I want to introduce us to a concept that God spent several years to bring to my understanding, piece by piece. In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, God by His Holy Spirit, through a “Rhema” or living word, illuminated my understanding, drawing a parallel truth to perhaps a religious tradition or even a Jewish tradition on this passage. Just because two truths can be drawn from one parable does not mean that one is right and the other is wrong, it just means one truth may be for one group of people or time period and the other truth for another.
For our purposes the Lord showed me a different perspective. It was one of a wealthy Hebrew king type. King Jesus. The ten virgins are all perspective brides and they all slept but when the bridegroom king came unexpectedly in the middle of the night, they all as perspective brides came out to meet him. We know the story on how half had their lamps full of oil and half had theirs empty. We also accept the understanding that this was clearly a picture of either being full of the Holy Spirit or not being full of the Holy Spirit! The Hebrew King as Jesus the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords only received the perspective brides who were full of His Holy Spirit.
I have been asking the Lord for years to give me understanding on who the five oilless brides are. The following brides, for purposes of reviving us all, including men, are as we are potentially part of His Bride the church.
The first oilless bride is the “ Martha” bride Luke 10:41,42 (KJV). Mary is sitting at Jesus feet while Martha is busy in the kitchen preparing for the guests. Martha calls to Jesus and asks him to set Mary straight on helping her. Jesus says “Martha Martha you are careful and troubled about many things but Mary has chosen the better part.” The Lord showed me that the Martha bride will be left behind. She is too busy doing the work of the Lord to have time for the Lord of the work. Therefore, she has no oil of the Holy Spirit in her lamp when He comes.
The second bride who the Lord showed me who did not have her lamp full of oil was the prideful bride. She might also be referred to as the intellectual bride. A very intelligent woman, this bride feels she has the Lord all figured out. 1st Corinthians 8:1b (NIV) says “Knowledge puffs up but love builds up.” This bride has been raised in the “self” culture and puts herself first in everything. She does not need to stay close to her Lord’s heart or His Holy Spirit because being very religious she knows what to do for Him without even having to ask. When the Lord comes for her however, she will be left behind. She will have no Holy Spirit’s oil in her lamp!
The third bride is at the cutting edge of contemporary thought. She openly professes her love for her Lord but in reality is more in love with what the other churches and pastors are doing that what the Lord is doing in their life together. Keep in mind His church is the Bride made up of many individual brides so this bride actually is more in love with other women than being in love with her husband to be, King Jesus. She likes hanging out with the other brides, trying to impress the other brides and even loves getting the verbal affirmation the other brides give her. This bride does not have any oil in her lamp at all. She has not sought her Hebrew king Jesus in ways to be his blessing bride. She has sought the approval of the other brides around her.
The forth bride is the angry woman bride. She said yes to Jesus and He made her white as snow and she is indeed a spiritual virgin by His grace, but she has refused to forgive others that have hurt her in her own life. She finds herself angry all the time. She also has a problem with the other brides in that she is often jealous of the five wise brides who have their lamps full of oil and the joy of their soon and coming King. The angry woman will be left behind. She has no grace from the Holy Spirit because she has refused grace to others only angry judgment.
The fifth oilless bride is a very spiritual bride. As a matter of fact she has many people who do not know her well fooled. She puts on a good front and even keeps herself very pretty and talks a lot about how much she loves her King Jesus. However secretly, this bride has a wicked heart. Even after the spirit of Judas Iscariot she is a deceiver and Jesus keeps loving her like all the rest, even as he did Judas. This bride however is the Jezebel bride. She causes much division in the Hebrew King Jesus’s house. Not only does she not have any anointing oil of the Holy Spirit, she is so wicked her power comes from the devil himself. This false bride is obviously rejected and definitely does not have any oil in her lamp.
However, there is always hope for most of these brides I believe. I have seen Jesus save and deliver some of the most vile people this world has ever seen. Some however, self-deceived and refusing to repent, they will be left behind in the rapture of the church when King Jesus comes to claim his Bride. For all of us as believers let’s continually search our hearts and ask God as the Psalmist did “ Lord create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.” May we all look forward to His glorious appearing! Lord come quickly!