Midnight!

 What the Bible says about Gathering God's Holy Spirit 

(From Forerunner Commentary)

Matthew 25:6 At a time the virgins least expect it, a call goes out, requiring them to meet Christ, but again, both wise and foolish lack vigilance to watch diligently for His return. They had some good works, but they lacked the faith to believe that time was short and urgent. Half were not even working hard enough at overcoming to put fresh oil in their lamps.   Matthew 25:7 A lamp is trimmed when the wick is turned either up or down to regulate the amount of flame. If a lamp is empty of oil, it does not matter how much one trims it—the lamp will go out when the oil is consumed. Apparently, when events make it obvious Christ's return is immediate, the whole church wakes up in surprise. Its members get out their Bibles to find the answer to where Christ is waiting for them, but with the oil of the Holy Spirit producing only a dim light, they lack the spiritual insight to find Him. It is as though the foolish virgins are stumbling around in the dark trying to understand the Word of God, but they cannot. At this point, the foolish are in a state of panic; they realize they cannot understand and do not have the faith to believe. They ask the wise for help in understanding   Luke 21:36 In Luke 21:36, our Savior provides us with the two "tickets" we need—watching (careful, vigilant attention to overcoming our nature) and praying always—to be accounted worthy to escape the troubles at the close of this age and to enter the Kingdom of God. These two activities are pillars that support the foundation on which our Christian lives rest during these end times. How important are these two pillars? Exactly what is Christ instructing us to do as we encounter the end of an age? In Luke 21:36, when Christ says, "Watch," He is calling for us to scrutinize our lives in order to change them. We are not just to note the problems we see but to overcome them. How important is it to overcome? If Godmentioning something twice establishes it (Genesis 41:32), how significant is a subject when He mentions it fifteen times? Not fifteen times throughout the whole Bible but in just one book! And not in just any book, but a book of special significance to us, one about the end time—Revelation! In this end-time message, Christ says seven times, "I know your works" (Revelation 2:2, 9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8, 15). What are works? They are simply the results of our efforts in overcoming, both the failures and successes. Jesus is saying, "I know the level of your overcoming." Then, for each church—whether era, group, or attitude—He comments on that effort. Overcoming is highlighted another seven times (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21), as Christ ends each of His critiques with a promise that begins, "To him who overcomes. . . ." As an exclamation point, Christ warns us seven times, a number signifying completeness, to heed what He says to all these churches (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). Finally, in Revelation 21:7, Christ addresses overcoming a fifteenth time. He makes a promise to those who successfully overcome: "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son." Revelation shows us that "Job One" for a Christian is overcoming, especially for someone living at the end time. This is the message in Luke 21:36 also: We have to overcome to be with Him in God's Kingdom. Salvation itself hinges on our cooperation with Him in overcoming (Matthew 25:30). The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) demonstrates the importance of overcoming. The difference between the wise and foolish virgins is their supplies of oil. While water represents the power of God's Holy Spirit to cleanse, oil represents its power to work, to do good. Thus, the difference between the virgins is their good works ("I know your works"), how much they overcame their selfish human natures by acting in love toward God and man. Both groups had oil, but the foolish virgins did not have enough for the unexpectedly long delay (Luke 21:34-35). When the cry went out, their lamps were still burning but sputtering and about to go out. They were not prepared for the long haul. They had not continued to overcome. They were not enduring to the end. Their oil—their good works, their overcoming—proved insufficient for the task. In this one point, they failed, and what a foolish failure it was! Emphasizing the importance of Luke 21:36 and watching, Christ makes a specific promise to those living at the end who are watching, that is, successfully overcoming: "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them" (Luke 12:37). Conversely, considering the implications of John 17:3, Jesus gives a chilling judgment to the virgins who fail to overcome: "I do not know you" (Matthew 25:12).   2 Corinthians 6:1-2 The church developed, under the inspiration of Jesus Christ, an overall concept of time management unique to church members. It has its roots in the Old Testament: Isaiah 55:6 urges us to "seek the LORD while He may be found." Why should we seek Him? Because He has the power and the willingness, if we will trust Him, to give us a completely new nature, breaking the vain, frustrating, repetitious cycle. Isaiah 61:1-2 adds helpful understanding: The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God. This is a prophecy that Jesus partially quoted as He began His ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth where He grew up (Luke 4:18-19). These passages suggest an element of movement toward something soon to happen. Isaiah 55:6 suggests we seek Him urgently because the Lord is moving on, and if we do not seek Him now, it will be too late. Time and events within it are moving. Isaiah 61:1-2 is similar: Now is an acceptable day for those called of God. If we wait, the acceptable day will pass, and the day of vengeance, even now moving toward us, will be here. It will be too late to avoid its destructive powers! In Solomon's complaint about time (Ecclesiastes 1:3-11), God was nowhere mentioned. Events just go around and around endlessly, effectively describing Solomon's frustration. However, in the prophet Isaiah's description, God is involved in the movement of events that impact directly on His people's lives. II Corinthians 5:20-21; 6:1-2 from the Revised English Bible helps us to see the sense of urgency in a New Testament setting: We are therefore Christ's ambassadors. It is as if God were appealing to you through us: we implore you in Christ's name, be reconciled to God! Christ was innocent of sin, and yet for our sake God made him one with human sinfulness, so that in him we might be made one with the righteousness of God. Sharing in God's work, we make this appeal: you have received the grace of God; do not let it come to nothing. He has said: "In the hour of my favor I answered you; on the day of deliverance I came to your aid." This is the hour of favor, this the day of deliverance. These admonitions to "seek God now," "now is an acceptable time," and "do not let it come to nothing," all indicate a passing opportunity. The Christian is dealing with a specific period during which events are working toward the culmination of some process, and if he does not take advantage of the present opportunity, it will never come again. The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins in Matthew 25:6-13 illustrates our need to make the most of this opportunity now. This parable's major lesson is that both life and time are moving. The precise time of Christ's return is unknown, so He urges us to take advantage of the knowledge and time we already have in hand. Those who reject His advice will find their way into the Kingdom blocked. Recall that II Corinthians is written to Christians. Paul's message is a call to strike while the iron is hot! Both Jesus and Paul remind us that our calling is rife with possibilities, so much so that we can consider each moment as big as eternity. That is how important this "day of salvation" is to us! The New Testament's instruction to Christians is, "Now is the time!" Everything is in readiness for success. It is as though the New Testament writers are saying, "Don't be like the slave who refuses when presented with freedom, or the diseased person who rejects help when offered healing. God's door is open to us! Charge through it by cooperating with Him!" Strong's #2906: krauge (pronounced krow-gay') from 2896; an outcry (in notification, tumult or grief):--clamour, cry(-ing). Thayer's Greek Lexicon: ́  kraugē  1) a crying, outcry, clamour Part of Speech: noun feminine Relation: from G2896 Citing in TDNT: 3:898, 465 Usage: This word is used 6 times:   Matthew 25:6: "And at midnight there was a cry made,Behold, the bridegroom" Acts 23:9: "And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the" Ephesians 4:31: "and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from" Hebrews 5:7: "supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able" Revelation 14:18: "and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle," Revelation 21:4: "neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more" What the Bible says about Exodus Began at Night  (From Forerunner Commentary) Exodus 12:40-42 The account of Israel's exodus from Egypt provides a clue to the significance of the afternoon of the 14th—the time when the Messiah was crucified. The Israelites had killed the lambs after sunset as the 14th began, smearing the blood on the doorposts of their houses. They then roasted and ate the lambs, burning the remains. At midnight the Death Angel passed over, slaying the firstborn of those not under the blood. The Israelites remained in their houses until daybreak, after which they finished spoiling the Egyptians, then all 2-3 million of them traveled to Goshen. Numbers 33:3 records that they departed Rameses on the 15th day—“the day after the Passover”—and Deuteronomy 16:1 verifies that they left at night. The Exodus, then, began at night, as Abib/Nisan 15 began. This “night of solemn observance” is the “very same day” or the “self-same day” (King James Version [KJV]) as an event that happened 430 years before—to the exact day. That prior event is the initial covenant God made with Abraham: Then He said to him, “I amthe LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. . . . Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror andgreat darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land thatisnot theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. . . . And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram. . . . (Genesis 15:7-10, 12-14, 17-18) In verse 13, God's states that Abraham's descendants would be afflicted, yet finally delivered. This is that “very same day” to which Exodus 12:41-42refers—the beginning of the 15th day, just after sunset. Leviticus 2:1-2 Oil is a widely understood symbol of the Holy Spirit and thus does not require a detailed explanation, but one scripture will suffice to link the Holy Spirit and oil directly: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. . . . (Luke 4:18) "The Spirit of the Lord" and the oil of anointing are directly linked. The oil of anointing stands as a physical representation of Jesus being given the Spirit to perform these functions for God in His service to man. Acts 10:38 reveals another aspect of this symbolism: ". . . how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." Again, reference is made to anointing—an act normally done with oil—with the Holy Spirit, and Peter adds "with power," a characteristic not included in Luke 4:18. Though Jesus was bruised in service, He never lacked power. By contrast, we are rarely bruised, broken, or ground in service, but we are usually powerless. The truth is, the greatest zeal and knowledge are useless without God's Holy Spirit providing the right perspective, attitude, and intention for any service we perform.   Matthew 25:1-13 Our responsibility today is not just mental preparation, as in the case of a diligent athlete. Nor is it physical preparation, as in David's case. All the same, our responsibility is much like David's in that we are gatherers. Our duty is to gather: to gather faith, patience, wisdom; to gather God's Holy Spirit. How much do we need? Well, Christ tells us that a "night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4). In His Parable of the Ten Virgins, He says that the Bridegroom came at midnight (Matthew 25:6). Midnight is well into the night. The wise virgins were those who had enough oil - representing God's Spirit - to last the night. Indeed, we ought to gather God's Spirit like David gathered bronze, "in abundance beyond measure."     Matthew 25:1-13 Because of its abundance of well-known symbols, the Parable of the Ten Virgins is perhaps the easiest to understand in a prophetic light. The Bridegroom, of course, is Christ. Virgins are often symbols of churches or individual Christians, most likely the latter in this case. Lamps are vessels that contain oil, a common symbol of God's Spirit, thus they represent our minds, which, when filled with the Holy Spirit, provide illumination for the path to the Kingdom of God (I Corinthians 2:10-16). The wedding refers to the marriage of the Lamb to the church (Revelation 19:7). Jesus flatly states that this parable deals with conditions just before His second coming (verse 13). It does not take much interpretation, then, to understand what will happen - maybe has happened in part. All of God's people will go to sleep spiritually, but only half of them have enough spiritual strength to prepare for Christ's return. When He does return, our Savior shuts the door on the other half, proclaiming that He has no relationship with them (compare Revelation 3:7, 20). The warning to us is to draw close to God now because we do not know when Christ will come back. Leviticus 2:1-2 Oil is a widely understood symbol of the Holy Spirit and thus does not require a detailed explanation, but one scripture will suffice to link the Holy Spirit and oil directly: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. . . . (Luke 4:18) "The Spirit of the Lord" and the oil of anointing are directly linked. The oil of anointing stands as a physical representation of Jesus being given the Spirit to perform these functions for God in His service to man. Acts 10:38 reveals another aspect of this symbolism: ". . . how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." Again, reference is made to anointing—an act normally done with oil—with the Holy Spirit, and Peter adds "with power," a characteristic not included in Luke 4:18. Though Jesus was bruised in service, He never lacked power. By contrast, we are rarely bruised, broken, or ground in service, but we are usually powerless. The truth is, the greatest zeal and knowledge are useless without God's Holy Spirit providing the right perspective, attitude, and intention for any service we perform.   Matthew 25:7 A lamp is trimmed when the wick is turned either up or down to regulate the amount of flame. If a lamp is empty of oil, it does not matter how much one trims it—the lamp will go out when the oil is consumed. Apparently, when events make it obvious Christ's return is immediate, the whole church wakes up in surprise. Its members get out their Bibles to find the answer to where Christ is waiting for them, but with the oil of the Holy Spirit producing only a dim light, they lack the spiritual insight to find Him. It is as though the foolish virgins are stumbling around in the dark trying to understand the Word of God, but they cannot. At this point, the foolish are in a state of panic; they realize they cannot understand and do not have the faith to believe. They ask the wise for help in understanding   Ephesians 5:25-27 In I John 1:7, the apostle writes that we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. But the cleansing found here in Ephesians 5:26 is of a different kind. Hebrews 9:22 says, "Almost all things are purged by blood." Almost all but not everything is. There are some things that must be purged in another way. Ephesians 5:26 tells us that we are cleansed "with the washing of water by the word." There are things that will be cleansed—things in our minds, things that deal with conduct, things that have to do with character and attitude—that are cleansed by water. The word "water" here is symbolic, referring to the Word of God, as well as to the Holy Spirit. Christ gave a long discourse in John 6, which we often apply at Passover time, about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Towards the end, He says to his audience, "The words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). We have in the Bible the Word of God—and Jesus says it contains power. It has power to cleanse a person's mind, because we can think only by what goes into the mind, concepts that are contained in words. Words are merely symbols of ideas that we use to reason. We turn those ideas into action, into conduct, which becomes part of our character and our attitude. In other places in the Bible, the Holy Spirit is compared to water and to oil. Both of these have revitalizing, nourishing, cleansing, purifying, and sanitizing properties to them. We are familiar with how we use water to cleanse things; water is the universal solvent. We do not use oil so much to cleanse things, but, on the other hand, the Samaritan in the parable treated the man's wounds with oil (Luke 10:34). It had a purifying effect on him. Therefore, we are washed by the water of the Word of God in conjunction with a new nature that is given to us by God through His Spirit. This begins to help us to understand why studying the Word of God is so important. We need those words in us so that we can think according to them, and if we believe those words, they will begin to purify and cleanse the way we think.   Matthew 25:1-13 In this parable, the presence of oil is the critical factor in determining which of these maidens were wise and which were foolish. More than just an accolade, their wisdom—or lack thereof—determined which were prepared to go to the wedding and which were not. What does the oil represent in this parable? It is commonly held that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, but what verses does one use to support that? Water is a clear symbol of the Holy Spirit, as are fire and wind, and we can point to unambiguous scriptures to show that symbolism. But, believe it or not, it is not nearly so simple with oil. The closest examples are the few that link anointing and the Holy Spirit, and oil is used in anointing (for example, Luke 4:18). Even then, the linkage is not absolute, because in most places in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is given, such as at baptism, it is through the laying on of hands without any oil being used. In addition, there are numerous examples of anointing where the Holy Spirit is not given as an indwelling essence, such as God calling Cyrus the Great "His anointed" (Isaiah 45:1), or Jesus instructing people to anoint their head while fasting (Matthew 6:17). Even though we may take it for granted that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, when it comes down to showing that scripturally, it is more challenging than one might think. This is not to say that oil is not a symbol of the Holy Spirit, but rather that the Holy Spirit is only a portion of what oil represents in the Bible. But if the Holy Spirit is all we think of when we read about oil, we will miss out on a great deal of meaning and significance. In this parable, we see that the foolish virgins are instructed to go buy oil, and likewise other unnamed persons are selling oil. Commerce lies behind the possession of oil here. But questions arise if we simply substitute the Holy Spirit for the oil. In the story of Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8:9-24, Simon actually tried to do this—he tried buy the Holy Spirit, and he assumed that Peter would sell it to him. That did not work out, of course, as Peter's response in verse 20 emphasizes: "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!" This translation is quite mild compared to what the Greek indicates Peter's righteous indignation to Simon implies, "You and your money can go to destruction"—or, in other words, to hell. That is what the leader of the apostles thought about somebody trying to buy the Holy Spirit! In addition, the Holy Spirit is called the gift of God in several places (Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45; I Timothy 4:14; II Timothy 1:6; Hebrews 6:4). Only a con-artist would try to convince us to purchase something that is given as a gift! These things beg the question of what exactly the oil in the parable represents, and how we can have enough to be wise and prepared when the Bridegroom returns.   2 Timothy 1:6-7 The apostle is talking about a spirit that has been “given [to] us.” It is identified here as a “gift of God” that can be “stir[red] up.” It is bestowed through the laying on of hands, as we see throughout Scripture. Paul says that God's Spirit is not about human fear. Later in this letter, he reproaches Timothy for being ashamed of the gospel message and of Paul. The younger man seems to have been in some danger of letting down and needed to be admonished to be strong and to endure hardship. All of this is part of the fear to which Timothy was apparently inclined. Paul contrasts the frame of mind—the spirit—that would curtail Timothy's effectiveness with the Spirit given by God. Paul calls the latter “a spirit . . . of power and of love and of a sound mind.” As in I Corinthians 2:12-16, God's Spirit is linked with mind. If we are yielding to His Spirit, then our minds will be sound; they will be disciplined and self-controlled. Our minds will be sensible, sober, balanced, and restrained, and we will have wisdom, discretion, and solid judgment. Through the guidance of God's Spirit, our minds will operate in a way different from, and often incomprehensible to, those in the world, because we are being impelled by the essence of God's own mind, which is the absolute epitome of sound-mindedness and the opposite of the course of this world. The Spirit of God is also a spirit of love. We can combine this with Romans 5:5: “. . . the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” Along with that, the first element of the fruit of God's Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22). Godly love is an action—doing the right thing toward God or another person, regardless of the personal cost involved. Its foundational definition is in the commandments of God. A fear of sacrifice—a fear of giving up what is valuable to us—comes from the spirit of the world, but God's Spirit enables us to love through doing what is right and trusting that God will work things out. The remaining attribute listed here is power. It is the Greek word dunamis, which can also be translated as “ability,” “strength,” or “mighty works.” Dunamis is the capacity for achieving or accomplishing. The Holy Spirit gives a person the capacity for God's will and work to be done through him. But this is not a personal power. Even the miracles with which Jesus Himself is associated were actually performed by the Father (John 5:19; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10). Thus, the power of the Holy Spirit is the outworking of God the Father, rather than something we can use for our own ends. It is critical to understand that the power of God's Spirit is under the constraint of the love and sound-mindedness of God's Spirit. In other words, it is not simply power for the sake of power, nor is it for self-gratification or self-glorification. The evident power in the Acts 2 account of Pentecosthas given rise to churches that seek after similar supernatural displays, yet those displays are entirely divorced from the love and sound-mindedness of God. People can seek this power for the wrong reasons, and it can be misused. Simon Magus tried to buy the power of God to use for his own ends (Acts 8:9-24), and even the congregation at Corinth had to be admonished because they were not using their spiritual gifts for the benefit of the Body (I Corinthians 12). In the midst of his discussion of God's various gifts, which are simply the outworking of God's power, Paul spends a whole chapter explaining godly love (I Corinthians 13), implying that the Corinthians' approach to those gifts did not include enough love or sound judgment. He spells out that anything they received—such as spiritual wisdom or the ability to heal or do other miracles, to prophesy, to discern spirits, to speak in tongues, or to fulfill the office of apostle, prophet, or teacher—whatever the spiritual ability, God's Spirit is the source of it all, so there is no ground for boasting. The use of the power of God has to be constrained by the love and sobriety befitting the Most High God, so that He is the focus, not the individual. Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. In this parable, the presence of oil is the critical factor in determining which of these maidens were wise and which were foolish. More than just an accolade, their wisdom—or lack thereof—determined which were prepared to go to the wedding and which were not. What does the oil represent in this parable? It is commonly held that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, but what verses does one use to support that? Water is a clear symbol of the Holy Spirit, as are fire and wind, and we can point to unambiguous scriptures to show that symbolism. But, believe it or not, it is not nearly so simple with oil. The closest examples are the few that link anointing and the Holy Spirit, and oil is used in anointing (for example, Luke 4:18). Even then, the linkage is not absolute, because in most places in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is given, such as at baptism, it is through the laying on of hands without any oil being used. In addition, there are numerous examples of anointing where the Holy Spirit is not given as an indwelling essence, such as God calling Cyrus the Great "His anointed" (Isaiah 45:1), or Jesus instructing people to anoint their head while fasting (Matthew 6:17). Even though we may take it for granted that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, when it comes down to showing that scripturally, it is more challenging than one might think. This is not to say that oil is not a symbol of the Holy Spirit, but rather that the Holy Spirit is only a portion of what oil represents in the Bible. But if the Holy Spirit is all we think of when we read about oil, we will miss out on a great deal of meaning and significance. In this parable, we see that the foolish virgins are instructed to go buy oil, and likewise other unnamed persons are selling oil. Commerce lies behind the possession of oil here. But questions arise if we simply substitute the Holy Spirit for the oil. In the story of Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8:9-24, Simon actually tried to do this—he tried buy the Holy Spirit, and he assumed that Peter would sell it to him. That did not work out, of course, as Peter's response in verse 20 emphasizes: "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!" This translation is quite mild compared to what the Greek indicates Peter's righteous indignation to Simon implies, "You and your money can go to destruction"—or, in other words, to hell. That is what the leader of the apostles thought about somebody trying to buy the Holy Spirit! In addition, the Holy Spirit is called the gift of God in several places (Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45; I Timothy 4:14; II Timothy 1:6; Hebrews 6:4). Only a con-artist would try to convince us to purchase something that is given as a gift! These things beg the question of what exactly the oil in the parable represents, and how we can have enough to be wise and prepared when the Bridegroom returns. To understand more fully what oil represents, it is helpful to go to the very first mention of it in the Bible. It is first found on the occasion of Jacob's dream of a ladder reaching to heaven: Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. (Genesis 28:16-18) Here it says that Jacob poured oil on the stone, but a few chapters later when God is reminding Jacob of this event, God says that Jacob anointed the pillar (Genesis 31:13). This incident is where both oil and anointing are first mentioned. Anointing literally means "to daub" or "to smear," which is what Jacob did to the stone with his oil. What the Bible says about Spiritual Betrothal (From Forerunner Commentary) Song of Solomon 5:1-10 Verse 2 begins a dream sequence. The woman is not really sure what is happening. Is it really happening? Many of us have experienced a simlar thing while in bed and dreaming, but the dream seemed so real that we wondered whether it was reality. What is real when one is half asleep? The mind is still fogged by a state of drowsiness; it is simply not focused. Solomon presents this "dream" like this because many times, when we are fully alert and focused on what we are doing, much of what we are or think about is restrained or contained. But when we go to sleep, the mind begins to release the things the will has kept submersed. The subconscious begins to express itself when nothing restrains it. This young lady is finding out that her love is not as deep and true as it needs to be for a successful marriage. She lies unclothed on her bed, which is reminiscent of the Laodicean: "wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked" (Revelation 3:17). Her feet are washed; her work for the day is over, she thinks. She will not stir herself to do what is disagreeable to her at this most inconvenient time, even though her lover is standing at the door, knocking (Revelation 3:20). She delays responding to him, unsure if she is dreaming or not. She finally begins to respond positively in verse 5, but it is too late. This is reminscent of the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-12). The cry of the bridegroom goes out, but some do not have enough oil, causing them to respond too late to the bridegroom's voice. It is very interesting that oil of myrrh is mentioned both here and in Matthew 25. In verse 6, she is struck with guilt and remorse for not having responded to his offer of love. She begins calling out for him and seeking to find him in the city. The watchmen patrol the city, which represents the world. What is happening in the city, out in the world? The Tribulation! "The watchmen that went about the city found me. They struck me, and they wounded me: the keepers of the walls took my veil away from me." The stolen veil is a symbol of being shamed. The watchmen are worldly people. They see only with their eyes, and thus they cannot see the deep and earnest repentance and yearning that is now within her. They do not see her as the bride, but as a woman—a common woman of the streets, which is why they beat her. They see her as a prostitute. So, without even bothering to find out who she is, they persecute her, tearing some of her clothing from her. Remember that clothing symbolizes righteousness in the Bible. In verse 8, she turns away from the people who are persecuting her, represented by the watchmen, to the daughters of Jerusalem, from whom she would expect to receive sympathy. She hopes that they might relate to what she is going through. She asks them in her agony to try to help her to find her love, Christ, but we know that He will be gone for the 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation. The daughters of Jerusalem respond with a question, "What is he like? Tell us about him, we don't know who he is." She begins in verse 10 to describe him. What she is doing, of course, is making her witness before the world. The Protestant Evangelical churches would say that she is giving her testimony of her beloved, of what he is like. She describes him in the most glowing of terms. Here, because of the theme, it has to be done in physical terms, but we understand that He is not just physically attractive. She also describes what He is spiritually to these people. She is complementing the preaching of the Two Witnesses (Revelation 11:3-12), through her own personal witness, while she is in tribulation. The point of all this is that it will be this way for some, but it does not have to be this way for anyone. If she had given of herself to him when he was courting her, this would never have happened. We are being courted by Jesus Christ right now. We are being led toward a marriage—the marriage of the Lamb to the church of God. If she had really been working on yielding to Him—developing her relationship with Him—she would have known His love for her and would have made any sacrifice for Him, no matter how inconvenient. This is what Jesus teaches in the series of parables beginning in Matthew 24 after the Olivet Prophecy.    Matthew 26:27-28 In "Are You Drinking of the Master's Cup?" (Forerunner, March 1999), the author tells of an ancient Hebrew tradition: When a young man and woman were to be betrothed (engaged) for marriage, the groom poured wine into his cup and invited the woman to drink of it. The choice was hers: If she drank from it, she was considered betrothed to the young man. She was agreeing to experience all the things that his life entailed, the good as well as the bad. When the woman drank of the cup, she drank of the marriage covenant and accepted it. Paul refers to this when he tells the church in II Corinthians 11:2: "For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." As Jesus sat at His last Passover with His disciples, He poured wine into His cup and blessed it, telling the disciples, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:27-28). By literally drinking from His cup, they each accepted the terms of the New Covenant. It was a symbolic betrothal or engagement of the church, the Israel of God, to Christ. This is part of what we commemorate with each Passover service—our spiritual engagement to Christ, which will culminate with the marriage feast after He returns (Revelation 19:9). Before we were called out of this world, we all walked according to the course of the world (Ephesians 2:2-3). We were the sons and daughters of disobedience, conducting ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind. We drank from the cup of Babylon by ingesting a false religion and the culture around us that God says is filthiness (Revelation 17:1-6; 18:1-6). This is why God tells us to come out of Babylon—so that we do not share the sins in her promiscuous cup and the consequences that God promises He will pour out upon her. Formerly, we were slaves to sin and its consequences. Now, under the New Covenant, we drink from Christ's cup and agree to His terms. This frees us from the death penalty of sin as well as making us responsible to remain faithful to this spiritual engagement. Paul warns us that God is jealous toward His people, and that they must choose to whom they will be loyal: "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?" (I Corinthians 10:21-22). It is plain that we must make a choice: We either drink of the cup of Christ and remain faithful to our commitment, or we drink of the cup of demons and the sinful system they rule. These two cups are mutually exclusive. We cannot have both! If we have drunk from Christ's cup, can we continue to sip from the cup of this world's culture or its false religious system? Can we drink of His cup, accepting His proposal for marriage, and still have intimate interactions with Babylon? Even in our morally debased secular world, this would be grounds for nullifying that covenant of future marriage.   Matthew 26:28 According to tradition, when a young Hebrew man and woman were to be betrothed, the groom poured wine into his cup and invited the woman to drink of it. It was up to her. If she drank from it, she was considered betrothed to him. If she did not, no marriage would take place. Paul tells the church in II Corinthians 11:2: "For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. ForI have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." When the bride drank of the cup, she drank of the marriage covenant or contract, accepting it. Understanding this symbolism, it is no wonder that Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 26:28, "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." As we drink of His cup, we accept His invitation to be betrothed to Him and to be forgiven of our sins so we can be like He is—sinless, spotless, and without fault in His presence at the Marriage Supper. Yet it means far more! Remember that "drinking the cup" meant to accept whatever that cup represented. When the mother of James and John approaches Jesus with her request to have her sons sit on each side of Jesus when He came into His Kingdom, Jesus replies with a question: But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you [James and John] able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." (Matthew 20:22) They do not take the cue from Jesus that they may have to drink more than they care to swallow! They answer affirmatively before they realize what Christ's cup contained. Jesus continues in verse 23: So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on my right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father." What happened to them? James the son of Zebedee was the first apostle martyred, early on by Herod (Acts 12:2). Though John was the longest-lived of the twelve, apparently living nearly 100 years, he certainly suffered greatly at the hands of persecutors. Not only did he spend many years in exile on the Isle of Patmos, one tradition says he miraculously survived being boiled in oil! Beyond this, he had to watch the church disintegrate through apostasy and persecution. Part of what Jesus' cup entails is suffering. When we drink of His cup, we are saying we are willing to suffer with Him and experience with Him whatever He ordains for us. We symbolically pledge that we are willing to walk down the same path He walked, with similar consequences. We do not just drink the wine at Passover—we drink "of the cup" of Passover, meaning we are proclaiming our willingness to share in similar trials as Jesus did. We proclaim we are willing to endure whatever He has appointed for us as our lot. We are also identifying ourselves with Him exclusively: We are cupbearers to the King of kings and to Him only. Psalm 16:5 says, "O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; you maintain my lot." The Eternal is our cup! Do we grasp the meaning of this? We cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). We cannot simultaneously identify with Christ and Satan. Our lives, our actions, our words, our thoughts, continuously announce which is our father, God in heaven or Satan. Drinking of Jesus' cup means to live His way of life and renounce Satan's ways.   Ephesians 1:13-14 Jesus and His Father give us a guarantee of His promise to marry us. On the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2), fifty days after Jesus' resurrection, God sent a "deposit," the "earnest" of the Holy Spirit—the guarantee of the full payment to come later, when we are changed from flesh to spirit. There may be more here than some realize. The Greek word for "earnest" is arrabon. When taken in the context of our understanding of a glorious wedding coming, it is a word packed with meaning. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words comments: Originally, "earnest-money" deposited by the purchaser and forfeited if the purchase was not completed, [arrabon] was probably a Phoenician word, introduced into Greece. In general usage it came to denote "a pledge" or "earnest" of any sort; in the NT it is used only of that which is assured by God to believers; it is said of the Holy Spirit as the divine "pledge" of all their future blessedness, . . . particularly of their eternal inheritance. Then comes this final sentence: "In modern Greek arrabona is an 'engagement ring.'" Of course! It makes so much sense. When Jesus asks us to drink of His cup—and we do—He follows by giving us a sign of His pledge: a kind of engagement ring, an earnest of His Holy Spirit! All this happened on the likely anniversary of God's proposal to Israel, the Day of Pentecost, about the time Boaz and Ruth pledged their troth. Do we realize to what we have been called? We may glibly answer with the standard phrases about the Kingdom of God, His Family, and eternal life, but do we really understand what this means? For those of us who are changed to spirit at our Savior's return, it means marriage to the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. We have been called to become His Bride. Not only will we attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, we will live and reign with Christ, not just for a thousand years, but for all eternity. We will be His constant companion, His confidante, and His helpmeet. We will have been fully prepared for this endless, joyous responsibility by our lives in the flesh, in which we patterned our lives after Him. We will be just like Him, a fitting Bride! Boaz and Ruth Last time, we saw several biblical parallels of Christ's marriage to the church. The marriage of Boaz and Ruth the Moabitess is also a picture of the scheduled wedding of the King of kings. The story takes place just after Passover, as the barley harvest is beginning, after the wavesheaf offering. This is a type of God calling the church first, in the smaller barley harvest (Ruth 1:22). The book of Ruth is traditionally read during the Feast of Pentecost, so its themes are "meat in due season." Ruth converts to the true religion after the death of her husband (verses 16-17). Spiritually, she is considered of the seed of Abraham through this act, as are all who are of God's spiritual household. In Ruth's case, she is also related by marriage to the wealthy landowner, Boaz. Recall that Rebekah and the Bride of Christ are also of the same household or kin of the bridegroom. Boaz, a righteous man in an unrighteous time, obeys God's rules of generosity (Deuteronomy 24:19-21) and leaves the corners of his field unharvested. He even commands his reapers to drop sheaves for Ruth and other poor gleaners. Ruth in turn is looking for a field owner in whose eyes she may find grace (Ruth 2:1-3), just as the Bride of Christ finds grace. Boaz notices her hard work, and no doubt her beauty, and commands his men to be even more generous with her. He urges her to glean in his field, and not another—more obvious lessons (verse 8). He graciously invites this poor woman to eat and drink from his table, to eat his bread, and to dip it in the wine vinegar (verse 14). This should bring to mind what Paul says to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 10:16-17, 21). Through the laws of levirate marriage, Boaz buys the rights to marry Ruth, redeeming her from a closer kinsman (Deuteronomy 25:5-10; Ruth 4:1-12). Boaz, much older than Ruth, loves her dearly, as Jesus, who has been since the beginning, loves His new Bride dearly. Just as Boaz becomes Ruth's redeemer, we too have a Redeemer. Jesus bought us with the price of His own blood—and now He is our Master and Bridegroom. As such, we become co-heirs of everything promised to Jesus Christ (Romans 8:16-17). At the end of the barley and early wheat harvest, Boaz marries Ruth, right about the time of Pentecost (Ruth 4:13). Their marriage unites Israelite and Gentile into one, just as Jesus "is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us" (Ephesians 2:14). In the same way, at the end of the small, spiritual barley harvest and the early wheat harvest, which pictures this small, total number that comprise the elect of God, Christ will marry His church. Boaz and Ruth were King David's great-grandparents and ancestors of Christ (Ruth 4:18-21). The Proposal In the New Covenant, the Father still selects the Bride for Jesus (John 6:44). In the days of the apostles, once the bride was selected and the bride-price agreed upon, the man seeking a bride would go to the young lady in mind and present her with his cup of wine. He would tell her his cup represents his life and proposes marriage by offering his cup to her. He would then voice his desire to have them share their lives together. If she takes his cup and drinks of it, she accepts his marriage proposal and agrees to live by the terms of the new covenant they are making with each other. Sound familiar? "Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins'" (Matthew 26:27-28). When Jesus uttered this, the disciples were probably taken aback, wondering why He was using words similar to what a young man would say in proposing to a woman. Every year we drink of the Master's cup, we remind ourselves of the time we accepted our Fiancé's cup and formed a new covenant with Him. We look forward to that time when the King puts on a wedding for His Son (Matthew 22:1-14), when we will be the Bride at that wedding! We will sit at the King's table and participate with our new Husband as He raises His cup again, for the first time since that night in Jerusalem. Jesus and His Father go a step further and give us a guarantee of His promise to marry us. On the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2), fifty days after Jesus' resurrection, God sent a "deposit," the "earnest" of the Holy Spirit—the guarantee of the full payment to come later (Ephesians 1:13-14), when we are changed from flesh to spirit. There may be more here than some realize. The Greek word for "earnest" is arrabon. When taken in the context of our understanding of a glorious wedding coming, it is a word packed with meaning. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words comments: Originally, "earnest-money" deposited by the purchaser and forfeited if the purchase was not completed, [arrabon] was probably a Phoenician word, introduced into Greece. In general usage it came to denote "a pledge" or "earnest" of any sort; in the NT it is used only of that which is assured by God to believers; it is said of the Holy Spirit as the divine "pledge" of all their future blessedness, . . . particularly of their eternal inheritance. Then comes this final sentence: "In modern Greek arrabona is an 'engagement ring.'" Of course! It makes so much sense. When Jesus asks us to drink of His cup—and we do—He follows by giving us a sign of His pledge: a kind of engagement ring, an earnest of His Holy Spirit! All this happened on the very likely anniversary of God's proposal to Israel, the Day of Pentecost, about the time Boaz and Ruth pledged their troth. The Wedding Who will perform the wedding? Matthew 22:2 gives us a huge clue! "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who arranged a wedding for his son." Who is this king? God the Father, of course! Who else would be qualified? Jesus' parable in Matthew 22 goes on to say the King (God the Father) is in attendance, meeting the guests (verse 11). These are clues. Where will the wedding take place? Psalm 45, called the "song of loves," appears to be describing the same event: The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; the virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You. With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; they shall enter the King's palace. (verses 13-15) There has been extensive speculation on this point, and we cannot be completely definite about the answer. Some speculate it will take place on the earth, but it seems God the Father performs the wedding. The Father, however, does not come to the earth until the Millennium is over (see Revelation 20 and 21). We are given another clue in the way weddings were conducted in ancient times. Recall that Rebekah had to leave her home in Nahor and go to where Isaac—who took her into Sarah's tent—lived. Sarah is a type of heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4:22-26), and "Jerusalem above . . . is the mother of us all." If Isaac, a type of Jesus Christ, took Rebekah, a type of the church, into Sarah's tent, we may deduce that the wedding will take place in heaven. Also, remember that in Jesus' day, only the father of the bridegroom knew for sure when the wedding was ready, hence Jesus' words, "But of that day and hour no one knows . . . but my Father only" (Matthew 24:36). When the father gives the word to begin the wedding, the bridegroom goes to get the bride and takes her back to his father's house for the actual wedding. In addition, the wedding chamber itself was usually in or near the bridegroom's father's house. No wonder Jesus says in John 14:2-3 that His Father's house has many rooms, mansions, abodes! He says, "I go to prepare a place for you. And . . . I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." Notice that in several places in Revelation, after the seventh—or last—angel has sounded in Revelation 11:15, we find the 144,000, the "firstfruits," standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb, Christ (Revelation 14:1, 3-4). This cannot be earthly Mount Zion, as Christ does not finally return to earth as conquering King until Revelation 19. This may be a vision of Christ and His Bride after their marriage, and they are standing on a heavenly Mount Zion (see Hebrews 12:22). In Revelation 14:3, the 144,000 are described as being "redeemed from the earth." Who are the "redeemed"? God's church is redeemed. Remember Boaz was the redeemer of Ruth, who was a type of the church. The real Redeemer is Christ (Isaiah 44:6). Thus, the 144,000 are clearly those redeemed by Christ, the Lamb. They follow Him wherever He goes (Revelation 14:4; John 12:26). Though heaven is clearly not the final reward of the saved, it is exciting to contemplate the distinct possibility that the wedding of Christ and His Bride could take place in the heavenly Temple of God, with God the Father Himself officiating! We cannot be dogmatic about this, but it is exciting to think about. Jesus was able to endure His severe test on the stake by looking to "the joy that was set before Him" (Hebrews 12:1-2). We can—we must—do the same. Looking forward to such a close union with our Savior can help us have a joy that sees us through the many rough spots of daily life. We pick up the story in Revelation 19:5. The setting is still heaven, with the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures before God: Then a voice came from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!" And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'" And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." After this, we see heaven opened once more (Revelation 19:11-13), revealing a white horse and the Word of God riding it. The armies in heaven follow Him, at which time the assembled enemy forces surrounding Jerusalem and other areas of modern-day Israel are destroyed by the Word and His forces (verses 14-21). Jesus and His Bride land on the Mount of Olives, which splits in two, and they conquer and settle in earthly Jerusalem to reign for a thousand years (Zechariah 13; Revelation 20). Commitment Jesus warns in Matthew 20 that many who are invited to the wedding take their calling lightly and spurn this momentous union. They will miss out. Time is short. The Bride of Christ is not yet ready, and we may be caught by surprise when He comes for us. Five of the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 are commanded to repent, to wake up, to answer the knock at the door, to be ready for Jesus' coming. Like a loving Husband, He wants us to respond so that we will sit on His throne with Him. With Pentecost over and the long summer months stretching out ahead of us, we need to remember the marriage proposal from our Master and Fiancé. Jesus asks: "Will you marry Me?" If we raised the Master's cup to our lips at Passover, we recommitted ourselves to our betrothal. Our actions since we accepted the engagement ring of His Spirit show if we are serious about the wedding—or not. We have been called to change, to overcome, to put off carnality and put on righteousness—to put on Christ Himself. If we are committed to this union, we are growing, bearing fruit, and becoming more compatible with our Fiancé. We should be walking as He walked, living as He lived, and we can do this because Christ Himself dwells in us by His Spirit (John 17:23; Romans 8:9-11; II Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 4:19; etc.). We should be fulfilling what Paul prays for us in Ephesians 3:14-21: For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. When the Bride enters the Palace, we will be presented incorruptible to our King, Jesus Christ; we will be without spot or wrinkle, without fault (Psalm 45:13-15; I Corinthians 15:49-54; Ephesians 5:27; Jude 24). We will be like Him, not just in spirit body, but also in mind and attitude. We will comprise the Wife of the King of Kings, His holy companion, His helper—one body, mind, and Spirit with Him. His Wife will sit on His throne with Him and remain with Him wherever He goes forever. God speed the day!