{"id":4345,"date":"2020-09-03T15:37:11","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T20:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/?p=4345"},"modified":"2020-09-03T15:44:46","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T20:44:46","slug":"ladies-in-waiting-wise-or-foolish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/2020\/09\/03\/ladies-in-waiting-wise-or-foolish\/","title":{"rendered":"Ladies-in-Waiting, Wise or Foolish"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/h6>\n
So, there were these ten girls, (ladies-in-waiting,) waiting for the bridegroom to come and get his bride. Five were wise and five were foolish. Let me explain.<\/h6>\n
Five of the girls go on their merry way living life burning the midnight oil and taking no thought about anything other than doing what they love to do. Have fun. Shop. Sleep-in. Eat. Watch movies. Relax and enjoy life. They don\u2019t think they\u2019re hurting anyone. They aren\u2019t evil. They just don\u2019t take anything serious. After all, the bridegroom will come, but they don\u2019t know when and there\u2019s no telling how long he will take, so, why not just do their own thing. They go about their lives in a que sera-sera, attitude. And besides they can always rely on their friends to help them out. There\u2019s no reason to worry. I mean, really, why shouldn\u2019t they have fun; they\u2019ve got all the time in the world. Right? Or, do they?<\/h6>\n
There are five other young maidens who are more conscientious. They keep watch for the bridegroom, he could return at any time. They have trimmed their lamps; they even keep extra oil so they don\u2019t run out. There\u2019s no telling when he will arrive but they want to be ready when he does. They go about doing their work. Their hearts are constantly expecting his return. They don\u2019t want to be caught unaware. They live their lives with compassion and gratitude making sure their thoughts and actions line up with what would please the bridegroom even though he takes a long time coming.<\/h6>\n
But even in their best efforts they all fall asleep and at midnight a cry wakes them. \u201cThe bridegroom is coming come out to meet him.\u201d The five who are wise, wake up, their lamps are trimmed and they have extra oil. The five who are foolish trim their lamps but realize they are running low on oil. \u201cHey, wise girls, can you help us out our oil is low and we won\u2019t have enough to make it to meet the bridegroom?\u201d<\/h6>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re sorry, but we don\u2019t have any extra oil to give to you, if we do, we won\u2019t have enough. Go to the store and buy some.\u201d<\/h6>\n
They look at each other, mouths a gap, exasperation on their faces. \u201cWhat! We thought we could rely on you for our oil supply; now we must hurry to buy oil because our lamps are going out.\u201d They rush to the store to shop for more oil.<\/h6>\n
While they are gone the bridegroom returns. He welcomes the five wise girls into the wedding feast and the door is shut and locked. No one else can enter. The five foolish girls come knocking on the door. \u201cLord, open the door, it\u2019s us. Our lamps are full we\u2019re here for the party. Let us in!\u201d<\/h6>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry girls I don\u2019t know you. The party is going on and I you cannot come in!\u201d<\/h6>\n
Remember, if you are wise you will keep watch, your lamps will be trimmed and you will keep extra oil for your lamp so you won\u2019t run out. The bridegroom is coming! We just don\u2019t know when he will appear. So, be prepared at all times. Even if you fall asleep, if you\u2019re prepared when you hear the call, \u201cCome out to meet the bridegroom!\u201d You will be welcomed into the wedding feast and not be locked out.<\/h6>\n
Matthew 25:1-13<\/em><\/h6>\n
The Passion Translation<\/em><\/h6>\n
A Parable about Ten Virgins<\/em><\/h6>\n
25\u00a0<\/em>\u201cAt the time my coming draws near, heaven\u2019s kingdom realm can be compared to ten maidens who took their oil lamps and went outside to meet the bridegroom and his bride.<\/em>[a<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a02\u20134\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Five of them were foolish and ill-prepared, for they took no\u00a0extra\u00a0oil<\/em>[b<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>for their lamps. Five of them were wise and sensible, for they took flasks of olive oil with their lamps.<\/em>\u00a05\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>When the bridegroom didn\u2019t come when they expected, they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.<\/em>\u00a06\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Then suddenly, in the middle of the night, they were awakened by the shout \u2018Get up! The bridegroom is here! Come out and have an encounter with him!\u2019<\/em>[c<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a07\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>So all the girls got up and trimmed their lamps.<\/em>\u00a08\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>But the foolish ones were running out of oil, so they said to the five wise ones, \u2018Share your oil with us, because our lamps are going out!\u2019<\/em><\/h6>\n
9\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u201c\u2018We can\u2019t,\u2019 they replied. \u2018We don\u2019t have enough for all of us. You\u2019ll have to go and buy some for yourselves!\u2019<\/em><\/h6>\n
10\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u201cWhile the five girls were out buying oil, the bridegroom appeared. Those who were ready and waiting were escorted inside with him and the wedding party to enjoy the feast. And then the door was locked.<\/em>\u00a011\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Later, the five foolish girls came running up to the door and pleaded, \u2018Lord, Lord, let us come in!\u2019<\/em><\/h6>\n
12\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u201cBut he called back, \u2018Go away! Do I know you? I can assure you, I don\u2019t even know you!\u2019<\/em><\/h6>\n
13\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u201cThat is the reason you should always stay awake and be alert, because you don\u2019t know the day or hour when the Bridegroom will appear.\u201d<\/em>[d<\/a>]<\/sup><\/em><\/h6>\n
Footnotes<\/h6>\n
    \n
  1. \n
    Matthew 25:1<\/a>\u00a0As translated from the Hebrew Matthew and a few Greek manuscripts. Most Greek manuscripts have only \u201cbridegroom.\u201d This would mean the ten virgins were going to marry one man, a doubtful teaching from Jesus. The ten virgins were bridesmaids, ladies-in-waiting. This was not Jesus condoning polygamy. It is possible that the parable hints of Zech.\u00a08:23<\/a>.<\/em><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n
    Matthew 25:2<\/a>\u00a0See\u00a0v. 8<\/a>. Oil in the Scriptures is a metaphor of the Holy Spirit, who brings us revelation of the Word of God and power for ministry.<\/em><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n
    Matthew 25:6<\/a>\u00a0This is not simply \u201cmeet him,\u201d for it is a rare Greek noun that means to \u201chave a meeting\u201d or \u201can encounter.\u201d See also\u00a01 Thess. 4:17<\/a>.<\/em><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n
  4. \n
    Matthew 25:13<\/a>\u00a0As translated from the Hebrew Matthew.<\/em><\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    So, there were these ten girls, (ladies-in-waiting,) waiting for the bridegroom to come and get his bride. Five were wise and five were foolish. Let me explain. Five of the girls go on their merry way living life burning the midnight oil and taking no thought about anything other than doing what they love to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8aPxH-185","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4345"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4348,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4345\/revisions\/4348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}