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.
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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.
Questions and Answers
59-0628E §61
QUESTION: Now, here is another one; let's see what it is. All right. Please explain the parable of the five virgins. Does a Christian sin? Now, the parable of the five virgins ... or, the ten virgins, it is, please excuse me. The ten virgins is found in Matthew 25:1. Ten virgins went out to meet the bridegroom (now notice!), and five of them were wise and had oil in their lamps, five were unwise and did not have oil in their lamps. While they slumbered, the cry come, "Go meet the bridegroom." And the ones that had...
Questions and Answers, part 2
54-0103E §36
"What about in the rapture?" Well, in the rapture time... Jesus taught it as a parable. And He taught it many different ways. Here's one way. He said that there were ten virgins went out to meet the Lord, and all of them were virgins, but some had oil in their lamps and some let the oil go out. Is that right? And when the bride... Now, what was the oil? The oil was the Holy Spirit; the Bible said so. Now look. They were virgins. Now, what does virgin mean? "Holy, clean, separated, sanctified." Is that right?
Questions and Answers, Part 2
64-0823E §89
Now, this is a striking thing. Please don't take it as a doctrine, but do you understand what the Scriptures said would take place when that did? Time was over. For look, there was seven virgins---or ten virgins went out to meet the bridegroom, and half of them had oil in their lamp, half of them didn't. That's the part of the body that's dead and the part that's alive. The five wise, when they---the cry come, "Behold the bridegroom..." they all trimmed---woke and trimmed their lamps to go into the wedding supper....
Church Ages, part 9: The ten virgins, and the 144,000
60-1211M §79
Now in the book of St. Matthew, I believe ... the 25th chapter, I believe. I said 21, didn't I? I had it marked down here 21, but that's wrong. It's 25. I had to hurry this morning. I got up tired, and late, and I was hurrying. I was jotting down some scriptures, and I put 21, when it's 25. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Now, and five of them were wise, and five were foolish. And they that were foolish took their lamps, and t...
Church Ages, part 9: The ten virgins, and the 144,000
60-1211M §81
Now the five wise virgins... Now, oil in the Bible symbolizes the Holy Spirit. We all know that. That's why we anoint the sick with oil, and oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. So the wise had oil in their lamps, which was the Holy Spirit, so they were ready to go in at the wedding supper. And we could go back in Ezekiel 9, and so forth, and pull out and show, but I got about fifteen more scriptures wrote out here. So oil ... I believe we've already had it in our class this week, that oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. We...