Ten Virgins Bible Quotes

Messianic banquet. Isaiah 25:6–8 provides the foundation for this banquet at which God will provide a rich feast for all peoples and remove the disgrace of his people. It became very popular at the time between the Testaments, and by New Testament times had become a prominent part of people’s thinking and expectation concerning the messianic age. A number of Jesus’ parables, miracles, and teachings, especially in Matthew, should be understood in that context (e.g., the Parable of the Wedding Banquet [Matt. 22:1–14] and the Parable of the Ten Virgins [Matt. 25:1–13]).

But what if God wants slaughter or commands slavery or sends calamity? Considerable portions of the Bible attribute plagues and famines and sieges and massacres to God, either by his direct intervention or as he delegates destroying angels or marauding armies. God’s casualties are measured in the tens and hundreds of thousands. Entire cities and people groups are supposed to have been massacred by divine command. Men and women are put to the sword, their children enslaved and the virgins divvied up as spoils. And the Bible does not say God allowed it. In many cases, we read that he required it, at least if we require that God’s call to slaughter be read literally. Indeed, the cynical* despisers of Scripture count on it.15

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be like ten virgins, who, taking their lamps, went out to meet the groom and the bride.

I’ve come to realize that the entire Bible is crazy. It’s not as if there are a few crazy stories tucked away in unusual corners of the text; they’re everywhere. This is our God. His character is as consistent as His behavior is erratic. His promise is as dependable as His plan is unpredictable. Sometimes, it is ten plagues; sometimes, it is Ten Commandments, or the death of the firstborn, or a virgin birth. Ultimately, it is an execution that leads to a resurrection. About the only sure thing in any of these stories is that there will always, always, always be a surprise.