In this chapter we come to the parable of the ten virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13. Something very basic is found in this parable, but for centuries Christians have not fully apprehended it. Of all the parables in the book of Matthew, the parable of the ten virgins is the most mysterious. If it were standing alone apart from the rest of the Bible, it would be impossible for us to understand this parable.
As we have seen in a previous chapter, from the time of Matthew 13 the Lord no longer spoke about the kingdom in an open way. He began to speak in parables, in a mysterious way. In Matthew 13:10-17 He gave the reason for speaking in parables: the religious people assumed that they were for God and that they knew the Scriptures, but actually they were not for God and did not understand the Scriptures. Thus, the Lord began to hide the kingdom from them, making it a mystery, and to reveal it to those who meant business with the Lord, to those who were poor in spirit and pure in heart. Only those who are poor in spirit and pure in heart can apprehend the mysteries of the kingdom. Whenever the Lord speaks about the kingdom from Matthew 13 to the end of the book, He speaks in the way of a mystery.
We praise the Lord that today, by the revelation of the whole Scriptures, it is not difficult for us to understand this parable of the ten virgins. We can have a proper, exact, and accurate interpretation of each point of this parable. The parable of the ten virgins is actually like a jigsaw puzzle. This jigsaw puzzle has been cut into many mysterious pieces, and we must find a way to collect all the pieces and put them together. All of the pieces to this puzzle are hidden in the Scriptures. If we know the way to find them and how to put them together, they will show us a clear picture of the economy of God. No other picture in the entire Bible shows us the economy of God as clearly as the parable of the ten virgins.
First we must discover why the Lord Jesus used the number ten. Why did He say ten virgins and not fifteen or twelve or eight or two? Perhaps you may be thinking that the number ten signifies completion, such as ten fingers and ten toes. We should recall that this parable concerns the kingdom of the heavens, whose number should be twelve and not ten. The number of the kingdom must be twelve because in the Old Testament the number of the tribes of the people who were representatives of God's kingdom was twelve. Also, the number of the Apostles in the New Testament representing the whole people of God is twelve. The representative number of the people of the kingdom is twelve. In the book of Revelation we see the ultimate consummation of God's economy, the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem the number twelve is used almost exclusively: there are twelve foundations, twelve gates, twelve pearls, twelve apostles, twelve tribes, and twelve varieties of fruit from the tree of life. There is also the number 144, which is composed of twelve times twelve (Rev. 21:12, 14, 17, 19-21; 22:2). Therefore, twelve is the proper number to represent God's kingdom.
According to the Bible, this number twelve is composed in a unique way. It is not composed of six plus six, seven plus five, or four plus eight. It is composed of four multiplied by three. Revelation 21 verifies this. In this chapter we see that the city is square, meaning that it has four equal sides (21:16). On each side there are three gates, making a total of twelve (21:12-13). The number four in the Bible signifies the creatures. Man is the leading creature in God's creation, and the number four represents man, including all of us. The number three has two meanings: it signifies both the Triune God and also resurrection. Therefore, the number three denotes the Triune God in resurrection.