Matt,

I confess and repent that I used to believe that the 10 virgins represented the bride! What a mistake I made to teach that Christ would break His body in two and leave half of it here to go through the tribulation. Jesus already suffered the wrath of God in His own body, so no part of the bride of Christ can suffer the wrath which is to come……BECAUSE we are His body; we are one flesh.

Ephesians 5:

29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.

31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

When we teach that the 10 virgins represent the church, we are saying that Jesus hates His own body and that the righteous are just as deserving of God’s wrath and judgment as all the ungodly, unsaved people. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are the righteousness of God; our sins were already nailed to the cross. Jesus already paid the price for our redemption. Neither He, nor His body can be condemned or judged a second time (which is what the tribulation is); it is finished.

Enoch said, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Christ’s own body/bride will not be among those being judged; we will be returning with our Bridegroom. Amen! Come Lord, Jesus!