The Lord showed me a very powerful evidence that the 10 virgins of Mat 25 are Christians. The key is the Greek word for 'meet' -- apantesis, as used in 1 Thess 4:17:

1 Thess 4:17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

This is no ordinary meeting. The meeting with the Lord in the air is our long-awaited rapture. The Holy Spirit chose a very special Greek word apantesis, which means 'to meet in a friendly encounter',  to refer to this extraordinary meeting in the clouds. The Holy Spirit only used this Greek word four times in the New Testament.

The clincher is this. The Greek word apantesis is used TWO TIMES in the Parable of the 10 Virgins!
 

Matt 25:1
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet(apantesis) the bridegroom.

Matt 25:6
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet(apantesis) him.

Friends, the same word used to describe our meeting with the Lord at the Rapture is used TWICE in the Parable of the 10 Virgins! The Greek word apantesis appears only four times in the New Testament; 50 percent of the time it is used in Matthew 25!

The Holy Spirit shows us conclusively the 10 virgins are not Jews. The Holy Spirit also shows us the five foolish virgins are also Christians since it is illogical to view them as unbelievers since they too are waiting for the bridegroom, and they too are commanded to go out to meet(apantesis) the Lord Jesus.

There are two more Greek words used in the Parable of the 10 Virgins that support the interpretation that the 10 virgins are Christians.

The first Greek word is 'kosmeo'. This word appears a total of 10 times in the New Testament. It is translated in the KJV as adorn, garnish and trim. The English word 'cosmetic' is derived from this Greek word 'kosmeo', which basically means adorn and garnish. Out of the 10 times it appears, only ONCE is it translated as 'trimmed' in Mat 25:7 where the 10 virgins are seen trimming their lamps, having woken up by the midnight cry.

It is unusual that the root word for cosmetic, 'kosmeo', is selected by the Holy Spirit to refer to the trimming of the lamps in Matthew 25. The trimming action performed on the lamps is primarily functional, not cosmetic. However, trimming that is done on the human BODY is primarily cosmetic, only functional in the secondary sense. I can think of trimming the hair, nails, moustache, eyebrow etc.

Not surprisingly, other than Mat 25:7, the Greek word kosmeo, translated as adorn or garnish, is used in the cosmetic sense NINE times. The table below is most revealing why the Holy Spirit chose the Greek word kosmeo to refer to the trimming of the lamps in the Parable of the 10 Virgins.
 
 

Scriptures with the Greek word kosmeo	Subject referred to
Matt 12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.	human BODY / house
Matt 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,	tomb / house of the righteous dead
Matt 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.	lamps / ???????
Luke 11:24-25 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.	human BODY / house
Luke 21:5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,	The Temple / House of God
1 Tim 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;	The Temple of the Holy Spirit
Titus 2:10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.	Lives of believers / The Temple of the Holy Spirit
1 Peter 3:5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:	Wives (1 Peter 3:1) / the bride of Christ
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husbands.	the bride of Christ
Rev 21:19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones....	the bride of Christ

 

It is fairly clear the Greek word for 'trimmed', kosmeo, as used in Mat 25:7 is applied predominantly (SIX TIMES) to the bride of Christ elsewhere in the New Testament! The bride of Christ certainly needs a fair amount of trimming and adorning before the marriage of the Lamb.

This leads me to the second Greek word 'lampas' for lamps. The word 'lamps' in the KJV appears a total of six times. FIVE TIMES it appears in the Parable of the 10 Virgins! The sixth occurrence is recorded in Rev 4:5 where it refers to the "seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God."!

Isn't that amazing?

The Greek word kosmeo for 'trimmed' is applied predominantly to the bride of Christ. The Greek word lampas for 'lamps' refers to the Holy Spirit, Who inhabits the SEVEN CHURCHES of Revelation. In one simple yet profound phrase, 'trimmed their lamps', we have the testimony of both the Spirit and the bride!

Finally, the job of trimming the lampstand in the holy place belongs only to the priests, not the Israelites in general. Only Christians are called priests as a group (Rev 1:6), neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek.

The Holy Spirit is telling us the lamps and the oil refer to Himself. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit to be taken by the Bridegroom. The Holy Spirit is also telling us the 10 virgins are the bride of Christ, NOT the children of the bride chamber.

John