The Ten Virgins & The Two Resurrections
THE TEN VIRGINS & THE TWO RESURRECTIONS
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Matthew 25:1-13 KJV Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. (2) And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. (3) They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: (4) But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. (5) While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. (6) And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. (7) Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. (8) And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. (9) 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. (10) 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. (11) Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. (12) But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. (13) Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
The parable of the ten virgins has several varied interpretations usually in the context of the true saved Christian who will be raptured versus the fake unsaved Christian who will not be raptured. In my opinion, this interpretation is entirely wrong as will be discussed. Like most parables, this one specifically refers to the kingdom of Heaven which is that kingdom of God to be established on the earth in the future.
Two Resurrections The Bible speaks of two resurrections not counting the resurrection of Jesus, and the raising from the dead performed by Jesus of various people including Lazarus, the little girl, and a few at the death of Christ. The first resurrection, sometimes called the “rapture”, occurs at the return of Jesus prior to the wrath of God and will include the living and the dead saints, but not necessarily all of them. Dr. Stephen Jones calls this the resurrection of the “first fruits” or overcomers. This will not include all Christians who have received salvation by the grace of God, but only the righteous overcomers who have placed their complete trust in Jesus and have truly learned to forgive everyone regardless of the injustice they may have suffered.
The story of Job would be an extreme case of an overcomer who never placed any blame on God, himself, or another person but maintained a forgiving spirit. He was greatly honored and rewarded by God in life and presumably also in the next life.
These first resurrection overcomers will be rewarded as the judges and rulers of the earth under the reign of Jesus during the length or time span of the Millennium. There will be surviving humans after the wrath of God who will live on the earth and procreate and die during the one thousand years.
The second resurrection occurs at the end of the Millennium (not the end of time but during the post Millennial age) and will include the remainder of the righteous and all the unrighteous. This will be the time of the White Throne Judgment.
Revelation 20:5 KJV But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
The final sentence of verse 20:5 reads “This is the first resurrection” and is a parenthetical statement referring to the events stated in verses 1 through 4, and not to the first sentence of verse 5.
Revelation 20:11-12 KJV (11) And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (12) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
The book of life contains the names of the people of God or the Church in general who were not the overcomers of the first resurrection. They will undergo a mild form of correction and be given glorified bodies. The general books, which are probably the books of the laws of God, will be for the unrighteous and the unsaved. Their discipline will be more severe and will necessitate the lake of fire which is the fiery law of God. For more information concerning the lake of fire go to the following link: The Lake of Fire
For more information concerning the resurrections and the judgment, you may click the following link: The Last Ages & the Resurrections
Virgins are Saved This parable and similar others have always been difficult to comprehend by those who do not understand the two resurrections and the ones who will be impacted by the two resurrections. All are virgins; all have a lamp with oil; all are waiting at the door; all fall asleep; and all awaken at the call and trim their lamps. The only difference is that five have extra lamp oil and five do not. Does this mean that 5 will be raptured (resurrected) and five will burn in hell? No, but that is the usual conclusion arrived at by most Bible teachers and theological people.
Please note the main characters of this parable are presented as ten virgins and not 5 virgins accompanied by 5 whores. They are all virgins and thus are righteous individuals saved by the grace of the Lord. However, five are prepared with an abundance of lamp oil and five are not prepared.
The five prepared individuals are the overcomers and will be allowed into the door for the wedding feast. They are the “first fruits” and will take part in the first resurrection. The five unprepared virgins will not be allowed into the door of the first resurrection but will be raised at the second resurrection, which will include both the righteous, with the laws of God issues, and various levels of unrighteousness. This resurrection was taught in the parables of the sheep and goats and the wheat and tares. No one will be destroyed but all will be disciplined by the law of God. Some with few stripes (probably symbolic) and others with the fiery laws of God as symbolized by the lake of fire of Revelation and the stream of fire coming from the throne of God in the book of Daniel.
Acts 24:14-15 KJV But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: (15) And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
It is my opinion, and also that of others, the lake of fire is not an eternal torment but a corrective method of the law of God for discipline and teaching.
Oil The first fruits offering was a wave offering of barley which was to be mixed or anointed with oil which is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. The first fruits is symbolic of the first resurrection. Oil was used to anoint a king and for the consecration of priests.
Leviticus 23:13 KJ3 And its food offering shall be two tenths part of flour mixed with oil, a fire offering to Jehovah, a sweet fragrance; and its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine.
The virgins with an abundance of oil (Holy Spirit) were prepared to participate as the barley first fruits offering. The second unprepared group would miss the barley offering and could only participate in the following wheat offering which would require threshing; the burning of the chaff; and to be cooked with leaven, which is symbolic of sin. A study of wheat in the Bible teaches us about the Church in general and the manner in which the Church is raised and judged briefly in the second resurrection. Barley is the first grain to ripen, is free of chaff, requires no threshing, and can be separated by waving the sheath. Wheat becomes mature much later than barley, requires threshing, and the chaff residue must be removed. The two Old Testament grain offerings of barley and wheat symbolize of represent the two levels of resurrection.
All will be resurrected and receive eternal life but all will not be resurrected at the same time. The first resurrection (rapture) will be the first fruits or the overcomers. The second resurrection will occur toward the end of the millennium and will be the grain offering of wheat. The ones written in the book of life will have their leaven replaced with the sanctified oil of the Holy Spirit in its fullness.
The virgins are waiting for the bridegroom to appear. Notice they are not traveling to the origin of the bridegroom, but rather, the groom is coming to them. Jesus will come from heaven, leaving God the Father, to be with his bride and the bridal company on the earth, not in heaven. The wise virgins escorted him to the place where they had been awaiting his coming.
Genesis 2:24 ASV Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
When Paul speaks of Christ’s coming, He speaks of believers meeting Him in the air to escort Him to earth, but not of the believers going to heaven as their final home.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 KJV (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
This will occur in an almost identical fashion as Moses ascending Mt. Sinai to meet the Lord God.
Exodus 19:20 KJV And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
Not everyone celebrated the marriage feast, which is called by some as the Feast of Tabernacles. Those who did not have enough oil which is the Holy Spirit, had to go buy more oil. It was a late hour and they did not return until the door was shut.
Ephriam
Before you teach doctrine or prophecy you may want to first review all the related scriptures from both the old and the New Testament.
It is generally not good to state something that conflicts with other scriptures
And what might that be, Mr. Truthseeker? Could you be for specific?
To avoid confusion with people reading comments, let me be more specific. I am almost certain you are referring to your fictional 3rd resurrection.
Revelation 20:5 KJV But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Revelation 20:12 KJV And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
The above scriptures represent the two resurrections. The first is even named as the lst
Just supply the scriptural reference to a 3rd resurrection and I will be happy that I learned something new because I truly am a truth seeker.
ephraim,
there are 3 resurrections — 3 is God’s number of completion, and 3 resurrection completes the salvation process.
The First Resurrection is to Eternal life, these are the First fruits the small spring harvest.
The 2nd is to judgment i.e. living a physical life and being judged over a life time. See Ezekiel 37, and Rev 20: 4,5,6 these are the abortions and all that have never had their one opportunity for eternal life – these are in the large fall harvest, there are two harvest each year in Jerusalem.
The 3rd is to Condemnation. the lake of fire. John 5: 29
There are 3 baptisms, water, spirit and fire. The 3rd baptism is into death the Lake of Fire.
but what I was referring to is your breaking up the Saints of God into different resurrections.
Have your read Zechariah 14: 5 when Christ returns as King of kings He come with ALL the Saints.
For the Firstfruits there is only one resurrection, the 2nd is for the pagans, those that died young etc.
In Matt 25 half of the church of God is locked out — they do not make it they will be in the 3rd resurrection.
John 5:29 is the 2nd resurrection containing good and bad.
Zech 14:5 *perhaps you don’t have the correct theological definition of the word “saints” (BDB Definition: 1) sacred, holy, Holy One, saint, set apart)
This most likely refers to the first fruit (overcomers) of the first resurrection.
For the Firstfruits there is only one resurrection, the 2nd is for the pagans, those that died young etc.
In Matt 25 half of the church of God is locked out — they do not make it they will be in the 3rd resurrection.
I don’t understand how you get three resurrections out of that. Matthew 25 is a parable teaching of the return of Jesus as he unites with the bride which is the first fruits or the first resurrection. The ones outside the door will be in the 2nd resurrection. There is no listed and named 3rd resurrection.
ephraim
where does it say they are resurrected together?
The first resurrection occurs at the return of Christ on the Feast of Trumpets at the Last trump. this occurs before the 1000 year reign — does it not say the saints reign with Christ for 1000 years?
and after the 1000 years the REST of the dead — that my friend is 2 separate resurrections – one before the 1000 years and one after.
If there are two shown in rev 20, then how can there be one resurrection of every body??
Smiley faces are there to differentiate scriptures and explanations.
The first resurrection people will be priests of God and of Christ, reigning over the living survivors.
The second resurrection will include the good and the evil.
Why would the book of life be mentioned in verse 12 if no ones name standing before God was listed in it?
Word Study Dictionary:
exanástasis; gen. exanastáseōs, fem. noun from exanístēmi (G1817), to rise up. The resurrection from among the dead (Php_3:11). This resurrection may very well refer to the one experienced by those resurrected first from among all the dead (1Co_15:23; 1Th_4:16; Rev_20:5).
In Philippians 3: 11 Paul describes this higher calling as being the “out-resurrection” ( exanastasis). It is the only time in the entire New Testament that Paul puts an “ex” in front of the usual word for resurrection (anastasis). It is his way of differentiating this greater resurrection from the general resurrection.From Dr. Stephen Jones
This will be my last response for this subject. We had a similar issue on this subject in a prior article and you were arguing with Walter and me. Sometimes to discover the truth, one must take apart and reexamine one’s doctrinal beliefs.
ephriam
I have one final question, under your understanding how many chances for salvation do we get? two, three or more?
OK, one more response since it is a different subject although the answer or my answer has already been covered in God, Law, and Fire (http://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2015/09/god-law-and-fire.html) and The Lake of Fire (http://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-lake-of-fire.html) This is the one you and Walter were having a discussion about.
Answer: God created everyone. God knew how everyone would act and think before creation (For the benefit of Pix that does not mean He created them to be that way just that He knew how it would turn out)
God will resurrect everyone (even the Amazon Indians) and all will eventually be given salvation and eternal life but not without some sort of punishment and discipline which can be found in the laws of God. It is thought (no scriptural proof) this will occur in the 2nd Millennial age after the White Throne judgment. Dr. Stephen Jones thinks (no proof) the post millennial ages (the millennium is the 7th) will total 49 or 49,000 years and then will be the Jubilee age or the 50th millennium.