1) the earthly people do not go out. Christ comes to the Jews where they are.

(2) It is not a parable to give teaching about a bride, but the conduct of virgins whose responsibility is to go forth to meet a bridegroom.

(3) Going forth did not characterize the Jews when Christ came the first time:nor will it do when He comes to them at the end. The mass of them will have received the Antichrist at the end, and are satisfied where they are; while the few whose hearts are right, 1:e., the remnant, will not go forth, but wait, and look, and long for Him there. The two fives cannot be an accurate picture in any way of those two companies at the end.

It is a picture of Christianity, or Christendom, in its profession as such, and in its responsibility to be ready and watching for the Bridegroom. It is not bridal affections, for it is not the bride, but responsibility as virgins, just as the next parable is also responsibility to use the talents, "each according to his ability." Thus we have in chapters 24 and 25 Jew, Christian, and Gentile.

(4) Israel cannot be the bride of the Lamb; and the only marriage Scripture speaks of takes place in heaven, not on earth. It is wholly the responsibility side connected with the kingdom of heaven in its present phase, which is practically Christendom. W. E.