<p>25:1- see on Mt. 13:19.</p><p><em>Then-&nbsp;</em>Immediately after the judgment, we are told, &quot;the Kingdom... will be likened unto ten virgins...&quot;, the implication being that&nbsp;<em>then</em>&nbsp;we will perceive the truths contained in that parable; only then will we fully appreciate the result of watchfulness and keeping oil in the lamps. &quot;<em>Then</em>&nbsp;shall ye return, and discern judge between the righteous and the wicked&quot; (Mal. 3:18) is spoken to the &quot;ye&quot; of Malachi 3 (e.g. v. 14) who refused to repent. God had asked them to repent, but their response was: &quot;Wherein shall we&nbsp;<em>return</em>?&quot; (Mal. 3:7). But in their final rejection, they would repent, all too late, and appreciate the basis of the Lord's condemnation:&nbsp;<em>they</em>&nbsp;will discern the crucial chasm between the righteous and the wicked, just as &quot;<em>then</em>&nbsp;shall the Kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins...&quot; (Mt. 25:1). Then, the wicked will understand the judgments of God. But it is our wisdom to learn and appreciate them now. The chapter division between Matthew 24 and 25 is unfortunate. The description of the rejected at the judgment given in Mt. 24:51 is followed straight on by Matthew 25:1:&nbsp;&quot;Then shall the kingdom of heaven (i.e. entry into it) be likened unto ten virgins...&quot;.&nbsp;This may suggest that the rejected will have time for reflection -&nbsp;<em>then</em>&nbsp;they will see the 'likeness' between their position and the parable of the virgins.&nbsp;&nbsp; This parable follows that of the negligent steward who will be rejected at the judgment (Mt. 24:45), implying that a lack of proper spiritual care by the elders of the latter-day ecclesias results in the lack of oil in the lamps of the rejected.&nbsp;</p><p>If the judgment is in time as we now know it, we must be judged before Christ is enthroned, i.e. the Kingdom is established. But Mt. 25 teaches that we will come before Him&nbsp;<em>already enthroned</em>&nbsp;for judgment. The idea of &quot;meeting&quot; Christ at judgment employs a Greek phrase which distinctly means to go out to welcome a respected visitor. Its three Biblical occurrences are all in this context (Acts 28:14,15; 1 Thess. 4:16,17; Mt. 25:6,10). This would suggest that the faithful go out to meet the Lord and accompany Him to the judgment. But this is rather difficult to square with the idea of good and bad coming together before the judgment and being separated from each other&nbsp;<em>there</em>.&nbsp; It is almost as if these descriptions are designed to push the thoughtful reader away from seeing the judgment as occurring in real time Christ comes with the saints to save Israel from their enemies. Unless there is a secret coming of Christ to gather and judge the saints and then he is revealed to the world, this just isn't possible. And the idea of a secret coming of the Lord of glory just cannot be reconciled with the clear descriptions of his coming in the NT. The coming of Christ in glory with the saints with him to establish the Kingdom&nbsp;<em>is</em>&nbsp;the coming of Christ. Therefore it would be fitting if the whole process of Christ coming, resurrecting and judging his people, all happens in a moment of time as we know it. Depending how one reads the Hebrew text of Zech. 14:6,7, this idea of collapsed time at the Lord's return is Biblical: &quot;It shall come to pass in that day, that it shall not be clear in some places, and dark in other places of the world; but the day shall be one, in the knowledge of the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light&quot; (AV mg.). The RVmg. speaks of &quot;the planets shall contract&quot;- the times and seasons they control would somehow contract. Is. 21:12 RV has a similar idea, again in the context of a judgment day: &ldquo;The morning is come and also the night&rdquo;. This collapsing of time would also explain why it is impossible to construct a chronology of events in real time for the coming of Christ; the various prophecies of the last days just don't seem to fit together in chronological sequence.</p><p><em>Shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins</em>- Ten men were required for a synagogue to be formed. The Lord may be consciously subverting this idea, implying that in the new Israel He was creating, the congregations would be comprised of believing individuals, whose gender was unimportant.</p><p><em>Who took their lamps</em>- Gk. &lsquo;they received&rsquo;. The same word is used throughout the chapter, also of the servants receiving their talents (:16,18,20,22,24).&nbsp;</p><p><em>And went to meet the bridegroom</em>- Our calling to the Kingdom is effectively a calling to go and meet the Lord. However, the parable seems to be specifically about the response of the faithful immediately prior to the Lord&rsquo;s coming, once they know He is &lsquo;back&rsquo; and must of their own volition go out to meet Him. This would then follow straight on from the teaching of chapter 24. The same Greek word translated &ldquo;meet&rdquo; is that in 1 Thess. 4:17. The faithful who are alive at the time of Christ&rsquo;s coming will be snatched away to &ldquo;meet&rdquo; Him. But they will have gone forth to meet Him of their own volition, and those who delay going to meet Him will not meet Him in that way.</p>