Hello,
John and Doves,
Thank
you for this illustration that all true believers, regardless if they have
enough oil for one night or for many nights,
regardless if they have enough light for one step or an
hundred, they will all be ready for the Bridegroom who have
some
oil in
their lamps!
In
HaShem,
Mike
C.
Jeanette (21 Oct
2010)
"THE LAMP AND
THE OIL"
THE LAMP AND THE OIL
In Eastern
Countries olive oil is used both for cooking and light. It
is not
uncommon for one to go out at midnight to buy oil because people
are so
poor they actually live from hand to mouth. Often they go with
frying
pan and buy just enough oil to cook that one meal. The
merchant
doesn't think it a strange thing for people to come again and
again to
buy oil at any hour.
There is no schedule in the Eastern
Countries. If the bus is supposed
to come at 10 a.m. it may come at
2, 4, or 6 p.m. At marriages it is
very common for the bridegroom to
tarry. No one knows the hour the
bridegroom will come, but they know
he is coming so they need oil for
the whole day.
The oil is the
all-important thing in the parable. In Morocco and other
countries
there is a small lamp called a "pilot lamp" It is so simple
you can
buy a small metal cap and 24 wicks in a small box (like a pill
box) for
$0.07 and it will last 24 days. The wick fits in a tiny hole
in the
center of the cap. Then they take a tiny vessel, chipped or
pretty,
old or new and fill it 2/3 full of water, and put a small amount
of oil on
the water, then place the cap and wick on it and light it. It
is a
good night light and gives enough light for a Mother to care for
her
children, etc.
The five wise couldn't share with the others for they
had only estimated
enough for the night. The others were willing to
go and buy it, for it
wasn't that they didn't have the price or that they
didn't know the way.
It was pure neglect that they had no oil on that day
of all days and
night of all nights. They had gone so often to the
merchant they could
of found their way in the dark after the lamps had gone
out, but to go
forth to meet the Bridegroom they needed light.
The
little lamps don't give much light - it is just enough for one step
ahead
and only one person can walk by the light of one lamp. The oil of
the
Holy Spirit is the oil we all need that we might have the light of
life in
our own lives. The way of life is just a day at a time and we
need to
look to the Creator today to get the oil to light the way before
us that we
might go in with the Bridegroom when He comes.