“And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them…”
Matthew 25:2
When the Bridegroom tarries, the lamps of the “five foolish virgins” go out. They lose their inspiration; their lamps no longer shine with the Light of Him. They become stagnant, unable to respond to the exhortations of the Word.
“…our lamps are gone out.”
Matthew 25:8
Lethargy takes hold of hearts where the fire of God’s presence slowly dissipates through neglect and self-reliance. The foolish rely on their own wisdom, their knowledge of the word, and are comfortable with a faith that produces no works. It is a place of great deception.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves.”
James 1:22
There is no greater deception than to know the word without doing it. The manna that fell had to be eaten on the day it was given.
The Law of the Manna
“And Moses said unto them,
This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.”
Exodus 16:15
The manna is NOT given for us to consider, or to hold in our minds. Without the doing, we are not eating of its sustenance.
“Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.”
Exodus 16:20
There is, within the dispensation of God’s word, a snare to those who hear without obedience. They come to disregard the authority of the Word, placing themselves above its dictates and making themselves to be their own lords.
The five foolish virgins relied upon themselves. They did not miss the oil of His Spirit; their confidence was in something else. When their lamps were empty, the Bridegroom came.
His verdict on them is frightening and eternal.
“But He answered and said,
Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”
Matthew 25:12
The strength of our relationship with Jesus is revealed as He tarries. Time exposes truth. A stagnant, lukewarm heart that feels no intrinsic need to make Him known evidences a life that has lost the pulse of His dynamic wonder. It was the anointing of the Holy Spirit that produced lives filled with His overflowing wonder.
“For we cannot but speak the things
which we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:20
Those who have seen little have little to say. Those who have eaten His Word through the medium of obedience live to make Him known. Christ, being the light of the world, shines radiantly through the lives of those in whom His fire burns.
The Provisions of the Lord
“And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.”
Psalm 104:15
Related Post: The Coming One – The Day of the Lord
Vision of the Ten Virgins given to Tony Puccio – Lights Out
“Where there is no fuel,
a fire goes out…”
Proverbs 26:20 (CEV)
Brian Troxel
Lights Out?
I saw in a vision, 07/18/2015, lanterns, the kind you fill with oil, on the ground. The lanterns were on the ground and many were dim and dying out. It was pitch black dark in this vision. What I found strange and sad is that the lanterns were not being held or cared for by anyone. You can’t expect to maintain the light with no oil being placed in the lamp to replenish what was used and no one to trim the wick to maximize the light. There were many many unattended lamps in this vision. This is indeed very tragic because it can only mean that people do not realize the hour in which we live nor the danger that they are in. The parable of the 10 virgins comes to mind here.
Mat 25:1-13
(1) “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
(2) Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
(3) Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
(4) but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
(5) But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
(6) “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’
(7) Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
(8) And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
(9) But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’
(10) And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
(11) “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’
(12) But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
(13) “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
What comes to mind here is that each one of us is individually responsible for keeping our lamps full of oil and our wicks trimmed. We are not a repository of oil for each other.
A dream that I had several years ago comes to mind here as well,
I had a dream early the morning of 04/29/2012. In the dream my wife and I were in bed sleeping and it was very late. Our door bell rang and I remember saying to my wife, “who would be ringing our doorbell at this late hour. We both got up to see who it was. What was odd was that each of us had an old fashioned hurricane lamp, the kind you fill with oil, as our light . When we opened the front door, we saw an angel standing there with a jug of oil in his hands. He filled our lamps and told us that the time is short.
As it states above I had this dream 3 years ago. I have discovered some things while reading this post again and am essentially adding to this posting. First off I note that this dream could be compared with the 10 virgins 5 being wise and 5 being foolish. The 5 wise had additional oil to take with them so that they wouldn’t run out when the bridegroom came at night. It was God’s mercy that He sent an angel to fill our lamps. We should have had that responsibility on our shoulders and have had the extra oil.
Secondly night and darkness are metaphors for evil in the bible. It does say that the bridegroom came at around midnight. Oil, i.e., the Holy Spirit, is essential to be able to travel in the dark.
As I studied more in depth I found that the Greek word for lamp was lampas and it actually meant a torch. This had to be replenished with oil every 15 minutes .
The reason I post this is that this scripture was not written with modern day light bulbs in mind. Again look at my dream above. My wife and I had lamps that required maintenance on our part, i.e., the wicks needed trimming and the lamps needed oil to burn. This was our responsibility in the dream and it is the responsibility of every believer to keep his/her own lamp full. What caught my attention is the fact that the oil needed replenished every 15 minutes in order for the lamp to continue to burn brightly. What then does that say about how often we should be praying and getting filled up and all the more so as the days become more and more dark because of the evil
https://tpuccio.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/lights-out/
Hello Tony – I added the link of the Vision given to you in this article – very pertinent
Blessings
BT
The church needs to wake up and realize the times in which we live.
The hour is late – I feel such grief over our condition. There is little understanding of the things that are coming.
Few are sounding out His warning…
“Sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.”
Blessings, brother – May we be faithful to declare His warnings!
BT