Bible Commentaries
Matthew 25

Verses 1-46

1 The parable of the ten virgins applies only to the kingdom at the time specified. When the

Lord comes in glory to enter into covenant relationship with Israel at the commencement of the day of Jehovah, then the kingdom of the heavens will correspond to a marriage feast. The Lambkin is the Bridegroom (Revelation 19:7), redeemed Israel is the Bride. Who are the virgins? The wedding feast figures the millennium. The nations will be blessed through and with Israel according to the Abrahamic covenant. Hence they are represented as virgins, invited to share the blessings provided for the holy nation by the Lambkin. As in the parable of the sheep and the kids at the close of this chapter, the place of the nations in that day will depend on their treatment of Israel. Those that are sufficiently illuminated to await Messiah's coming will participate with the Bride in the feast that follows. They are invited to the wedding banquet of the Lambkin (Revelation 19:9; Psalms 45:14). The action of this parable is limited to the period immediately preceding the coming of the Messianic kingdom. To “apply” it to individuals or classes at any other crisis is confusing and corrupts the Scriptures.

The blessing which will come to the nations as brides-maids of Israel is in striking contrast to the present era of grace. They will wait until Israel is blessed and share her blessings with her. Now Israel is forsaken and divorced. She has no marriage feast to which we could be invited. She has no blessings to share with us. Our supernal bliss comes while she is thrust aside, and depends on her apostasy. Our felicity far transcends not only that of the virgins who attend the Bride, but that of the Bride herself. We have a nearer and dearer place than that which is figured by the marriage bond. We are members of Christ's body. Men may or may not love their wives, but no one ever hated his own flesh. So, in the very nature of things, we are dear to Christ as His own body, We are not called upon to watch for signs of His coming, but to wait for God's Son from heaven. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing among the celestials (Ephesians 1:3).

13 See Matthew 24:42; Mark 13:33-37.

14 See Matthew 20:1-16; Luke 19:11-27.

15 A talent was a large sum of money, variously estimated at from one to two thousand dollars of our present currency. There is doubtless an intended reference to the well-known moneymaking propensity which the Jew has developed since this parable was spoken. Especially at the time of the end, many of the apostate nation will be immensely wealthy, while the faithful remnant will be poor in this world's coin. So the Lord confides to them large sums of spiritual currency, to be used in His service. He to whom God has given one precious truth may double it by communicating it to another. There is nothing in this parable which can be applied to Christ's dealings with us in this present secret administration of God's grace. It fits perfectly when connected with the kingdom of which He was speaking. He was about, to leave them. The nations were not called until long after He had left. There would be no point to His departure if we should seek to apply it now. Nor is it agreeable to the present grace to require service in this manner. And it is most thoroughly out of harmony in the case of the slave who received a single talent. No one who is now called into God's grace could think or act as he did, and no one who has a deposit from God will be condemned for his failure to be faithful. There was a Judas among the twelve apostles but there was no such character among those apostles who were associated with Paul in his later ministries. An administration which is an admixture of faith and works will also have a sprinkling of unbelievers. But an economy of purest grace can lead no one to such an outcome as the slave who hid his talent and hated his lord. For us there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). We are not only saved by grace but for grace (Ephesians 2:8). No one who has ever known Him in this day of salvation will be thrust into outer darkness with lamentation and gnashing of teeth. As our salvation is not based on work, the awards for service at the dais of Christ do not affect our destiny (2 Corinthians 5:10). Our deeds will be tested by fire, to determine their quality. Yet even if our work burns up, we shall be saved, even though it be through fire (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).

29 See Matthew 13:12; Luke 8:18; John 15:2.

31 See Matthew 19:28; Mark 8:38.

31 The many judgments in the Scriptures should be carefully distinguished as to time and place and participants and the attending circumstances. There is no “general judgment”, for the saints are judged in the cross of Christ. The individual judgment of the unbeliever for his sins does not take place in this life, but in resurrection. All mankind except those who are Christ's will be raised from the dead to stand before the great white throne, which is not set up until after the coming kingdom eon has run its course (Revelation 20:11). The judgment here presented differs in time, in place, in character and in purpose. It occurs at the commencement of the kingdom, at His coming in glory, while the great white throne session does not take place until after the thousand years. This judgment is on the earth. The earth will flee before the great white throne (Revelation 20:11). Living nations will appear before the Son of Mankind, but only the dead come before the later tribunal. The nations are judged as such, not their sins, but according to their treatment of Israel during the time of their affliction. When God is judging the earth no greater act of righteousness can be done than to feed and shelter His oppressed people. Each faithful Israelite stands in the place of Christ toward the nations. Those who help them do so at the greatest risk, for they may be called to account by the powers that oppose them. This tribunal is not concerned with their ultimate destiny, but with their place in the kingdom. The kingdom will be comprised largely of gentiles, subordinate to Israel politically and religiously, but nevertheless the recipients of much blessing. All that they receive comes to them through Israel, while the present grace which we enjoy comes to us because Israel as a channel is choked, yet the super-abundance of the grace overflows all barriers. We have every reason to treat the Jews with the utmost grace, but our conduct toward them is not a factor in our destiny. We do not enter the kingdom, because we have a higher and more honorable allotment among the celestials.

40 See Matthew 10:42.

40 The “brethren” of Christ, in the kingdom, are His fellow Israelites, in contrast with those of other nations. These do not appear before this tribunal. Their judgment is dealt with in the preceding parables.

41 The Slanderer and his messengers will be the chief instigators of the fearful anti-Semitic outbreak of the end time. It will be the greatest of all pogroms, and men will be urged on by malignant spirit powers to do all that is possible to exterminate the people who refuse to worship Satan's christ, or to bow down to his image. Being superhuman, the wild beast and the false prophet will have their portion in that lake of fire into which the Slanderer is cast more than a millennium later (Revelation 20:10).

46 Eonian chastening is here limited to the nations who will not succor the faithful of Israel in their time of sore distress. It has no bearing on the sins of individuals. The justice of fire eonian is disciplinary and corrective (cf Jude 1:7).