They That Were Wise

The Great Awakening

A few hundred years ago in North America, a movement called
the “Great Awakening” spread across the countryside. One of its primary
objectives was to awaken the people who appeared to be asleep regarding
spiritual matters.

Young Joseph Smith was influenced by the things he heard
from preachers who were part of this religious awakening. It is one of the
reasons he decided to seek earnestly the will of the Lord in private prayer.

As we fill our hearts with the love of Christ, we will awaken
with a renewed spiritual freshness and we will walk joyfully, confidently,
awake, and alive in the light and glory of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ. –
(Uchtdorf April 2017)

{Matthew 25:1-4}

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins,
which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

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.

 Video: “They that are wise”

Do I have oil in my lamp? Is my vessel clean, my wick
trimmed, my reservoir filled? Am I ready to let my light shine now? Am I
helping my others to fill their own lamps with precious spiritual oil?

{Doctrine & Covenants 33:17}

“Be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and
burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom”

“In our lives the oil of preparedness is
accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings
adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home
teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the
scriptures—each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store.
Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and
actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity—these, too, contribute
importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted
lamps.”

(Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p. 256)

 “We must all suffer from one of two pains:
the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline
weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” Jim Rohn

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Ten Virgins

It was a custom among the Jews for the bridegroom to come at
night to the bride’s house, where her bridesmaids attended her. When the
bridegroom’s approach was announced, these maidens went out with lamps to light
his way into the house for the celebration.

In this parable the virgins represent members of the Church,
and the bridegroom represents Christ. The Lord explained to Joseph Smith that
the wise virgins are those who “have received the truth, and have taken the
Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived” (D&C 45:57).

Bridegroom

In the Bible, the image of a
wedding is used to portray the coming of the Lord (see Isaiah
62:5; Matthew
22:1–14). Jewish weddings included the announcement of the bridegroom’s
coming to the bride’s house. The weddings usually began in the evening, with
the lamps lit at dusk. So midnight was later than the ten virgins would have
expected the bridegroom—and the announcement came suddenly.

We do not know the timing of Christ’s Second Coming, but we
should prepare for it as though it could come at any time—whether soon or late.

Vessels

The vessels in the parable were containers for storing extra
oil. Being wise means being prepared for the unexpected with an extra measure
of faith, testimony, and the Spirit in our lives. Sometimes we grow complacent,
thinking we have enough to get by. But following the Savior means more than
just getting by. It means always striving to draw closer to Him, preparing for
those times when our patience, faith, and testimony will be tried.

Thoughts from the artist: In preparing to paint this parable, I found ten women to
play the virgins. I told them of an article I had read years earlier that
described a small earthen vessel worn around the wrist that the wise virgins
might have used to carry their oil. I then gave five of the women one of these
vessels and explained it was time for them to join the wedding party.
As they separated, I noticed that they were crying. When I asked them why, one
woman explained, “I never understood that those five who were wise were leaving
behind their friends and their sisters. It breaks my heart to think that they
won´t be with us.”
I painted that moment as these friends parted. One with her oil gathered from a
life of selfless service; and the other adorned in beautiful jewelry, yet with
no oil, having spent her life overlooking those things that mattered most. I
included a mermaid, a symbol of temptation, and a watch in the shape of a heart
to remind us that we can tell what we love by what we give our time to. I set
the watch to midnight to remind us that the Lord is almost here. As we wait for
the Savior, may we be ever watchful that our lamps, and the lamps of those we
love, never run dry.

Lamps

The oil lamps used by the Jews in Jesus’s day are called Herodian
lamps, after King Herod. These lamps enabled people to carry light wherever
they went. In the same way, we are to carry the light of the gospel with us (see Matthew 5:14–16).

The handle was shaped by hand and then attached to
the lamp.

The body of the lamp was made of clay and shaped
on a potter’s wheel. The spout or nozzle was made from a mold.

A wick made of flax fibers or a rush stem was
placed in the spout, and then the lamp was filled with olive oil. Once the wick
absorbed the oil, the lamp was lit.

Oil

Gethsemane-
The word “Gethsemane” means “oil press.” There is significant symbolism here.
The Jews put olives into bags made of mesh fabric and placed them in a press to
squeeze olive oil out of them. The first pressings yielded pure olive oil which
was prized for many uses, including healing and giving light in lanterns. In
fact, we consecrate it and use it to administer to the sick. The last pressing
of the olives, under the tremendous pressure of additional weights added to the
press, yielded a bitter, red liquid which can remind us of the “bitter cup” which
the Savior partook of. Symbolically, the Savior is going into the “oil press”
(Gethsemane) to submit to the “pressure” of all our sins which will “squeeze”
His blood out in order that we might have the healing “oil” of the Atonement to
heal us from our sins.

The oil in the parable represents our faith and testimony,
our purity and dedication, our good works, and our keeping of covenants—all of
the ways in which we have “taken the Holy Spirit for [our] guide” (D&C 45:57).

The wise virgins could not share their oil with the foolish
virgins because “the oil of spiritual preparedness cannot be shared” (Marvin J.
Ashton, “A Time of Urgency,” Ensign, May 1974, 36).

Make lamps:

I bought Sculpey clay. It’s the kind you bake. Form the clay into the shape of an oil lamp, with a small spout for the wick and a hole in the top to add oil.

I just rolled a ball of dough, about the size of a walnut then flattened it into a teardrop shape. Then I brought up the sides of the drop pinching it to bring it together like the top photo of the tutorial.

Decorate with designs. We just used toothpicks. Bake according to package directions. When cool add a small amount of olive oil to the lamps reservoir. Place a wick into the spout making sure most of it is in the oil with just a small part sticking out of the spout. Let the wick soak for a few minutes, then light.

As you are making your lamps discuss what will fill our own spiritual lamps with oil.