Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-04-20
THE TEN VIRGINS.
LESSON W, SECOND QUARTER, IN
TERNATiONAL SERIES, APRIL %.

Text of the Lesson. Matt. XIV, 1-13.
Golden Text, Matt. XIV, 1O-Memorize
Verses 10, II, 12, 13-Comment by
Rev. II. 6. Hoffman.
From Lesson Helper Quarterly. by permission of
II. S. Hoffman. Philadelphia, publisher
Notes. Lamps, torches. No oil, no grace.
Oil with their lamps, grace should go with a
profession. Tarried, the Lord will not come
as soon to his church as expected. Not
enough for you, no one can supply grace for
another's need. Door shut, as much for the
comfort and security of those within as for
the exclusion of those without Watch
therefore, this is the scope and design of the
whole parable. The central thought of this
lesson is that we must be always ready for
the Lords coming. Are WEI
V. |. The number "ten" would seem TO he
the perfect number of secular life. as 'sevenn
is of the spiritual life 1t may have orig
mated in the arithmetic of the ten fingers ~
Ten formed Jewish company, ten ate the
Passover together, ten Jews in one place
formed a congregation to build a synagogue,
there were ten commandments, etc. This
number would seem to refer to church as it
appears to the world. The number five would
seem to teach half contamination, the fingers
of only one hand, the five senses without the
five mental faculties, or vice versa
The parable is based upon the marriage
customs Of the east. The bridegroom went,
late in the evening, attended by his friends,
or 'groomsmen," to the brides dwelling.
where she awaited him. attired in white
robes, decked with jewels and attended by
her trademarks. The whole company then
went in procession by torchlight to the bride
groom's house, being Joined on the way by
invited guests the virgins in the parable)
with torches. When the bridegrooms house
was reached the train of friends and guests
entered and the doors were shut, debarring
any ones entrance that would come later.
Lamps were absolutely needed by each one
in the dark streets of an Asiatic city, In
modern Jerusalem the authorities require
every one to carry lamp.
While the virgins symbolic the whole
Church of Christ, the lamp would seem to
represent the outward profession of Chris
tianity. The ''oil" stands for the spiritual
life and grace in the soul The flame" of
the lamp typifies the outshining of holy life,
fed and nourished by grace. OF course the
bridegroom" is none other than Christ
coming to this world for his bride, the
church.
V. 2 The numbers make nothing to the
case, only the division is essential. The
church at Christ's coming, as now, will con-
sst of the two classes, the nominal and real
Christians. The wise and foolish are undis-
tinguishable until the crisis comes
" g. In the case of the foolish virgins the
taking of the lamps is everything, but the
wise seem most concerned about taking oil in
their vessels. Some are anxious about the
,,.1fa Il 60,
concerned about having grace in the heart
V. s. Allusion is made to longer delay
of the Lords coming than believers reckoned.
W hlle the bridegroom tarried they all both
wise and foolish virgins slept. The word
''slumbered' signifies drowsiness, nodding.
while slept describes the full unconscious
ness of sleep. Two stages of spiritual declen-
sion may possibly be indicated. But there
appears no censure for their sleeping; it was
not interpreted as unwatchfulness, it was not
a guilty sleep.
V. g. At midnight" when that which was
wrong could not be made right, herald or
part of the retinue went before, anpoun-
cling the approach of the bridegroom. The
midnight for the Church of Christ is when
the worldly spirit is so far in the ascendancy
as to make it seem that the whole church has
and when the truth of Christ is traduced and
cast aside by the mass of men. Such mid
nights of Christian history there have been
followed by coming of the bridegroom.
V. Z. Snatches of the joyous music were
already falling on their ears. Excitement
was rising into enthusiasm. The virgins
"all arose" The trimming of the lamps i'm
piled the infusion of fresh oil and the re-
moval of the fungi which had gathered
around and was clogging the wick. Self ex-
animation and renewal of grace seems to be
set forth.
V. s. The religion of impulse, of excite
ment, of mere forms, of only profession,
fails in the hour of need. Unable to re-
kindle their lamps in the crucial hour, their
joy and hope are also extinguished.
W. Character and grace are not trans
ferable There are times when prudence has
the appearance of selfshness To have di-
vided the oil would have involved all in
darkness and defeated the purpose of the
procession. No one can supply grace for
anothe-'s need.
V. 10. We cannot prepare for the crisis at
the moment. 1t took the virgins longer at
this unreasonable hour to buy oil than at any
other time. There is special time when
duty may be easiest done.
Those who were prepared, who were ready
with burning lamps and with hearts lighted
up with joy, went in with the Bridegroom into
the banqueting house. Then 1.-THE door was
shut" Light and joy inside orrow and
darkness without. almost saved, but lost"
We shut the door ourselves by ntglecting to
be prepared to enter
V. IL. The foolish virgins returned as
Esau, too late for the blessing which no tears
could give him. There is time coming
when it will be too late for even prayer.
Example of European Politeness.