5+5=10

          or Five Days to Christmas

 

       We just went to my nephew's wedding this weekend past.  His speech was one of the best I ever heard, and they both seem very solid in their love.  There are a lot of lessons we learn from weddings in the Bible, but in honour of the number five we shall ponder the five wise and five foolish virgins.

 

Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps, but took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Mt. 25:1-4

 

       So we see that all ten were virgins- physically meaning sexually pure or figuratively meaning clean and spotless before God.  All ten had their lamps in hand, ready to light the way when need be.  They all slept (v.5) while waiting for the groom.  Then when the groom finally came, they all trimmed their lamps, but only five were wise enough to bring extra oil.  The foolish ones brought no extra and their lamps ran out.  They said 'Give us some of your oil for our lamps have gone out.'

 

       Foolishly they demanded.  Foolishly they didn't have extra available for such an important occasion.  The wise virgin's lamps still shone but they only had enough oil for themselves, so they told the foolish virgins to go buy some.  While they were out buying, the groom came and those left went in to the ceremony (v.10).  The five foolish girls came and asked to be let in (v.11) but the groom said, "I do not know you." (v.12)  Besides the fact these verses could mean something we like to ignore, lets consider what is stressed: wise and foolish.

 

       The light of the wise five remained lit while the light of the foolish five went out.  The wise girls were prepared (with extra oil) while the foolish girls thought only of current, not future needs.  The wise girls slept because they were already prepared, but the foolish girls should have gone out to buy instead of sleep; or they could have thought to send one of them to go buy more oil.  They were 'in' someplace sleeping (v.6), so perhaps they could have seen if there was oil in that place.  It seems like the five foolish girls continued to act foolishly.  Regardless, the biggest foolishness was in not being prepared for the groom to arrive:

 

Therefore watch, for you do not know either the day or the hour in which the Son of Man comes. Mt. 25:13

 

We need to be prepared!

Six Sons to Happiness?

          or Six Days to Christmas

 

       We tried to have children right away after we got married.  I knew everything I needed to know about conception and how to achieve it quickly, so when it didn't happen one year later, I went in to the doctor and forced him to test us.  Within a month we had the results- barring a miracle, we would not bear children.  Shattered dreams... and no miracle...

 

       Adoption also looked impossible- with most private lists closed to taking names, not fitting in to the requirements of countries we could afford, and most kids through Children's Aid were of mixed heritage so we couldn't get them either.  Years of grief ensued.  Leah must have felt just as shattered when she married Jacob.  Everyone knew he loved Rachel, but Leah probably thought he would learn to love her too.  Instead, he gave her one week and then married Rachel.

 

And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him a few days, for the love he had for her. Gn. 29:20
And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. And he (Laban) gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. (v.28)
(30)...He also loved Rachel more than Leah...  (31) ...Jehovah saw that Leah was hated...

 

       One week married and pushed away, despised.  That had to hurt.  Obviously he slept with her a few times, but I'm guessing he only did the minimum necessary by standards of the day.  Actually, one time Leah had to purchase a night with Jacob- with mandrakes, considered an aphrodisiac (30:16).  Two more sons produced to her husband, and Leah thought things would change... He would surely love her now, right?

 

Son 1- Now therefore my husband will love me. (29:32)
Son 3- Now this time my husband will return to me (34)
And Leah said, God has given me a good present. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons... Gn. 30:20

 

       Six sons.  What man wouldn't be proud, honoured, and cherish that wife?  Leah named her last son Zebulun (exalted) because she probably thought 'finally my husband will exalt me' as important and worthy of love in his life.  Six sons would restore her happiness.  Six sons would fulfill her dreams of a loving marriage.

 

I hope that Leah eventually realized her joy and dreams could only be fulfilled in Yahweh.

Journey to Emmaus

         or Seven Days to Christmas

       Personally, I’m really glad we have cars- or even bicycles for that matter; anything but walking.  Although I do enjoy hiking in nature, walking down the road does NOT appeal to me, especially as a method of ‘transportation’.  So I am glad that I was born the last half of the last century, not like the two who walked to Emmaus.

Lk. 24:13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, (14) and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. (15) …Jesus himself drew near and went with them. (16) But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

(17-20) Meanwhile, Jesus asks about their sadness and what happened in Jerusalem. (21) …we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel… (22-25) …Some say he is alive, others do not believe… And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! (26) Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (27) And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (29) In Emmaus, the men didn’t want him to leave, …“Stay with us…”

       Jesus meets up with these downcast men and decides to walk seven miles with them in their journey.  During those seven miles, he learns their perspectives of what happened in Jerusalem, what they thought Jesus’ purpose was, and how they thought it was all a waste.  Jesus rebukes them for unbelief and explains how what happened was needed.  Then He showed them Old Testament passages about Himself and what they meant.

       I can’t imagine having face to face communication with the Lord for seven whole miles, but I do know He wants to walk in our journey with us.  We might not completely understand Him or what is happening, but we can know He is with us through it all.  7 minutes, 7 miles, 7 years or 77 years: God wants all the time we’ll give Him.  He wants to open our eyes so that we recognize Him, and He'll change us from within!

(31) And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. (32) They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?