Worthy Brief - October 19, 2026

 Worthy Brief - October 19, 2026

When the treasure is greater than the tomb!

Matthew 25:1, 5-6 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom... But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’”

In our last devotional, "When the treasure is greater than the tomb", we saw Yeshua standing outside a grave in Bethany and calling Lazarus back to life. He is m'chayeh hametim (מְחַיֵּה הַמֵּתִים) the One who gives life to the dead. Death is not the end. Let's now look at the parable of the ten virgins and ask the question: if resurrection is real and the Bridegroom is coming, how are we to live today?

His coming is linked to a wedding.

To understand this parable, it helps to know how a Jewish wedding worked in Yeshua’s time. It began with a betrothal, a binding promise. Then the bridegroom, the chatan (חָתָן), returned to his father’s house to prepare for his bride. He would return only when everything was ready, often at night. Someone would announce his arrival, and a lamp-lit procession would lead everyone to the wedding feast. The bride and her friends didn’t know exactly when he would come. They just had to be ready.

Yeshua was thinking of this when He told His disciples, “In My Father’s house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself” (John 14:2-3). We are living in that time now. The promise has been made. The Bridegroom is preparing the place. And He will return for His bride.

Ten virgins take their lamps and go out to meet him. All of them are waiting, all of them expect him, and all of them have lamps. Only five of them have oil.

But the bridegroom is late, and that's the point. The real issue isn't whether they expected him to arrive in the first place; it's what they did whilst he was delayed. They all got tired and went to sleep. The wise ones didn't stay up the whole time. The difference was that they were ready before the call came.

The cry came at midnight. For Israel, midnight was significant. At midnight, God moved in Egypt and delivered His people in the first Passover (Exodus 12:29). Redemption came at midnight. David wrote, "I will arise at midnight to praise You" (Psalm 119:62). The hour of darkest night has always been the hour God chooses to act.

Now think about the oil. In the Tabernacle God said that Israel was to bring "pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually" (Exodus 27:20). In the Hebrew it's shemen zayit zach katit (שֶׁמֶן זַיִת זָךְ כָּתִית) pure olive oil, beaten and pressed, l'ha'alot ner tamid (לְהַעֲלֹת נֵר תָּמִיד) to keep the lamp burning. The oil that kept God's lamp burning was oil from olives that were crushed. Solomon wrote "The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord" (Proverbs 20:27). Your life is a lamp in His house and He wants it to keep burning.

We shouldn't be in the business of forcing meaning into every detail, but the point is clear. Some things in our walk with God simply can't be borrowed at the eleventh hour. You can't just go to someone else and say "I'll take your closeness with God, your prayers, your walk with the Lord". The lamp and the oil have to be your own. You have to gather them day by day. You have to go through the hard times to get them and they are what keep your light burning.

That's why being ready is a joyous thing rather than a scary thing. The five wise virgins weren't getting ready for some kind of crisis. They were getting ready for a wedding. The return of the King is not something to be fearful of. It's something to be looking forward to. Isaiah said "For as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62:5). The Bridegroom is coming in joy and He is coming for you.

Jeremiah spoke of a time when the streets of Jerusalem would once again be full of "the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride" (Jeremiah 33:11). In the original Hebrew it's kol chatan v'kol kallah (קוֹל חָתָן וְקוֹל כַּלָּה) and that is still the song that is sung at Jewish weddings. The story in the Scripture doesn't end at a grave. It ends at a feast. Resurrection isn't just getting out of the grave. It's the gateway into being united with the King.

Yeshua says, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Watching doesn’t mean looking up at the sky in worry. It means living ready -- faithful, expectant, and spiritually awake. The midnight cry may come when no one expects it, but it won’t surprise the heart that has always been living for the Bridegroom.

You are deeply loved by the Bridegroom. The One who called Lazarus from the tomb is preparing a place for you in His Father’s house, and He is coming back for you with joy. So keep your lamp burning bright, and ask Him for fresh oil every day you walk with Him. Keep your heart tender and your eyes fixed on Him, and let your light rise continually. The wedding feast is near, the doors are about to swing open, and soon you will walk with the King!

George & Baht Rivka