s people. How you treat them is what the Messiah considers your treatment of Him. This is how your faith is demonstrated in these days.
The Applications:
What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.
1. One application of this parable is a point of doctrine. One’s view of the timing of the event, which is known as the rapture (pre-, mid-, or post-), is not an issue that ought to cause strife and division between believers since we’ll all know the correct view when it occurs. Until then, we should be living for our Lord and serving Him no matter when we believe it to take place! However, this parable is an excellent illustration of the pre-tribulation position. The church is the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5), and He, the bridegroom, has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3). In this parable in Matthew 25:1-13, the ten young women are waiting on the bridegroom as he goes to get the bride. This is a good picture of our Lord having taken His bride, the church, from the world. He will return as King with His bride to rule, and then the wedding feast will take place in the kingdom (Revelation 19:1-9). The ten virgins or young women picture those waiting on His return during this time. They must be alert and be ready!
Even as they must be alert and ready, so must the bride before those days of Jacob’s Trouble begin, for we as well do not know at what day or hour He shall return for His bride.
2. Today, we often equate having the correct doctrine with faith. “We believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins” means that we accept the truth of this statement; we believe it to be the truth. This is not the same as relying upon the sacrifice of Jesus as that which secures our salvation. You may accept the truth of the doctrine and yet, deep down, be relying upon the fact that you have accepted the correct doctrine to secure your admittance into heaven.
You may not realize it, but you are saying to God, “You should let me in because I have accepted this as true. I am relying upon my ability to know what to believe.” It is not our wisdom, our intelligence or our ability to reason that makes us acceptable to God; it is only our Savior’s sacrifice for us and God’s grace in showing us the truth that has secured our forgiveness and His righteousness. If we truly have faith, as the Scriptures tell us, it will be exercised in our actions, not by our doctrinal statement.
Do you believe that our Lord could return at any moment for you? Do you believe that the treasures one should gain are those that are stored up in heaven, not upon this earth? How is your life (not your doctrinal statement!) demonstrating this faith?