Some Teach That The foolish virgins Must Have Had Some Oil for Their Lamps to Light Up at All and What the Actually Lacked Was Extra Oil. Is This True
No. That is not true. The parable draws a sharp line: some had oil; some did not.
Scriptural explanation:
- “They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them” (Matthew 25:3). The wise “took oil in their vessels with their lamps” (Matthew 25:4). That’s the Spirit-supplied life within.
- When the cry came, the foolish said, “Our lamps are going out,” and they tried to borrow and then went to buy (Matthew 25:8-10). If they had the Oil, they wouldn’t need to borrow or buy at midnight.
Simple clarifying logic:
- The lamp is the outward profession; the oil is the Holy Spirit. You can trim a wick and get a momentary flare, but without oil there is no lasting light. That’s why their lamps went out at the crisis.
- The text never says “some” oil or “only lacked extra.” It says they took no oil with them, while the wise had a supply in their vessels. Either you have the indwelling Oil or you don’t—you cannot borrow it, and you cannot rush out to purchase it when the Door is opening.
Short reinforcement:
Now notice, the shut door proves it: those without Oil were not ready. It’s not a matter of “not enough extra,” but of not having the Spirit’s supply when the Bridegroom came.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Letting off the pressure
62-0518 §110
Look what's happened now. What is it? The World Council of Churches---they talk about that. And they say all these ... like our brother Presbyterian, and so forth coming in. That's wonderful. I believe in that too. But did you ever wake up to think that Jesus said that that foolish virgin, when she begin to call for oil, it was right then the bridegroom come! When they woke up and begin to realize that they had no oil, they went to buy oil. And it's at that minute, when they went to buy oil, that the bridegroom com...
Church Ages, part 9: The ten virgins, and the 144,000
60-1211M §93
...amp. Now, all of a sudden, there came a sound, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." And they wakened. But when they did, this one could go in 'cause they had oil in the lamp. That was the difference. This one could not go in, for there was no oil in the lamp. They went back to pray up, to receive the Holy Ghost. But while they were gone, it was all over. The denominations say, "Well, maybe we've been wrong. Maybe we better go back, seek for the baptism of the Holy Ghost." That's what they're tryi...
The World is again falling apart
63-1127 §50
But remember, in there is the hour that the sleeping virgin come to buy oil, and that was the same hour that the bridegroom come. We find today, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and different denominations, that a few years ago, you couldn't have hired to've got around a bunch of Pentecostal believers. Certainly not. But there they are today, coming in. Don't you know what Jesus said? They come in to buy oil, and said, "Give us some of your oil." The ones that had oil, said, "Not so. Go buy it, lest ... from them that...
Questions and Answers on Hebrews, part 1
57-0925 §19
Now, you remember, He said there, "And Abraham and Isaac and Jacob," in one place, "would come and sit into the kingdom at the end time. See, and that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be in the kingdom; they were, they were the kingdom's blessing people. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness. Now, where the reference comes from here is the bridegroom. When the Bridegroom come, while they were... Five of the virgins went out to meet the Lord, and they didn't take any oil in their lamps....
The conflict between God and Satan
62-0531 §73
Fire is the confirmation of the light coming from the Word. They will fill... The smart virgin, the wise virgin, had oil in her lamp, and she trimmed her lamp and lit it. Now what is it? Now God is the Word, the oil is the Spirit, and the fire is the gospel light on that oil. God said so, see. That's the vessel. All right. The oil is in the vessel, and the fire burning it shows that it's reflecting the light of what the Word said, see. That's the reflection. Now, that wise virgin could do that; but that other, fool...