The parables of Jesus are characterized by their poignancy and brevity. They are vivid, memorable, yet brief.
They are not simply moralistic fables; many are prophecies representing events that will transpire. One such parable is the Parable of Ten Virgins. It is a story about the need to be prepared, a prophecy about events before and during the Second Coming:
“And then, at that day, before the Son of Man comes…” adds the Prophet Joseph Smith to the beginning of the parable. It is about things that are going to happen in our future.
Prophets have also told us that this parable is speaking of members of the true Church in the last days. It is not about the rest of the world at all. (One general authority noted that the 50/50 ratio in the story is disconcerting.)
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
“And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
“They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil in their vessels with their lamps.
“But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
“Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
“And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
“But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
“And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
“Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
“But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matt. 25:1-13).
The main questions anyone who takes this prophecy seriously will ask are: What is the oil, and how can I get more of it? We find an answer in modern revelation to the Church of Jesus Christ, in the Doctrine and Covenants:
“And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins.
“For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day” (D&C 45:56-57). It is fitting that the oil is emblematic of the Holy Spirit—in the parable, it serves as fuel for their lamps, as a source of light in the dark.
We often speak of having the Spirit, or not having the Spirit, as though it were all or nothing. The scriptures speak of receiving “portions” of the Spirit—the light can grow brighter or dimmer depending on us. The foolish virgins did have some oil, just not enough. The English says “our lamps are gone out,” but the Greek is closer to “are going out.”
The parable says that while they awaited the arrival of the bridegroom, “they all slumbered and slept.” Life can create the illusion that it will go on forever. As we go through our daily routines we can get lulled into a false sense of permanence, a sense that we can put off this or that attempt to repent or grow spiritually, that we can procrastinate indefinitely. But the day of reckoning always comes.
Receiving the Spirit
Who is ready for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ? Those who “have received the truth, and taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived…” Having the Spirit with us, and receiving it in a greater measure, depends not only on what we have in our lives, but what we do not have in our lives. A good garden gets sun, water, and has fertile soil; it also lacks rocks, weeds, and crop-destroying pests.
This is a parable about Church members at the Second Coming; all ten women are referred to as “virgins,” i.e., they are trying to live the commandments. (There is an overtone of emphasized chastity in this parable—virgins waiting for a bridegroom and a wedding feast—living the law of chastity will play a key role in being ready for the Second Coming.) All ten were virgins, and this suggests that the differentiating factors between “wise” and “foolish” will be more subtle. It is fairly easy to be a member of the Church outwardly, going through the motions and putting on a show, while our hearts are elsewhere.
Matthew 25 gives us ominous views of the Second Coming and the final judgment. In verses 31 and 32 it says that “…the Son of man shall come in his glory…
“And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate…sheep from the goats.”
One difference between sheep and goats is that sheep are more selective in what they are willing to eat; goats will eat anything. Popular media, music, and videos can contain elements that offend the Holy Spirit. They diminish the portion of the Spirit we receive. What are we willing to put into our minds and hearts through our ears and eyes? If we find ourselves justifying media choices by silently arguing in favor of our media libraries in our minds, perhaps we should ask ourselves if we are not arguing with the voice of the Spirit.
Eliminating bad things from our lives is not enough—we must also include good, if we want the Spirit to be with us in an added measure. Do we attend sacrament meeting mentally as well as physically each week? Do we participate in lessons? Is our understanding of the scriptures superficial or deep? Is our Temple attendance perfunctory, or do we go because we actually prefer being there? Are we ashamed to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ, or are we willing to take the unpopular stance in public? Are we embarrassed of the standards set forth by the Church and currently promoted by its leaders? Do we apologize for unpopular doctrines and practices? Or are we filled with missionary zeal?
Hearts
1 Sam. 16:7 consoles our insecurities about personal appearance. Our social lives are dominated by external appearances. It is reassuring and comforting to see the Lord’s priorities are elsewhere: “But the Lord said…Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
At first blush, this appears to be a statement about the Lord not caring about the physical flaws we see in the mirror. The last phrase, “the Lord looketh on the heart,” is not as cuddly or trite as we tend to think.
“Our heavenly father is more liberal in his views, and boundless in his mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive, and at the same time is as terrible to the workers of iniquity, more awful in the executions of his punishments, and more ready to detect every false way than we are apt to suppose him to be” (Joseph Smith, Letter to Nancy Rigdon, 1842, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, Dean C. Jessee, p. 509).
In the final judgment (and all the interviews and self-evaluations leading up to it), the Lord will probe our secret thoughts, our innermost feelings, our hearts. It is our hearts that will be weighed in the balance at the last day. The first commandment is to love God; it is possible to go through the motions without feeling any love for Him. (If we do not go through the motions of obedience we do not love Him either, viz. John 14:15.)
When Joseph Smith had his First Vision, he asked Jesus Christ which church of all churches he should join. “I was answered that I must join none of them…‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…’” (JS—H 1:19).
“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13). What do we really want? What do we love most? If perfect obedience is the price of having a greater portion of the Spirit, then we are sunk (at least at first) because we do not obey perfectly. But those who love God more than anything else, and whose efforts spring from that love, succeed or fail, can expect to find God. He can take a heart that loves Him, and change it until our behavior matches our good desires.
A lamp with a bright gem flame, and a jug dripping with golden oil, are both visible and tangible. In this parable, these things are emblems of the influence of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is invisible and intangible; there is no way to bottle it or store it. What is the receptacle, then, if it is not a lamp or a jug? “…the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell…” (Alma 34:36). The power and influence of the Spirit must dwell in us. We are the lamps and the jugs.
As Isaac Watts said, “let every heart prepare him room.” If the top space in our hearts is occupied by something other than the Lord, the Spirit gets crowded out. It might sound hard, making the Lord our highest priority when there are so many other things vying for our affection, time, and attention, but we occupy the center of the Lord’s affections: “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation” (2Ne. 26:24). It is fair to ask us to love Him more than anything else because He loves us that way.
“And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost” (3Ne. 12:6). We can put on a show and fake good intentions, but we cannot fool the Lord or fake a condition of the heart. He knows what we really want; we will receive the Spirit according to what we want as much as according to what we do. The program, the plan of salvation, is to get sinners back out of danger and into the light; since we are all sinning or doing or thinking something wrong to some degree, we are trying to get the Spirit when we are technically not worthy of His companionship.
Our degree of willingness to try again (and again, and again) is as big a factor in receiving the Holy Ghost as our actual success in obedience. If we cannot muster perfect obedience at first, but we are humble and have faith and love the Lord, He can give us His Spirit in spite of our failure, and that infusion of the Spirit, grace, allows us to improve our obedience. Instead of trying harder to be obedient, we should try harder to be humble first, so that we can receive a greater portion of the Spirit. This will enable us to obey well.
Burning Low
In recent months leaders of the Church have emphasized weekly Sabbath observance as a key to keeping faith alive and robust in a world that is increasingly defined by skepticism. The five foolish virgins noticed at the arrival of the bridegroom that their lamps were “going out” (in the Greek; “gone out” is the English King James translation). There is a kind of fashionable secular agnosticism, based more on what it does not accept or believe than on any confirmed set of beliefs, springing up in the world. People are dismissing and disregarding the faiths of their ancestors, much like the people in Lehi’s dream.
“…they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost” (1Ne. 8:28). Who was immune to the mockery from the well-dressed crowd in the great and spacious building? Those who were “continually holding fast to the rod of iron” (the word of God) in verse 30. Those who fell away were merely “clinging” loosely.
Lehi gives another key: “And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.
“…For as many as had heeded them, had fallen away” (v. 33-34).
The opinions and morality of the world shift like clouds, slowly yet perceptibly to anyone who pays attention. And the priorities of the world are growing ever more distant from those described in the scriptures.
Latter-day Saints are in the position of someone standing on the gangplank of an ocean vessel while the vessel is pulling away from the land. We must eventually let go of the land or the ship—we cannot choose both. We must eventually decide which we love more, the world, or God and His Church, specifically because the world is becoming antagonistic towards God’s values, principles, and His prophets.
Those who try to hold to both will find in the end that they have actually chosen only the world. We cannot come to the Lord and offer Him half of our heart, and expect to find Him. He offers us everything; we must reciprocate with our all, however small it might be.
In the End
There are few images as sad as the five foolish virgins pounding on the locked door of the wedding feast.
“Lord, Lord, open to us.
“But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
The Book of Mormon urges, “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God…
“…I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate…
“Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this…
“For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his…” (Alma 34:32-35).
How do we come to know the Lord? Quiet moments of study and meditation create a space in which we can become familiar with the whisperings He sends through His Spirit. Serving Him, whether following commandments from scriptures, living prophets, or those still whispers of the Spirit, will make us more like Him, and teach us about His priorities. Missionary work, Temple work, and parenthood each prepare us to meet Him again and not feel alien in His presence.
Perhaps a good way to measure our progress in that direction is to gauge the appeal this world has for us. If we love the temporary things of this world less, there is more room in our hearts for the eternal things of the next world.
