Replies

MHGinTN The parable of the ten virgins was given by Jesus to ISRAEL. It refers to the end of the seven years of Jacob’s Troubles. That parable was not given to the Church. To see what WAS given to the Church look into all of Paul’s letters.

Mhg, you haven't read the bible have you?

The ten virgins bit starts with Matthew 23 where He is addressing His disciples - who were Jews and followers of Christ. Those are not mutually exclusive

"To Israel"? Nah, this was addressed to His listeners not to "Israel".

Jews in the 1st century after the destruction of the temple you had only two sects left - the Jesus-movement (i.e. the Christians) and the Pharisees (what we call Jews today)

The parable of the 10 virgins was given to the followers of Jesus - about the upcoming coming of the Kingdom of Heaven

And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God when it has come with power.”

Mark 9:1

the Kingdom of Heaven was inaugurated at the Pentecost - a Kingdom where no separation of Jew and Greek.

Here is an article about Paul’s Letter To The Galatians. I found this very helpful in understanding some of what Paul went through.

Below is a small excerpt that has a couple things that really caught my eye.

One of the great fears of the day in Jerusalem was that belief in Jesus would spread to Damascus, a major commercial hub in the region. It was feared that if this new faith took root there it would quickly spread in all directions and there would be no stopping it. Paul agreed to go to Damascus to make sure that didn’t happen. He was on the way when He had a personal encounter with the risen Lord that changed everything. Instead of rounding up the believers in Damascus when he got there, he began teaching that Jesus is the Son of God, which so angered the Jews that they conspired to kill him.

With the help of friends, Paul escaped from Damascus and traveled into Arabia. Some say he went to Mt. Sinai and stayed in the same cave Elijah had used during his time on the mountain of God (1 Kings 19:8-9). If so, the place where Moses received the Law would have been the same place where Paul received his revelation from the Lord concerning the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. After that Paul returned to Damascus where he continued teaching.

Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie (Galatians 1:18-20).

Paul is going to great lengths here to differentiate himself from the Judaizers. They were simply repeating the traditions they had been taught by men. But Paul was sent by God with a gospel he received directly from the Lord Jesus.