Do you like using analogies? Do you like it when someone else uses an analogy? How many analogies do you hear each day? Are some of them cliché? Are some ones you have heard many times? Have you learned anything from the analogies or parables Jesus told?
Analogies can help us understand complicated things. They can help us understand something we otherwise wouldn’t by give us an example of something we know. But there are also times when the analogy is of no more help than if we hadn’t heard it to begin with.
Jesus told many parables about what the kingdom of heaven is like. He used commonly understand analogies to give us a glimpse into what it is like. Some of them are relatively easy to understand and others not so much. One reason we do not always understand the analogies is that we do not understand nor take the time to research first century practices.
The ten bridesmaids or virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom may not make sense to us. But when we take time to understand first century practices, it makes a lot of sense. For first century Jewish weddings, the bride’s parents would pay a dowry. The groom and his parents would count it to verify what was promised was delivered. This process may cause a delay in the bridegroom arriving.
The bridesmaids would wait between the bride and groom’s houses. When the groom came, they would escort him to the bride’s house where he would meet her and take her to his house. The bridesmaids would light the way with torches since this normally occurred after dark. Now that we know this, we understand why there were five wise and five foolish bridesmaids.
We need to strive to be among the wise. To be wise, we need to be prepared for the groom to be on time and to be delayed. In other words, we are to be prepared at all times. Jesus is the groom who will come to take His bride, the church, for the ultimate wedding, eternity spent with Him.
I pray we all are prepared for Jesus to return. I pray we look forward to the day He will come to take His bride home. I pray each one of us seeks to live our lives for Jesus in all that we do. Be wise. Be prepared. Know that Jesus will return. Be ready for His return. Look forward to eternity with Jesus.
Matthew 25:1-2 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.”
Marty Pressey 