Page 89 - The Remnant Bride

of preparation and cleansing in their lives. They have remained alert and vigilant, waiting

with anticipation for the return of the Bridegroom. They are mature and have intimate
knowledge of their Lord. (Intimate knowledge of Yahshua is a characteristic of the Bride

and is lacking in those who are unprepared. Yahshua spoke to the foolish virgins, “Truly I
say to you, I do not know you.”)

The ten virgins do not represent the Bride. They are attendants of the Bride and they
represent two other groups of saints. As attendants of the Bride, “they all ate the same

spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual
rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God

was not well-pleased...” (I Corinthians 10:3). The Bride remained alert and vigilant while
the ten virgins all fell asleep. The ten virgins failed to keep watch and be alert and they were

sleeping when the Bridegroom came for the Bride.
However, among the attendants of the Bride, a distinction is made. Five were wise and

were let into the wedding feast and five were foolish and were excluded. The difference was
that some had extra vessels of oil for their lamps and some did not. Although oil often

symbolizes the Spirit of God, I believe this oil represents the good works of the saints for

this was an oil used to give light. This connection can be seen in the following passage.

Matthew 5:14-16

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men

light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives
light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that
they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Although all ten of the virgins had fallen asleep, some had done many good works to
the glory of the Father and some had not. The foolish had vessels that were made to give

forth light, but they had not ever been used for this purpose, this being typified by the lack
of any oil. They were like the wicked servant that went and hid his talent in the ground until

the return of his master. Not only had these foolish virgins fallen asleep, but they had no
good works for men or God to see. Their vessels were essentially wasted. They had never

used them for the purpose they were created for; the vessels being their bodies which are
the temple of God. They were sleeping when the Bridegroom appeared.