Matthew Chapter 25

VERSE 11-12 “Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”

The door is still open. To date Jesus has not made the announcement “I know you not.” Therefore, we are still in the period between the midnight announcement and the closing of the door and going into the marriage. The lamp trimming takes place during this entire time, and the wise and foolish classes both exist at present. Both anticipate the coming marriage. The distinction between the two classes is the amount of oil each has.

The trimming of the wick would be the trimming of the dross of the old nature. Both classes trimmed. However, in the trimming, not only was the carbonized portion cut off but oil was added. In the Tabernacle the lamps of the lamp stand were trimmed daily and supplied with oil for the ensuing day. The priest did this at 9:00 in the morning and again at 3:00 in the afternoon so that the lamps were burning around the clock. Although the foolish virgins in the parable trimmed their lamps, they lacked a sufficiency of oil. Or, stated another way, all of the virgins trimmed, but only the wise had enough oil to refill their lamps.

Question: What are the “lamps”?

Answer: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psa 119:105). In other words, the “lamp” is the Word of God (the scriptures).

The Candlestick or lamp stand in the Tabernacle had seven branches. The lamp stand could be considered the “lamp,” but so can the little almond-shaped vessels on top of the branches that contained the oil and had a wick protruding from their snouts.

Zechariah 4:1–3 also describes a lamp stand with seven lamps on top of seven branches. Suspended over the lamp stand was a bowl of oil that served as a reservoir. From the bowl seven pipes extended downward. Each pipe was a conduit for the oil to go to a lamp, there being seven lamps in all. The oil from the two olive trees (picturing the Old and New Testaments) went through seven pipes to seven lamps on the seven-branched lamp stand. The “bowl” represents Jesus, who, as the Head of the Church, supplies the oil. (In Rev 1:12, 13 Jesus is seen walking amidst seven separate candlesticks.) Down through the Gospel Age, he supplied oil to each of the seven messengers to the Church. The two olive trees, which are of God, are the source of the oil, the Holy Spirit, which is supplied through Jesus. God’s Spirit is in the Word; it is His Word. The Holy Spirit has gone to Jesus, who opened the scroll and enlightened his Church down through the age with regard to things to come.

The seven little vessels on top of the lamp-stand branches represent seven individuals, the seven messengers, who received dispensational enlightenment through the seven pipes. The seven pipes are the seven channels of distribution of information to the Church. Seven messengers were used down through the Gospel Age, and a pipe came from Jesus to each of these seven churches.

The lamp, then, can be the individual Christian. Each individual is the container, and the Holy Spirit is in the container. The wick represents the human nature that is to be consumed, purged away (trimmed), as the new nature of enlightenment develops. The lamp stand, then, can be thought of as the Word of God, the “lamp” unto our feet (Psa 119:105). From this different perspective, the Word is supplied to the vessel (lamp) on each of the seven branches. The information comes from God’s Word.

“Our lamps are trimmed and burning” are words in a hymn. God’s Word does not need trimming—it is the dross of our old nature that needs trimming. Thus there are different ways to view the “lamps,” (as well as what it means to “trim” our lamps), and it is a complicated subject based on a coordination of the Tabernacle, Zechariah 4, and Revelation 1.

Back to the viewpoint of Matthew 25

Verses 3 and 4 state that the virgins took their lamps with them.

What do those “lamps” represent?

The “oil” is the Holy Spirit. All of the virgins had a lamp and a supply of oil, but the wise had more oil. The “lamp” is the Word of God in the Christian as an individual—that is, each Christian’s personal understanding of the Word of God. The parable is a simplified picture with just virgins, lamps or vessels, and (by inference) an additional reservoir of oil. (Wicks are not mentioned.)

When the lamps of the foolish virgins were going out, what were the wise virgins doing?

It is inferred that the wise were filling their lamps with oil from their extra supply. All had the same problem—the wise and the foolish. They all woke up and they all trimmed their lamps and they all needed more oil—but the wise had an extra supply of oil and were thus able to replenish their lamps and keep them burning steadily and brightly.

A Daily Manna comment (dated Sept 9th) deals with this subject:

What does it mean to say our lamps are trimmed and burning?

The wick is likened to the human nature, the oil is the Holy Spirit, and the lamp is the Bible:

“It is the duty of every child of God to be very active in the dissemination of the Truth—in letting his light shine, and in keeping it trimmed and burning. ‘Trimmed and burning!’

What does it mean?

It means that we must give very close attention to the words of life that we may come to an exact (or accurate) knowledge of the Truth, and that we must carefully and faithfully trim away every vestige of error as fast as it becomes apparent to us—whether it be an error in doctrine or in our daily walk and conversation—so that the pure light of divine truth may shine out with as little obstruction as possible through the medium of a clear and transparent character.”

Continued with next post.