A change of topics
Now that Jesus has answered the two questions posed to Him by the apostles. Jesus continues the discourse into a deeper teaching that He wanted the disciples to hear before He could not teach them. Here again He starts this teaching with a parable.
The parable of the ten virgins
Matthew 25:1 – “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, 4 but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. 5 When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ 7 “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ 9 “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. 11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ 12 “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ 13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.
This parable deals with the Rapture. Within it is a very complex imagery of belief and preparedness, as well as Christ stating He may be delayed. Let’s try and look at the imagery presented here.
First off we have the bridesmaids. The word “bridesmaids” is in itself extremely important to understand for within it is referring to salvation itself. In other books within the Bible Jesus Christ is referred to as the “bridegroom” and the Christian peoples are the “bridesmaids.” Just as the Jewish people are called the bride to God Himself.
Now note how  the wording is done in the first verse of this chapter. In the KJV it is this way:
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.”
“Went forth to meet.” This is humanity using their free-will to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and journeying forth to learn more about Him through pray and reading of the Bible. This is signified with the statement “which took their lamps.” The lamps are lit, which again points to acceptance of Christ and salvation.
“And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”
For the lamps to stay lit it shows we must be prepared. This is accomplished through reading the Bible and seeking to understand it. Since we do not know when the groom will appear we must stay within the Word of God and live our lives accordingly. We must live our lives in accordance with the Bible every day for we do not know when Jesus will come. It must also be stated that the oil is a representation of the Holy Spirit. Note that all ten bridesmaids have oil. Just not enough for those that are foolish. Again showing that those who are the bridesmaids are born again and saved as well as filled with the Holy Ghost.
However as is shown in the parable there are those that do not. They have not kept a reserve of oil handy. They live their lives in and of the world and so are not prepared for His return. These are the foolish. However note this next verse:
“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.”
Jesus makes it clear that in our eyes, the bridegroom, Jesus, will tarry, will delay.
We also see that all that accepted Christ will fall asleep. We all wonder and become distracted.
“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”
The “cry” is the warning signs that we are taught to look for, which at this very time are being seen and heard throughout the entire world. So the virgins, the bridesmaids, are instructed to go to meet the bridegroom. We are instructed to fix our lives and get back on track and to return to our path of faith and obedience to the Word of God.
“Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.”
Those that did not see the signs and did not prepare or “trimmed their lamps” soon enough find they are not prepared. So they turn to those that are prepare for the return of Christ. So they tell those not ready to go and read the Bible and learn the truth and get their lives in order.
Then Christ returns and the rapture occurs and those not prepared are left on the earth. They scream up to the heavens and say “Here we are Lord we are ready for you!” and per the Bible Christ reply will be:
“Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”
They are left here to suffer the torments that are to follow for the next three and a half years. They must now accept Christ and preach His Word. They must suffer insult and injury as well as persecution. They will be offered the mark of the beast and many will accept the mark. While those that do not will accept their fate and suffer pain and agony as they are beheaded. They will become the martyrs of the Tribulation and will number in the billions.
Revelation 7: 9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

You must be ready and alert
Matthew 24:40 – “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. 42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected. 45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. 46 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 48 But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ 49 and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? 50 The master will return unannounced and unexpected, 51 and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Now I wish to show you this from 1 Thessalonians then we will discuss these passages:
5:1 – Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape. 4 But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. 5 For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. 6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. 7 Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. 8 But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. 9 For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. 10 Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. 11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Just so you understand once again. There were two questions asked by the apostles to Jesus. There are two answers given, but in a way that gives details that has left many confused and mislead. From verse 4 through 31 Jesus described the end of the known world at this time. Verses 32 through 51 describe His return.
Now note that in the first part it is mentioning of signs and wonders. The darkening of the sun no light from the moon. The stars hidden. Those of evil perform signs and wonders. These are all things that none can deny for all will see them. So how can the return of Christ be like a thief in the night? A surprise. It cannot.
So even though the return is spoken of by Christ. It actually occurs before the events he has just spoken of in the previous section. Yet there is mention of a type of rapture in the first part people will say and question at this point. Yes that is true, but the wording is very clear here as was shown in part eleven of this series.
There will be three raptures. The first is what is being referred to by Jesus at this time. The second will occurs at the midpoint of the Tribulation period when the third temple is desecrated by the anti-Christ. The third will occur as described in verse 31 and will deal only with the Jewish people.
How else can Jesus come as a thief in the night? It must be at a time when no one is looking or expecting him. It is as stated in the previous part of this series, like the times before the great flood. People will be living their lives as if nothing has changed. Nothing has occurred to give them pause or wonder.
Jesus Himself promised that those that are alert will not partake of the Tribulation (Revelation 3:10), but those of the tribes of Israel that have not accepted Jesus as the Messiah will. Why? Because they denied Him when He walked amongst them nearly two thousand years ago. It is those of the tribes of Israel that are called the elect that He will gather unto Him upon His return. For further confirmation of this, read the following:
Revelation 7:1 – Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea, 3 “Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.” 4 And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel: 5 from Judah 12,000 from Reuben 12,000 from Gad 12,000 6 from Asher 12,000 from Naphtali 12,000 from Manasseh 12,000 7 from Simeon 12,000 from Levi 12,000 from Issachar 12,000 8 from Zebulun 12,000 from Joseph 12,000 from Benjamin 12,000
These are the select, the elect, and the chosen. All from the tribes of Israel. These are those that verse 31 is referring to and no others. For those that left when Christ returned as a thief in the night are already gone. So how can they leave a second time? Then this is prove there will be multiple raptures. One for those that stayed alert. One for those that were martyred during the first half of the Tribulation and the third will be as mentioned above.

The parable
Now it is important that we understand the import of the parable. Jesus when He started His ministry to the Jewish people He would talk plainly and openly. However they rejected Him. His sole purpose was to be the true Messiah, the true King to Israel. Yet they turned their backs upon Him. When this rejection became all too clear to all involved Jesus stopped speaking plainly. Instead He started to speak in parables.
Now He is talking exclusively to his apostles, yet he gives them a parable. This is twofold. The main reason is due to the fact that even though they are His chosen twelve they too are blind to the full truth. The other is that when it is time that the gospels be written that this parable be included so that those with the eyes will see and the ears hear.
Matthew 24: 32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door.
When these signs that He has mentioned, especially those spoken by Him in verse 4 through 14 then we will know that the return of Jesus Christ to this planet is near.
The sign of Noah
Matthew 24: 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. 36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. 37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
He makes it very clear that life will be going on as usual, just as it was before the flood which destroyed the civilization in which Noah lived in before the deluge. Christ has given us signs to look for and they are now being fulfilled worldwide. Time is running out and too many don’t know nor care, for all that is important to them is themselves.

The Second coming of Christ
Matthew 24:26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.
29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
Now there are those that see the events in verse 31 as the Rapture. However this is not the case.
Revelation 3: 10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. 12 All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.
It is this promise that shows that the Rapture and the events that occur at the return of Christ at the end of the Tribulation are two separate events.
As we look at verse 31 from Matthew in the KJV:
“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
We see that the term chosen ones goes to elect
Elect – eklektos – chosen out, elect, choice, select: of those chosen out by God for the rendering of special service to Him (of the Hebrew race, particular Hebrews, the Messiah, and the Christians)
In this case though since the Christians are removed before the Tribulation as is promised in Revelation 3:10. Also that they are removed before the antichrist can be fully revealed in 2 Thessalonians 2:5-8 this must mean the Hebrews or Jewish people.
So this is the third Rapture and is of the Jewish people. The First Rapture takes place before the Tribulation begins and is as shown above for those Christians that have been loyal unto to God through His Son Jesus Christ and so will be very small. The Second Rapture occurs at the midpoint of the Tribulation at which time the third temple is desecrated. It is here that those that are martyred in the name of Christ will be called up before the Throne of God. It is also at this time that 144,000 will receive the mark of God and will bear witness through the last half of the tribulation. Since it is clearly shown that the 144,000, who are the elect, are all Jewish adds more evidence that the third Rapture which happens as Christ returns is solely for the Jewish people. The chosen and promised nation of God unto Abraham.
The Second coming will be an event that will be witnessed by the entire globe and will take at least a full day to accomplish as Christ appears at a fixed point in the sky above and the earth will rotate below Him and all will see that Christ is real and He has returned. None will be able to question this.