The ten virgins in the parable in Matthew 25 weren't there to become brides. Even in a polygamous culture, no groom marries ten women in a single night. These women were part of the bride's wedding party, like bride's maids in our wedding customs today.

Trying to find out how this works and how to meet others. :wave:

TEACHING OF YESHUA MOSHIACH --- PART 6

Yeshua and Paul:
Many have found a problem in linking the Gospels with their detailed presentation of the acts and teachings of Yeshua with Moshiach who is so central in Paul’s beliefs. The problem arises because the apostle does not refer to any specific incident in the life of Yeshua and does not reflect in His epistles any acquaintance with the large amount of teaching material in the Gospels. Does this suggest that Paul had no interest in the historical Yeshua? Or could it be maintained that he knew nothing about Him? Those who have driven a wedge between Paul and Yeshua have not given sufficient weight to those indications that Paul knew a great deal more about the historical Yeshua than he states in his letters. He wrote, for instance, about the meekness and gentleness of Moshiach -- 2 Corinthians 10:1, suggesting that he knew that Yeshua had said of Himself that He was meek and lowly of heart -- Matthew 11:29. Moreover, Paul spoke of the poverty of Moshiach -- 2 Corinthians 8:9 and must have known that the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head. He certainly knew the details of how Yeshua instituted the Adonai’s Supper -- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 and He was aware of His death by crucifixion. It seems reasonable to conclude that Paul assumed that his readers would be acquainted with the Gospel material. It is perhaps useful in this connection to inquire whether the life and teachings of Yeshua played a significant part in the early believer’s proclamation. In Peter’s address to Cornelius, he spoke of YHVH’s anointing of Yeshua of Nazareth. He said that Yeshua went about doing good works and healing all who were under the power of the devil -- Acts 10:36-38. It is clear that some account of the acts of Yeshua was included in the early preaching and there is no reason to suppose that this was not a regular procedure.

Yeshua in Other Epistles:
Yeshua’s example was a powerful motive for promoting right behaviour. Peter appeals to it in encouraging Christians who were suffering for their faith -- 1 Peter 2:21. Paul also knew the value of imitation (1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:6). Yeshua Himself never sinned -- compare to 2 Corinthians 5:21. His behaviour patterns were and are invaluable for those who need a new standard for moral action. While this idea of example is unquestionably present in the New Testament, it was not a major part of the believer’s doctrine. There are a few references to the teachings of Yeshua in other portions of the New Testament besides the Gospels. The Letter of James refers to the teachings of Yeshua more than anywhere else in the New Testament. This is especially true in echoes of the Sermon on the Mount and it shows the strong contribution that the moral teaching of Yeshua had on the ethical values of the early believers. To what extent is knowledge of the life and teachings of Yeshua relevant to the 21st century? Some want to separate the historical figure of Yeshua from the Moshiach of faith, saying only the latter is important. However, the object of our faith is the same One who lived and taught in Galilee and Judea. The One who broke into history 2,000 years ago is the same One who comes into our lives by faith as Saviour and Adonai.

Yeshua Called People to Repentance:
[From then on, Yeshua began to preach, turn from your sins and turn to YHVH, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near. -- Matthew 4:17 Yeshua started His ministry with the very word people had heard John the Baptist say: [Turn from your sins and turn to YHVH. The message is the same today as when Yeshua and John gave it. Becoming a follower of Moshiach means turning away from our self-centeredness and self control and turning our life over to Moshiach’s direction and control. The Kingdom of Heaven has the same meaning as the Kingdom of YHVH in Mark and Luke. Matthew uses this phrase because the Jews, out of their intense reverence and respect, did not pronounce YHVH’s Name. The Kingdom of Heaven is still near because it has arrived in our hearts.

Yeshua Demanded Complete Commitment From His Hearers:
[Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfil them. -- Matthew 5:17. Matthew 5-7 is called the Sermon on the Mount because Yeshua gave it on a hillside near Capernaum. This sermon probably covered several days of preaching. In it, Yeshua proclaimed His attitude toward the Law. Position, authority and money are not important in His Kingdom; what matters is faithful obedience from the heart. The Sermon on the Mount challenged the proud and legalistic religious leaders of the day. It called them back to the messages of the Old Testament prophets who like Yeshua, taught that heartfelt obedience is more important than legalistic observance.

Yeshua Preached the Values of the Kingdom of YHVH:

There are at least four ways to understand the Beatitudes:

1 -- They are a code of ethics for the disciples and a standard of conduct for all believers.
2 -- They contrast Kingdom values [what is eternal] with worldly values [what is temporary].
3 -- They contrast the superficial faith of the Pharisees with the real faith Moshiach wants.
4 -- They show how the Old Testament expectations will be fulfilled in the new Kingdom. These Beatitudes are not multiple-choice-pick what you like and leave the rest. They must be taken as a whole. They describe what we should be like as Moshiach’s followers.

Yeshua Taught His Followers to Live for the Kingdom of YHVH:
With Yeshua’s announcement that the Kingdom was near -- 4:17, people were naturally asking, [How do I qualify to be in YHVH’s Kingdom?] Yeshua said that YHVH’s Kingdom is organized differently from worldly kingdoms. In the Kingdom of Heaven, wealth and power and authority are unimportant. Kingdom people seek different blessings and benefits and they have different attitudes. Are your attitudes a carbon copy of the world’s selfishness, pride and lust for power or do they reflect the humility and self-sacrifice of Yeshua, your King?

TEACHING OF YESHUA MOSHIACH --- PART 5

Teachings About the Future:
As shown, Yeshua thought of the Kingdom in terms of both a present realization and a future hope. The future aspect is related to the end of the age. Although He did not spell it out in specific terms, Yeshua gave firm assurance that He would return at some time in the future.

Second Coming:
He told the disciples that the Son of Man would come with His angels in His Father’s glory -- Matthew 16:27. He describes the Son of Man coming in clouds with power and glory -- Mark 13:26, probably drawn from the familiar language of -- Daniel 7. Yeshua described various signs that would precede His own second coming. He spoke of wars, conflicts, earthquakes, famines and disturbances in the heavens. The gospel would also first be preached to all nations. At the same time, many false [christ’s] would arise. Yeshua gave such details about His return to encourage His disciples in the face of persecution. The future hope had a practical purpose. The disciples were urged to watch. The coming would happen as unexpectedly as a thief in the night. Yeshua said that even He Himself did not know when the coming would take place -- Mark 13:32.

Resurrection:
Another important theme affecting the future is emphasized in Yeshua’s teachings about resurrection. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the body. They attempted to trap Yeshua with a question about a woman who had been married seven times. They wanted to know whose husband she would be at the Resurrection -- Mark 12:18-27. Yeshua pointed out that there would be no marriage when the dead rise. The Sadducees’ idea about resurrection was clearly wrong. Yeshua’s teaching was that the resurrected would be like the angels. There is no doubt about the resurrection of the dead, although no information is given about the specifics of the resurrection body.

Judgment:
Yeshua told a story about a rich man and a poor man who both died -- Luke 16:19-31. In the afterlife, the rich man cried out in torment, while the poor man enjoyed a state of blessedness. The distinction between the two men gives a hint of judgment, although we are not told how the distinction is made. Elsewhere in His teachings, Yeshua suggested that the most vital requirement is faith. The conversation between Yeshua and the dying thief on the cross suggests that the repentant thief entered heaven -- Luke 23:42-43. The theme of rewards and punishment occurs in many passages. In -- Matthew 16:27, Yeshua says that the Son of Man will reward everyone according to what he or she has done. Those who are worthless are promised punishment in darkness -- 25:30. Moreover, Yeshua spoke of a day of judgment on which men and women must give an account, even of all their careless words -- 12:36-37. In the parable of the sheep and the goats, He spoke of a separation that the Son of Man will make when He comes. Those commended are those who have shown concern for the believers -- 25:31-46. Among Yeshua’s most solemn statements are those that speak of hell. His teachings about eternal punishment for the unrighteous -- as in Matthew 25:41, 46 are opposite to the eternal life promised to the righteous. He taught that His disciples would have a place prepared for them in heaven -- John 14:2 and He spoke of a Book of Life in which the names of all believers were written -- Luke 10:20.

Teachings About Moral Issues:
Much of the teaching of Yeshua is concerned with moral issues; so much so that some scholars have concluded that this was the main burden of his teaching. However, the moral teachings cannot be considered apart from everything else. Some may say the teachings of Yeshua and the moral teachings of Judaism are closely related. Yet Yeshua says that morality is not achieved by observing rules and regulations; the crux of Jewish tradition. Right conduct is seen to be the result of a right relationship with YHVH. Those who consider Christianity just another religion of rules have missed the whole point. They figure they will never be good enough to obey YHVH’s rules, so why try? In fact, that is exactly what Yeshua taught. We cannot be good enough for YHVH. He offers His righteousness for our sinfulness. He does not offer religion. He offers a personal, life-changing relationship with YHVH through faith in Moshiach. Yeshua was Himself the pattern for moral behaviour. He made clear that His aim was to fulfil the will of YHVH. There is no sense of legalism in His approach to ethical decisions. In the Sermon on the Mount, He compared His own teaching with that of Moses -- compare to Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32. However, Yeshua made more rigorous demands than the Law because He was concerned with motives as well as actions. Many have dismissed the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount as entirely impractical, but Yeshua never intended that His teaching would be easy. The target is nothing less than the perfection of YHVH Himself -- 5:48. Even so, Yeshua called His yoke easy and His burden light -- Matthew 11:29-30, which suggests that He was not setting out an impossible ethical pattern. He offered instead to take over our lives to help us be the kind of people we need to be. He was not producing a manifesto for society. His concern was that each individual have powerful motives for right decisions on matters of conduct. His reaction against a rigid application of Shabbat observance at the expense of the welfare of a needy person illustrates this point. Concern for others was rated higher than ritual correctness.

Yeshua and the Church:
No account of the life and teachings of Yeshua would be complete without some indication of the place that Yeshua Moshiach gained in the developing church. Such a quest naturally takes us outside the scope of the Gospels into the testimony of the book of Acts and Paul’s letters. There we can see whether the predictions of Yeshua were fulfilled and whether, in fact, the early Christians took his teaching seriously. Yeshua Moshiach became central to the faith of the early Christians and was regarded from many points of view. He was seen as Moshiach in the sense of a Spiritual Deliverer, as Adonai in the sense of being sovereign over His people, as Servant in the sense of his obedience to suffering and as Son in His relation to His Father. In many ways, the full understanding of what and who He was could not have occurred until after the Resurrection. Therefore, we find that many facets of His teaching about Himself were more fully developed further on in the New Testament.

Shabbat Shalom Mishpacha ?

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
Matthew 25:1

Matthew Henry wrote that the Jews at that time had a marriage custom in which the bridegroom and his retinue would come to for his bride in the middle of the night, while the bride's maids waited to light the way. It certainly fits the parable, but I don't know what his source was.

He speculated that they usually had ten of these maids, but that is only speculation. The number isn't arbitrary. Two virgins would have made the point just as well. The number 10 has either cultural or theological significance. Could it be an allusion to the ten menorahs in Solomon's temple?
#jesus #yeshua #biblestudy