In this message we shall cover further aspects of the rapture of the believers.
When the believers are raptured, the majority of them, who have died through all the generations, will rise up from the dead. This majority is signified by the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-12. Matthew 25:1 says, “Then shall the kingdom of the heavens be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.” The number ten here represents the majority of the believers. The totality of the believers is signified by the number twelve. The remaining two are found in Matthew 24:40-42. When the Lord Jesus returns, the believers will be of two classes signified by the numbers two in Matthew 24 and ten in Matthew 25. Because the two men or two women are working, they represent the believers who will be alive when the Lord returns. The ten virgins, on the contrary, were all asleep, indicating that the majority of the believers will have died by the time the Lord returns. In Matthew 25:1-12 the Lord Jesus addresses what will happen to the majority of the believers, who will have died before His coming.
Virgins signify believers in the aspect of life (2 Cor. 11:2). The believers are like chaste virgins, bearing the Lord’s testimony (the lamp) in the dark age and going out of the world to meet the Lord. For this they need not only the indwelling of the Spirit but also the infilling of the Spirit.
In Matthew 25:1 the lamps signify the spirit of the believers (Prov. 20:27), which contains the Spirit of God as the oil (Rom. 8:16). The believers shine with the light of the Spirit of God from within their spirit. Thus, they become the light of the world, like a lamp shining in the darkness of this age (Matt. 5:14-16; Phil. 2:15-16) to bear the testimony of the Lord for the glorification of God.
In 25:1 we see that the virgins “went forth to meet the bridegroom.” This signifies that the believers are going out of the world to meet the coming Christ. The bridegroom signifies Christ as the most pleasant and attractive person (John 3:29; Matt. 9:15). Thus, the believers are the virgins going, and the Lord is the Bridegroom coming.
Matthew 25:5 says, “Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.” The Lord Jesus truly has delayed His coming. In Revelation He promised to come quickly, but nearly two thousand years have passed, and still He delays His coming. Because of this delay, the virgins “became drowsy and slept.” Becoming “drowsy” signifies becoming sick (Acts 9:37; 1 Cor. 11:30), and going to sleep signifies dying (1 Thes. 4:13-16; John 11:11-13). While the Lord delays His coming back, the majority of the believers first become sick and then die.
Matthew 25:6 says, “But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Go forth to meet him!” Midnight signifies the darkest time of this dark age (night). That will be the end of this age, the time of the great tribulation. “Cry” signifies the voice of the archangel (1 Thes. 4:16).
Matthew 25:7 continues, “Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.” “Arose” signifies resurrection from the dead (1 Thes. 4:14). This is the resurrection predicted in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:52.
After the virgins arose, they “trimmed their lamps.” This signifies their dealing with their testimony in life and indicates that after resurrection our life for the Lord’s testimony will still need to be dealt with if it is not perfect before we die.
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