Kay, you gave a well thought out letter.I tend to think, more than anything, that perhaps it's been a matter of misunderstanding/miscommunication..... as I full well realize (and most certainly AGREE!) that Israel DID have the Spirit of God, and that they DID watch for their Moschiah (and CONTINUE to do so TODAY!! ~ b/c they (speaking as a general concensus) never RECOGNIZED Jesus as being such.So I accept your answer.... .thanks for taking the time..... "as iron sharpens iron"......I still think the 10 virgins are ALL Christians though! :) And as "VIRGINS" & II Corinthians 11:2 "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ"The Church, of course, is to be The Bride of Christ. We (the church ~ a CHASTE VIRGIN ..... a.k.a. ones who are "ready" and have kept, not only our hearts, but our garments white!) are awaiting the arrival of the bridgegroom (Jesus) to take us to the marriage supper of the Lamb. This passage cannot be a reference to Israel because the whole context of the passage is that of a "surprise" coming.When Jesus returns to the earth and "all Israel shall be saved" this will not be a surprise or a secret. There will have been 7 years of chaos, signs in the heavens, and earthquakes, etc. Also the notion that these virgins are a mixture of believers and unbelievers should be rejected. They are ALL virgins (though 5 were foolish).Indeed, Matt 25 does say, "and the kingdom of heaven is likened unto...." but this is also talking about WHICH WAY {by way of "rapture"! :) that the wise virgins "GET THERE"......Anyway ~ we both know the rest of the story. ;)In no way did I mean for you or anyone else to construe that I intended to discount many generations of holy people in Israel -- did not mean it that way AT ALL!!!!!!Even so, I still glean that Matt. 25 is talking about the Church ~ those who "were ready" get raptured; those who were "not" ~ don't. At the midnight cry (and how close we are now!! to that time), "those that were ready" went to meet the bridegroom and the door was shut (verse 10). I think it is a parallel to the story of Noah, where the door was shut by God once Noah and his group entered the ark."shut the door" = also consider the OT passage of Is. 26 [a rapture picture if ever there was one!!]: 20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. 21 For behold, the LORD comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;As Christians, we are admonished to MAINTAIN our relationship with the Lord. No different than the letters to the 7 Churches of Asia ~ where the WARNING to the Church of Thyatira is that "repent or ELSE" ~ the Lord will CAST THEM INTO THE GREAT TRIBULATION........ again, the message is to "Christians" who need to clean up their act & get right or get left behind!About BEING READY ~ that's what it's all about, IMO!! I certainly pray that the Lord finds my household worthy to escape & to stand before the Son of Man! Luke 21:36 Amen!Indeed ~ SOON!!!Maranatha!RevaTitus 2
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
The rapture is a blessed hope to the Christian. Watching for and expecting the rapture is a blessed hope that encourages a person to stay close to the Lord. A person watching daily for the rapture will go on with life but be constantly looking for the return of the Lord each day. This blessed hope also has a purifying effect. A person will not get caught up in worldliness or wrong things if he thinks His Lord could come back at any moment. ~ Alan YuskoThe **RAPTURE** will bring on simultaneous worldwide DISAPPEARANCES
.... it is soooo close now!!