<p>25:5- see on Mt. 22:9.<br /><em>Now while the bridegroom was delayed</em>- The same word translated &lsquo;delay&rsquo; in 24:48 (see note there). Without doubt, there is a delay in the Lord&rsquo;s return. Beyond question, the fact not all will work out as expected in terms of chronology means that some will stumble. This is a sober warning to the very many who hold dogmatic views about the interpretation of end time Bible prophecy. Rev. 10:6 uses a related word to speak of how there will finally be no more delay. And yet &lsquo;delay&rsquo; is to some extent metaphor- the same word is used in Heb. 10:37 &ldquo;He that shall come will come, and will not tarry&rdquo; (s.w. &ldquo;tarried&rdquo;, Mt. 25:5). In one sense there will be a delay, in another sense there will not be. God on one hand foreknows all things, and in that sense there is no delay; in another sense, He does in real terms delay His program in response and sensitivity to human behaviour. This paradox is at the root of Hab. 2:3, which is being quoted in Heb. 10:37: &ldquo;The vision is yet for an appointed time the Hebrew could mean &lsquo;Will still not happen for another year /&nbsp;<em>moed</em>&nbsp;/ until the next feast / until the time appointed&hellip; though it tarry, wait for it&hellip; it will not tarry&rdquo;. Despite the delay, it will fulfil, and so it must be waited for. It tarries in one sense, but in another sense &ldquo;it will not tarry&rdquo;.</p><p><em>They all became drowsy and slept</em>- The word is used figuratively of &lsquo;delaying&rsquo;. The only other NT usage is in 2 Pet. 2:3, where it clearly means &lsquo;delaying&rsquo;: &ldquo;Their condemnation&nbsp;<em>slumbers</em>&nbsp;not&rdquo;. Because the bridegroom delayed, so did they. Here again is the Lord&rsquo;s commentary upon the dangers of assuming a fixed date for His return. Spiritual life grinds to a halt when it is perceived wrongly that God&rsquo;s purpose has ground to a halt. The delay in the Lord&rsquo;s coming means that there is a delay in the spiritual life of those who waited for Him on a particular day. By slumbering, they were assuming that He too is slumbering. But the God of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps (Ps. 121:4). David had sworn not to slumber nor sleep until God was enthroned in Zion (Ps. 132:4). Regardless of delays in the program, it is the end result which must ever be kept in view- the coming of the Lord to Zion. The fulfilment of prophecy is not an end in itself, but it is the end result which must be our desire- rather than merely seeing the vindication of our own pet interpretations.</p><p>Both wise and foolish &quot;<em>all</em>&nbsp;slumbered and slept&quot;. This slumbering can only be seen in a bad light.&nbsp;The exhortation at the end of the parable is to &quot;watch&quot;, i.e. to keep awake rather than be sleepy (Mt. 25:13).&nbsp;We have earlier commented on the many parallels between 1 Thess. 5 and Mt. 24 and 25. 1 Thess. 5:2,6,7 speaks of the unworthy in the last days as being surprised by the midnight coming of Christ due to their being asleep.&nbsp;Their being &quot;drunken in the night&quot; (1 Thess. 5:7) matches the similar description of the weak elements of the latter-day ecclesias in Mt. 24:49. And yet 1 Thess. 5 goes on in this context to say that Christ died for us so that whether we wake or sleep, we may be accepted with Him. This is positivism beyond measure; He&nbsp;<em>wants&nbsp;</em>to save even those who slumber. Clearly enough, the very last generation of believers will all be weak, and those of them who shall be saved will only be &lsquo;ready&rsquo; because of their own admission of their weakness and lack of oil.</p><p>That&nbsp;<em>all</em>&nbsp;the girls should fall asleep whilst awaiting the bridegroom is unusual- an element of unreality in the story. They must have been a pretty unenthusiastic, switched off bunch. And yet immediately we are led by the Lord to pass judgment upon ourselves- which is quite a feature of the parables, e.g. Mt. 21:31; Lk. 7:43 (as it is elsewhere- consider 2 Sam. 12:5; 14:8; 1 Kings 20:40). Note how there is surely a similar element of unreality in the Lord&rsquo;s description of&nbsp;<em>all</em>&nbsp;those invited to the dinner refusing the invitation (Lk. 14:18,24). Would really&nbsp;<em>nobody</em>&nbsp;respond to such a gracious invitation? This was the obvious question that He begged in the minds of His hearers. The intention being that each hearer would reflect: &ldquo;Is it I&hellip;?&rdquo;&hellip; maybe at least&nbsp;<em>I</em>&nbsp;could respond to the call of the Gospel&hellip; Christ's low expectations of us are clearly demonstrated when He told the parables of the weddings. When you put them together, you get this picture: God made the wedding between Christ and us. The invited guests didn't bother coming, for very trivial, mundane reasons that they put in front of the honour of being invited to His wedding. Only tramps and beggars come to it, motivated selfishly by the thought of a free meal (cp. a penny for the day). But we, the bride, aren't ready (although Christ graciously doesn't mention that in the parable), and so He delays to come to the wedding. Back home, His most trusted household servants realize that He's delaying His return, and start to get drunk and beat each other. The excited young bridesmaids lose their enthusiasm and go to sleep. Eventually, the wedding happens, but some of the guests don't bother to turn up in a wedding garment, just in their filthy rags. The impression is clearly this:&nbsp;<em>the whole thing's a mess</em>&nbsp;Yet this is the marriage of the Son of God to His dearly purchased bride, for whom He died, and lived a life of total self-control. Yet He&nbsp;<em>knew</em>&nbsp;the whole thing would be such a mess. See on Mt. 13:25.</p>