Matthew 25:1-13 and 1 Samuel Chapter 25
Thank you for joining me in Part 4 of this series.
I’m being drawn to write briefly about a number of topics I believe will make the parable of the ten virgins more real and personal to you and me.
We’re about ten years shy of the two-thousand-year-mark since the parable was given.
Two millenniums since the time of Christ’s ministry is noteworthy. Actually, very noteworthy.
I ask you to be patient with me as I develop some of the background that makes this parable and the “types” meaningful for us in the 21st century.
I will get to the story of Abigail and her as a “type” of the five wise virgins later in this series.
But first I want to share some things about prophecy.
The parable of the ten virgins applies to Christians in all times and eras, and, I believe, more so to those in the latter times.
We have a lot of church history and prophecy behind us, and having that knowledge, we can safely place ourselves in the deeper things God wants to accomplish in you and me in this season and hour.
****
I pray our hearts would be awakened to our need for more of Jesus – to walk, breathe, and to become the Scriptures.
I pray the Lord would create in our hearts a greater appetite for him, and a greater capacity to receive.
That the “ache” inside for God, long-lost and buried under the worries and cares of this life, wounds and brokenness, would compel you and me to search for more of God, the beauty of Christ, the only one who can truly satisfy the “ache.”
The heart of the gospel is to make us into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ; can anything be more appealing than that? I think not.
Can anything in this world compare to being made a new creation, knowing and being known, in union with the source of life?
It’s a long journey. Be encouraged.
I pray you and I would be wise virgins, allowing Jesus to cultivate the garden of our heart with the goodness of God – that you and I would be filled to overflowing with the grace, truth, and love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Prophecy
I feel there’s a sense in Christendom God’s plans and purposes seemingly tarry forever. Certainly, beyond your lifetime and mine.
We know prophecies have been fulfilled in the past. And we know there are prophecies yet to be fulfilled.
But, what about today? What’s being fulfilled today?
WWII
Many of Europe’s leaders in the mid-30s and even the late ‘30s believed appeasing Germany would defer war for another generation or so.
Even with war on the doorstep, there were those who hoped appeasement would satisfy the Nazi quest and thirst for domination.
And in the midst of all this, there were those who warned about the coming flood of evil, trumpeting calls for action.
Sadly, Europe’s leadership was unprepared for the deluge of evil and darkness sweeping across their lands, resulting in unprecedented and unfathomable destruction and death.
Did they fall asleep and fail to recognize evil looming on their doorsteps? Were they deceived by spiritual darkness?
This era in world history, like so many before it, (and like some “history” to come), was a tangible, visible, manifestation of evil, on an epic scale, into the hearts and homes of everyday people.
Spiritual wickedness in high places, ruling the hearts of fallen men in the past, is still in the world today; strategically planning to challenge and hinder Christ’s work of redemption, and ultimately, his millennial rule.
But God
Be encouraged. I am.
God sees evil looming on the horizon. He is preparing his sons and daughters to advance his kingdom.
God is the first to alert and prepare his chosen to gather around him under the shadow of his care and love.
God moved first to alert Adam, and through Adam, Eve, the dangers of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God moved first to alert Noah, and through Noah others, to prepare for a coming flood – the destruction of all things – patiently waiting for Noah and his family to complete the ark.
God moved first to rescue Joseph from being killed by his brothers and from spending a life in prison, exalting him to vice regent.
God moved first to prepare Moses, through 40 years in the wilderness, to lead his people Israel from bondage under Pharaoh.
God moved first with plagues and collapsing walls of water to free his people and destroy Pharaoh’s army.
God moved first to rescue Israel from their wilderness sojourn, by raising up Joshua to lead them into the promised land.
God moved first upon Hannah to dedicate and offer her son Samuel; “fathering” a prophet and judge for Israel, who anointed Saul and David Kings of Israel; David, a “type” of Christ, ancestor to the greatest king, priest and prophet of all.
And God moved first to prepare a large fish to save Jonah from wasting his life and drowning in the sea, giving him a second chance to do the will of God, and warn others to repent lest they too fall victim to darkness.
Today, as in ages past, God is moving first to prepare his people to walk in light and shine his life; calling all those who hunger and thirst for him to receive his care and love while it is still day.
He sees the advancing onslaught of evil crouching at the door of your house and mine, his grace racing ahead to capture as many as will succumb to his love.
****
Jesus said in John 14:12, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (NIV)
During Christ’s earthly ministry he could only do so much.
Jesus was not led by the Father (at least it is not recorded) to sit down with someone over days, weeks, and months, and even years, and work through what we commonly call today “inner healing.”
(For those not familiar with “inner healing,” it is part of the process of putting the deeds of the body to death, to walk in newness of life. Some call it breaking of agreements, others, breaking of judgments, plus a whole lot more.
It includes healing from traumas, curses, ancestral sins, etc., and all manner of wounds and brokenness, as the Lord leads to cleanse and heal.
Inner healing has been brought to the limelight in the last 50 or 60 years and has multiplied and spread through various ministries both in and out of the church.)
Inner healing, Christian counseling, prayer and deliverance ministries, all provide deep avenues for the Lord to access the secret and hidden things that keep us separated from receiving his love and care.
I know of one leader in particular, whose parent received a prophecy her son would birth a new move of the Spirit.
And he was one of a number of ministers who the Lord used to launch the inner healing movement so many decades ago.
That has been the story of the Church since the time of Luther – new moves of God coming through fallen and broken sons and daughters hungering and thirsting for Jesus.
As in the past, today, God is preparing in advance what we will need in the future.
We live in unprecedented times. God is doing unprecedented things in the body of Christ today.
Prophecy is being fulfilled.
Those following Christ are doing greater things in Christ today just as Jesus said.
He could only do so much in his earthly temple. He is doing much more in the temples of you and me today.
God is doing a profound and mysterious work in the “virgins,” of God.
Some are in the marketplace of God, “buying” oil for their lamps while it is still day.
Others are not in the marketplace. Sadly, they will find their oil wanting when darkness breaks forth on the horizon of their hearts and life.
Let’s be “wise,” and make ourselves available to the marketplace of God, that God might fill us to overflow with his loving-kindness and goodness.
Briefly, Examples of Prophecy Unfolding Now
Seven churches of Revelation:
Today, we can “look back” and see the seven churches of Revelation in “church ages,” and see semblance of the Philadelphian and Laodicean churches today.
One question we might ask, “How do I fit in to the prophetic fulfillment this church age brings to the story of God?”
That’s an important question because there are no church ages after Laodicea.
The seven parables of Christ in Matthew Chapter 13 have prophetic anticipation written on them as well, and mirror, in some aspects, New Testament church history.
Again, we can “look back” at these parables and see fulfillment in church ages, with the last parable seemingly relevant today.
(Of note, the seventh parable, the parable of the net, is at some level being fulfilled today – through inner healing, counseling, deliverance, and other ministries bringing healing to the body, soul and spirit.)
Did you know the books of Romans through 1 and 2 Thessalonians depict the growth and maturity of sonship, and, at a high level, reflect the different church ages from Romans to Colossians?
Did you know the six days of creation reflect forward in “types” key events during the last six thousand years – strikingly similar to successive events occurring during each millennium.
I’m leaving much on the table here because each one of these topics would be a series in itself.
The Church has covered a lot of distance in the last two thousand years; there’s more to be covered but relatively it’s not much.
It can be covered in a short amount of time through a quick work of the Lord.
My friend, its time to take inventory and ask the Lord to increase your supply of oil! I am.
Jesus has resources available to you for your healing. There are those in the body of Christ waiting to minister Christ’s grace and revelation to you.
Now is the time to store up the treasures of Christ in you.
Truly, greater works are being done today in the restoration of the body, soul, and spirit, than in past generations.
It is necessary for this to occur for our temple to house Christ, and carry sufficient light in the coming darkness.
Blessings, Drake
(NIV) Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblical, Inc.™
