Today our sermon was on keeping our lamps trimmed and filled with oil. JESUS told the parable of the ten virgins, five who were wise and five who were foolish, (Matthew 25:1-13). The five wise virgins had come prepared to wait for the bridegroom with extra oil for their lamps. The five foolish virgins did not. When the Bridegroom comes and the wedding feast has started, only those who are ready will be let in.
In a Galilean traditional wedding, the groom and his family and friends meet with the betrothed bride and her family and friends at the gates of the city for the betrothal ceremony. The whole town turns out to witness this event. If the bride accepts the wedding contract and accepts the ceremonial cup, then one year of preparation begins.
In this year, the groom goes to his father’s house to prepare a place for his bride. The bride prepares to be a bride and stays ready for him to come and get her. She would even sleep in her wedding gown because she did not know the hour or the day when he would come for her. Only the father of the groom knew when the time was right. When the father of the groom finally says son go get your bride, it was usually in the night.
The groom would blow the shofar throughout the town and the groomsmen would shout, “Behold, the bridegroom comes!” All who were invited to the wedding feast and heard the call would come out of their homes and follow. When the bride hears the shofar and the announcement, she rises and rushes out to meet her groom.
Do these traditions ring a bell? What was it JESUS told HIS disciples? John 14:2-3 “in MY FATHER’S house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to MYSELF, that where I am, there you may be also “.
Are you ready and prepared? Do you have your lamp trimmed and burning bright? Do you have enough oil to see you through until HE returns? That time is near! It’s time for the children of GOD to be vigilant and ready at any moment. We don’t know when JESUS is returning. Although end-time prophecies point to our generation to see HIS return.
Matthew 24:32-35, Mark 13:28-31, and Luke 21:29-33 all tell the parable of the fig tree. Prophecies say JESUS was talking about Israel becoming a nation again. Luke 21:32 says “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation” (Israel became a nation again in 1948) “will by no means pass away till all things take place “.
Psalm 90:10 tells us a generation is seventy to eighty years. It’s been seventy-two years. I would say we are very, very close. Please make sure you are ready. Ask JESUS to forgive your sins and be your personal savior. Do it right now, we don’t know what the next minute will bring.