It is true there is no Jew or Greek
in Christ Jesus. But Paul was not given the vision of the Tribulation. It was first given to Jesus to give to His bond-servants. Correct me if I'm wrong here but when "bond-servants" are mentioned in the scriptures, they are referred to as the Jewish Israelites.
So in Revelation 1:1 we read that
God gave the Revelation of Jesus Christ to His bond-servant John to show to His bond-servants through an angel of the things which must soon take place.
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The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
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We gentiles are privileged to see the future as the Jewish people have not read Revelation. Not that we understand it all..but it is the Christian church who has been trying to figure it all out.
Just remember JOHN the apostle was given the entire vision of the book of Revelation, not Paul.
As to the 10 virgins.. yes, your more 'seasoned' brother is correct that they are Jewish people. See. Jesus disciples were all Jewish. He came to the Jews first. We have been led to believe by not just the LC but by Christian preachers, 5 of the virgins were fake Christians for they did not have oil (the Holy Spirit) in their lamps. Or those 5 virgins let their oil run out, meaning they became lukewarm. But.. even though the Jews do not read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, not everything in the gospels applies to us. Jesus was telling His followers their future. He knew that in time, it was going to be the gentiles that were going to take the gospel to the world, not the Jews.
But it will be their job through the 144,000k of the 12 tribes of Israel and the 2 witnesses to take the gospel to the world during the Tribulation.
So the virgins in Matthew 25 are the friends of the bridegroom..not the bride. The Bride is inside with the Bridegroom.
There is more I can share but this is enough for now.
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Originally Posted by Sons to Glory!
Thanks for sharing! I'll put that in the ol' "pipe" and smoke on it. My first impression is - why would He write it only to the Jewish churches? All the churches being written to are in Asia, and considered Gentile churches, are they not? (there were often a number of Jewish believers in those churches) And Paul's observation that there is neither Jew nor Greek and that we are all one in Christ. Philadelphia had many Jews there, but it was Roman City. Old Covenant practicing Jews were always "spying out" the freedoms their believing kinsmen had, therefore that this was also happening in Philadelphia isn't unique.
But it is something to consider. I remember an older, learned brother a few years ago said that he'd seen that the 10 virgins in Matthew 25 was actually speaking about the Jewish believers. He went into the history of how the wedding feast was carried out back then, with all the different parties and customs. I'm still chewing on all that (back-burner stuff). And I hear different ones apply this concept to different passages, that is, that it pertains specifically and only to Jews and not anyone else.
If this is the case, may the Lord show us what He will in this matter.
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