Another Voice: Part Two - The Parable of the Ten Virgins

The parables in Matthew 25. There are three of them.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins
The Parable of the Talents
The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

So what do they have to do with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ?

That is the question I asked myself. I will tell you my thoughts, but please share any inspiration you have. I would love to learn more.

The Ten Virgins. It's all about being prepared. But in what way?

In the parable there is to be a wedding and the custom was for the bridegroom to come to the bride's home in the evening. The wedding guests waited along the route the bridegroom would walk and then followed him to attend the wedding. In this story the bridegroom did not come until midnight and half of the virgins who awaited his approach did not bring sufficient oil with them to burn their lamps that long. They asked those who had brought extra to share with them but those wise virgins could not share since they would then not have enough themselves. Those who were unprepared were advised to hurry and try to buy what they needed; but, of course, in so doing, they were too late for the wedding.

Spencer W. Kimball, a former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, taught about this parable. He said that the oil represented spiritual preparations and that is why the women could not share their oil. How do you give someone your faith in a Savior or your trust in God or your ability to obey God?

President Kimball gave counsel on preparing spiritually. Things like attending church, kindness, scripture study, prayer, service to family and community - particularly done consistently - all help produce that spiritual oil needed in our lives. Below is a video that enacts the parable and then depicts ways today we can build our own spiritual preparedness, things you are likely already doing. (The music at the end is a bit dated but the message is the important part.)

Elder Dallin H. Oaks counseled,

"We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming. And the preparation most likely to be neglected is the one less visible and more difficult—the spiritual."

Spiritual preparations cannot be made in an instant and cannot be shared. And the time to prepare is now. Continue to prepare, or begin to prepare. But do not delay.

Elder Oaks mentioned temporal preparations. So what of those?

Modern prophets have counseled repeatedly of a need to prepare our families against a day of want. They go so far as to tell us to build a year's supply of basic foods, where permitted to do so, and clothing and fuel where possible, to avoid debt, and to have savings. I never associated that counsel with the Second Coming of the Savior. I don't know why I didn't. I obediently stored food for the rainy day and have been grateful I did so many times when things were lean for us. Because of having basics stored I have always been able to make do. So I have been grateful for this counsel from these modern prophets.

But, as I mentioned in my previous post, I have spent a lot of time studying what has been said about the Second Coming. In those studies it became obvious to me the connection between the events preceding the Second Coming of the Savior and the counsel to store food and other commodities. Some of the prophetic counsel was even shocking to me.

"Should the Lord decide at this time to cleanse the Church—and the need for that cleansing seems to be increasing—a famine in this land of one year's duration could wipe out a large percentage of slothful members, including some ward and stake officers. Yet we cannot say we have not been warned." Ezra Taft Benson

President Benson is not the only prophet that said something to this effect. He got my attention and for the first time I made an association between preparedness counsel and the time Jesus talked about in Matthew 24.

Here's another quote about the counsel to store food.

"The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah." Ezra Taft Benson,

The more you read about the prophecies regarding the Second Coming, the more you understand just why he said that!

I'm going to address the other two parables in other posts and I'm taking them in the order they appear in the scriptures. Regarding preparedness, I could write several posts on the subject from everything I have learned, but I will just leave it with my encouragement to seriously consider your spiritual and temporal preparedness. And then do something to increase it still more.

I believe the prophesied time that the Savior spoke about in Matthew 24 has arrived. That doesn't mean I think He is coming tomorrow. I don't believe that. We have a lot to get through as we watch these prophesies unfold. But they have begun. And He has given instructions on how to navigate this time in these parables. The first one is about our preparation. Modern prophets have expounded on that, both spiritual preparation and physical preparation. If you believe in modern prophets (and I know that not everyone does), will you follow their counsel? Will you prepare? Will you be wise as in the parable? I know I have had to make changes in my life as I have been learning about these things. And one of those changes has been to more carefully and diligently follow the counsel of prophets. God has always guided His people through prophets. I believe He still does.

Are we preparing?

8 comments:

Dee deeApril 9, 2015 at 7:49 AM
As usual you are right on. Very eloquently stated and very thought provoking. Thank you.
UnknownApril 16, 2015 at 3:36 PM
I too have been thinking about spiritual and physical preparations and am wanting a T chart to outline what leaders have said. One side of the chart would say "Spritual Prep" the other "Physical Prep" and a list of quotes and actions we've been given by leaders. Maybe you should do a post on that and crowdsource responses? I like that idea. Let's do it, Pretty please?
UnknownApril 16, 2015 at 3:50 PM
PS - I always thought the story of the 10 virgins was about preparing for the second coming.
I also thought I would share what you and I spoke of today . . . .
On spiritual preparation (or any really) - I think most of us, even though we have testimonies, are very passive about our spiritual progression. I've been reflecting on my own, and while I know I've prayed to progressed in certain ways and tried to adapt and change my behavior and attitudes accordingly, I feel like my efforts were still fairly passive.
For example, I've prayed for Charity. . . . to try to increase my love for people and see them as Christ does. I was always conscious of my desire to improve this, and when I caught myself thinking negatively or judging others, I would mentally redirect myself - praying and asking for help.
While this step was a good one - and I've seen a change in my heart - I still think it was somewhat passive. It is good that I was conscious about improving. When I sat in church or something was shared about charity, attitudes towards others, service, etc - I perked up and tried to remember and use the things I was learning there.

However, there was one very key thing that I failed to do. I failed to actively search, study, pray, and exercise.

I tried to remember to apply things I learned as I learned them - as they were fed to me. However, I didn't seek out those lessons. I didn't study my scriptures looking for how to increase charity. I simply sat in church classes and gleaned what I could when the topic arose. I didn't take the time to study those items or pray diligently to understand them better. I processed them at the time and tried to apply them, but didn't dig any deeper. I didn't search scriptural lessons out or push myself to exercise by creating charity building experiences. Rather - I waited for an opportunity to come my way. Towards the end, I did start praying for opportunities to serve, but I didn't consciously create opportunities to serve.

What I'm trying to say is that while the efforts I made were praisworthy, and did make a difference, I also see now that my progression was a fairly passive and slow process. I could have and can do more. I've come to believe that if I want to truly grow and become a Valiant daughter of God, that I have to fight to be that person, to become that person daily. . . .and I do mean FIGHT. I have to create a battle plan, I have to put on my armor, and I have to go out to the battlefield. I can't just wait for it to come to me . . . . because if I'm passive in my progression, I won't be prepared when the REAL battle is at my door.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Part Two - The Parable of the Ten Virgins

8 comments: