Sleeping Beauty ... or Who?
When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to tell them of the "End of the World," Jesus told them the Parable of the Ten Virgins to describe for them the conditions which would exist at the time of the end.
He said "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." (Matt. 25:1-5)
Most Christians promote the idea that every "believer" is a part of God’s Church, which is variously referred to, in the Bible, as The Body, The Bride, The Temple, One New Man, etc. Are we then to believe that these five "virgins," who went in to the wedding are The Bride? Perhaps we are also to assume that the "guests, bad and good," who were bidden to the marriage in chapter 22, are "The Bride." Let me see if I understand all this. I am supposed to believe that the guests are the bride, the bridesmaids are the bride. (I say bridesmaids, because when Abigail went for her marriage to King David, she took five maidens with her.) Somehow it just doesn’t seem to make sense to me.
One of the key phrases in Matt. 25, is "they all slumbered and slept." The wise were asleep – as well as the foolish. They all awoke just in time to "get dressed for the wedding," because the someone who was awake woke them up. If you are a Christian today, I ask you to believe these words of Jesus, and acknowledge that you are asleep. But, then, you would have to wake up just a little to acknowledge even that. One sure thing, Jesus words are not debatable. They all slumbered and slept.
The words of Paul ring out for our response, "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." (Rom. 13:9)