The second important component of this parable is that only half of the virgins had sufficient oil in their lamps which were necessary due to the late hour to illuminate the way to the marriage feast. The five that had no oil when the bridegroom finally came wasted their time procuring it at the last minute which made them arrive late for the feast and were therefore not granted entrance (Matt 25:10). Anciently, the lamps of the Ten Virgins 'consisted of a round receptacle for pitch or oil for the wick. This was placed in a hollow cup or deep saucer which was fastened by a pointed end into a long wooden pole, on which it was born aloft. According to Jewish authorities, it was the custom in the East to carry in a bridal procession about ten such lamps......according to rubric, ten was the number required to be present at any office or ceremony, such as at the benedictions accompanying the marriage-ceremonies' (McConkie, Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 466).
It is significant here to note that the Saviour used the metaphor of marriage for His second coming. Why marriage? Because marriage is a union based on love. It is out of love for us that He 'tarries' so that as many as possible can be saved. The oil referred to in the parable and which ancient Israel burnt in their lamps could be purchased at the market. The oil required for our lamps however cannot be purchased but needs to be earned over time because this oil is the oil of righteousness: "In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures—each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity—these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps. (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p.256 )"
The parable tells us that those who heed the call to prepare are wise while those who do not give heed are foolish. Foolish because they who do not prepare will not be able to fill their lamps with the oil of those who do: "If this oil is acquired by personal righteousness, then it is impossible for one to share with another. I cannot go to sacrament meeting for my sons, not can I say personal prayers for my daughters. I can pray for them, but those are my prayers, not theirs. And if someone should suddenly determine that the coming of the bridegroom is at hand, they might not have time to re-evaluate, repent, re-supply and return before the door closes" (Ted Gibbons, NT Lesson 22 'Inherit The Kingdom Prepared for You). Personal righteousness cannot be shared because it affects a change over time in the inner man. This change is essential so that when 'he shall appear we shall be like him' (Moroni 7:48). No man can endure on borrowed light, eventually his true nature will outshine the light he has attempted to borrow. The Saviour, being perfect, is not going to take a bride that is full of iniquity, unrighteousness and worldliness. The bride has to be on the same wave length as the bridegroom. It is meant to be a marriage of equals. Equal in character and equal in love. No bridegroom will take a bride that does not love him. Hence the Saviour's admonition: 'If ye love me, keep my commandments' (John 14:15).
If obedience begins to develop love in the heart of the bride for her Christ, service for her fellowman, as expounded in the Parable of the Talents, completes it. In the Olivet Discourse Jesus told his apostles that they will sit in judgment of His Church with Him upon His return. Through the two parables He delivered to them He made it plain for us to see that the members of the Church will not only be judged for their personal righteousness but also how well they have served God and their fellowman. Thus personal righteousness and service constitute perfect love that qualifies us for the Kingdom. As the Parable of the Talents shows, members of the Church are those called to ministerial service and are endowed with spiritual gifts for this purpose. They are endowed with diversities of gifts for the benefit of all and for the growth of the Kingdom. When we came here 'trailing clouds of glory' we came from God bearing those gifts with us: "All men, and the servants of the Lord in particular, acquired, in preexistence, by obedience to law, the specific talents and capacities with which they are endowed in this life. Men are not born equal; they come into mortality endowed with the abilities earned and developed in a long period of premortal schooling. And a just and equitable Being, who deals fairly and impartially with all his children, expects each of them to use the talents and abilities with which they are endowed and the gifts that are given them by a divine Providence" (McConkie, Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 470)
When the foolish virgins came knocking on the door demanding to be a part of the wedding ceremony, the Lord replied: "Verily I say unto you, ye know me not" (Matthew 25:12 JST). And well did He say so "for how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" (Mosiah 4:13). When we face the Saviour at His coming will we in Him recognise the hungry and the thirsty and the naked and the sick that we helped in our time on earth? Will we in His face recognise the stranger that we 'took in'? What would it take for us to do such a noble deed? To offer someone shelter from the storm, to lighten their burden, to change their life? President Monson had an example of such selflessness in his grandfather: "Old Bob came into our lives in an interesting way. He was a widower in his eighties when the house in which he was living was to be demolished. I heard him tell my grandfather his plight as the three of us sat on the old front porch swing. With a plaintive voice, he said to grandfather, “Mr. Conkie, I don’t know what to do. I have no family. I have no place to go. I have no money.” I wondered how grandfather would answer. Slowly grandfather reached into his pocket and took from it that old leather purse from which, in response to my hounding, he had produced many a penny or nickel for a special treat. This time he removed a key and handed it to Old Bob. Tenderly he said, “Bob, here is the key to that house I own next door. Take it. Move in your things. Stay as long as you like. There will be no rent to pay and nobody will ever put you out again.” ( Thomas S. Monson, The Long Line of the Lonely, Ensign May 1981)
"From the foundation of the world, from the beginning, from all eternity - for such a length of time that no man can measure it - for just such a time has 'the kingdom' been prepared for the faithful. And their inheritance therein is dependent upon their charitable works in mortality, upon how they give of themselves to serve their Lord and King" (McConkie, Mortal Messiah Book 3, p 474).
"Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (Matthew 25:40)
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