“Then (at the time that when Adventist and others were awakening and looking for the bridegroom’s arrival) all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.” Their lamps once pointed them to A.D. 1844, but He “tarried.” A cry is now made that the tarrying time was thirty years (from A.D. 1844 to A.D. 1874), as paralleled by the thirty years of the Jewish age, from the birth of Jesus until He “came,” being thirty years of age. This cry proclaimed to the…
Unlike many of our Lord’s parables this one is placed and fixed by the word “then.” Taken in connection with the preceding Chapter (Chapter 24), it is fixed as belonging to the last generation of the church living when the Lord comes. The kingdom of heaven is a term applicable to the church, which, from its establishment at Pentecost has always been God’s kingdom in which He is King and over which his will is law. True, in the future it will be “set…
Revelation Chapter 16 VERSES 12 -16 continued “And the sixth (angel) poured out his bowl upon the great river, the [river] Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that [come] from the east (or sunrising). And I saw [coming] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as if it…
Comment: We use Psa 119:62 to show that the resurrection of the Ancient Worthies will occur at a crisis or turning point: “At midnight I will rise (from the sleep of death) to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.” Therefore, “midnight” can also signify a crisis or turning point in the parable and does not have to pinpoint 1874 as the start of a new day. “Midnight” will be a crucial turning point for the feet members….
Returning to Verse 7: “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.” We note that the very first thing to happen after the midnight cry is that the virgins awoke. (They had been slumbering—see Verse 5.) All of the virgins “arose” (awoke) and trimmed their lamps. The hour of the beast is fast approaching when the nominal Church will come into…
Having in our previous post considered several reasons why the class was rather reluctant to change the time line for the application of this prophecy we should now like to consider several other points from another standpoint—from the standpoint of TODAY. Here is the question: Could these happenings of the past have providentially occurred to lock this subject until a later date? The answer seems to be yes, and will become more apparent as we continue. Matthew 24 tells about…
Having presented the common or orthodox view of this parable we should here like to present another possible interpretation, note none of the essential lessons which we gleamed from the first have been changed it is simply the time for the application of this parable that is being reconsidered now. Upon further study the class had deemed that certain points in the parable merited reconsideration. One point is that ten virgins went forth and the Bridegroom did tarry. After the…
Matthew Chapter 25 Verse 11: “Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.” This event will take place AFTER the door is shut—and after the foolish virgins realize it is shut. However, the pleading “Lord, open to us” means they want the door to be opened, which is quite different from those in the Johnsonite movement, who blithely accepted the supposed fact that the door is shut and had no desire for it to be opened….
Matthew Chapter 25 Verse 9: The foolish virgins were told to go to the marketplace of experience to buy the extra oil. “The wise answered… go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” Verse 9 refers to the difficult experience at the end of the age where some will sell the truth. Their actions will shock the foolish virgins into a realization of their need for more of the Holy Spirit so that they themselves will not…
Matthew Chapter 25 VERSE 11-12 “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.” The door is still open. To date Jesus has not made the announcement “I know you not.” Therefore, we are still in the period between the midnight announcement and the closing of the door and going into the marriage. The lamp trimming takes place during this entire time, and…