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 word “Then” here means “at that time,” that is, at the time of the parousia. When the parousia described in chapter twenty-four is taking place, many things will be happening. Then the kingdom of the heavens will be likened to ten virgins.
Virgins signify believers in the aspect of life (2 Cor. 11:2). Believers, who are the kingdom people, 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, but also the fullness of the Spirit of God.
We Christians firstly are virgins. Being a virgin is not a matter of work, service, or activity, but a matter of life. Moreover, we are not only virgins, but chaste, pure virgins. Being a virgin is not a matter of what we do or are able to do; it is absolutely a matter of what we are. Whether we are male or female, we are virgins. Although I am an old man, I conduct myself like a virgin. I would never sell my status as a virgin. Even before the enemy, I am a virgin.
Verse 1 says that the virgins took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 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. Thus, as virgins we do not take weapons for fighting or sports equipment for playing, but lamps for testifying, shining, and enlightening. In our hand is a lamp shining for the Lord’s testimony.
The virgins went forth. This signifies that the believers are going out of the world to meet the coming Christ. The virgins do not linger or settle in any place. Instead, they are going out of the world. In one of his writings, D. M. Panton said that the world was just a pathway to him and at the end of this pathway there would be a grave. If the Lord delays His coming back, the world eventually will afford me only a resting place, a tomb in which to lie as I wait for the Lord’s coming. We are not settled in this world. We are going out of the world.
The bridegroom signifies Christ as the pleasant and attractive person (John 3:29; Matt. 9:15). How good it is that in this parable the Lord likens Himself not to a victorious general or great commander-in-chief, but to a bridegroom, a most pleasant person. Thus, we are the virgins going, and He is the Bridegroom coming.
Verse 2 says, “And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.” Five is composed of four plus one, signifying that man (signified by four) with God (signified by one) added to him bears responsibility. The fact that five are foolish and five prudent does not indicate that half the believers are foolish and the other half are prudent. It indicates that all believers bear responsibility to be filled with the Spirit of God.
The Old Testament reveals clearly that five is the number of responsibility. For example, the ten commandments were divided into two groups of five. Also, the number five appears frequently with respect to the tabernacle and its furniture. Five is the basic factor of many of its dimensions.
The five fingers on our hand indicate how the number five is composed in the Bible. It is composed of four plus one. As we have pointed out, the number four signifies the creature and the number one the Creator. The creature plus the Creator gives the ability to bear responsibility. If we had just four fingers without a thumb, it would be difficult for us to do anything. This means that by ourselves, as the number four, we cannot bear responsibility. But when God is added to us, we are able to bear responsibility.
Verse 2 says that five of the virgins were foolish and five were prudent. The Lord Jesus mentions the foolish first because in the bearing of responsibility the problem is not with the prudent ones, but with the foolish ones. Being foolish does not make these five virgins false. In nature they are the same as the five prudent ones.
Verse 3 tells us the reason they were foolish: “For the foolish, when they took their lamps, did not take oil with them.” Oil signifies the Spirit of God (Isa. 61:1; Heb. 1:9). The foolish ones were foolish because they had oil only in the lamp, but not the extra portion of oil in the vessel. In addition to the regenerating Spirit, they did not have the infilling Spirit, the extra portion of the Holy Spirit.