515th Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parable of the Ten Virgins Con't. - Matthew 25: 1 - 13 Con't. 4th Post.

Matthew 25: 1 - 13 Con't; The Ten Virgins con't. - 4th Post.
Jesus said that the wise and the foolish virgins both groups slept, waiting for the bridegroom to come.  Jesus tells us that we should be about advancing the Kingdom when the Lord returns.  What does this mean?  We are to be about the business of teaching others about Jesus Christ.  The wise virgins took extra provisions with them in anticipation of an unexpected delay.  To understand this, you need to look at how weddings were handled in the ancient world.  This was before rapid transit, and the long distances had to be traveled on foot or on some sort of animal.  Covering the distance was hard and could be dangerous.  This made estimating time of arrival very difficult, especially if you were traveling in a large group, that these marriage entourage's could be quite large.  The job of these virgins was to escort the bridegroom into the wedding whenever he would arrive.  This was a job of hurry up and wait.  They had to arrive before the bridegroom, but could not enter themselves until the bridegroom was there to accompany them.