Who Are the Virgins?

Part 2 of 7

That all 10 of these virgins are Christians we simply cannot doubt. The language and evidence is clear, as we will see. However, many will casually read this parable and automatically assume that the foolish virgins are heathen, while the wise are blood-bought believers. Why is this assumption so often made? The end result of the parable, that is, the wise being granted entrance while the foolish are denied, seems to indicate that the foolish are being denied entrance into heaven itself, therefore they must not be Christians. But this is not the case. It was not heaven that the wise virgins were permitted into and the foolish denied, but rather it was the marriage chamber (Matt 25:10).

In Hebrew, "virgin" means, “to separate; a virgin bride”. It has also been translated “maid; maiden”. The Greek word means, “a maiden, an unmarried daughter”.

The term “virgin” in Scripture most always represents one thing: God’s redeemed people (Rev 14:1-5; 2 Cor 11:2). The first time this word is used is in Genesis 24:16. Here, it denotes the purity, innocence and beauty of Rebekah (Isaac's bride), all of which are characteristics of the people of God too. Over and over we see this symbolic relationship to be true: “The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress” (Lam 1:15). An unconverted sinner is never likened to a virgin, but rather, the people of God are repeatedly termed "the virgin the daughter of Zion" (2 Kgs 19:21), "the virgin daughter of my people" (Jer 14:17), or the "virgin of Israel" (Jer 31:4). And how interesting to see that even when the people of God were “fallen”, He still saw them as His “virgin”, that is, His covenant people: “The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up” (Amos 5:2). The only time the word virgin is used in a negative sense is when the Lord uses it mockingly in derision against wickedness (Isa 47:1; Jer 46:11, etc).

The fact that these virgins are all believers is quite evident. They were all looking for the coming of the bridegroom (Matt 25:1), they all possessed some measure of oil (25:8), they all heard His call, arose at His call (25:7), and went out to meet Him. These actions simply do not describe what some would call “pseudo-believers”, that is, people who have been falsely converted. Rather, the unsaved do not have the lamp of light or the oil of the Holy Spirit in them, but are in unregenerate darkness. The unsaved don't even know there is a bridegroom, much less go out to meet Him! For one to be able to go out and meet the bridegroom they would first have to sincerely partake of that “path of life” (Ps 16:11), that is, the road towards completion, the beginning milestones of the Christian experience, being justification by faith, water baptism, etc. One cannot hear the call of the Bridegroom (Matt 25:6) if they are not first a Christian. It is only believers that Jesus calls in this manner: “My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away” (Song 2:10). Notice that we must be His "love" and His "fair one" in order to hear such a call. And notice further that simply because we are His love and fair one (virgin) does not solidify our response back to Him; for that is a matter of our own personal will: “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether” (Song 2:17). The virgin Shulamite refused the call of God! Can we imagine such a thing? Verily, the Lord labels this as foolish.

Furthermore, we can determine all 10 virgins as believers because of

God is beckoning His people (Jn 4:23), and only the wise are responding. The significant difference between the wise and the foolish is but one thing: oil. Oh the importance of oil! The wise are acquiring it.

"The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools" (Prov 3:35).

To be continued..