Please read the passage before the commentary.
What is the Kingdom of heaven like? It is like a wedding, with bride, groom and maids of honor. In some cultures, the groom would go to the bride’s home and family. The marriage would take place then and the party would follow. The virgins or maids of honor would escort the groom.
In the story the groom is late in coming and the maidens fall sleep. They are eventually awakened and when they trim their lamps or torches, half find that they do not have enough oil and the other half cannot share their oil. Half of the maidens then miss the coming of the groom and are excluded from the feast.
It may seem selfish for the wise maidens not to share their oil, but the oil has a deeper meaning than fuel for the torches. They stand for the fidelity and goodness of the wise which could not be shared with the unwise virgins or bridesmaids.
We still do not know the day or the hour. We are going to the wedding feast of the Lamb, and he wants us ready and waiting with an abundance of oil.
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