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.
Ask a Follow-up Question
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.
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 2:E-28
Now examine this lampstand. You will notice that it has a large bowl, or reservoir, that is central to seven arms that come out of it. This bowl is filled with olive oil which flows through seven wicks which are placed in the seven arms. It is the same oil that burns and makes a light at the end of the seven pipes. This light never went out. The priests just kept pouring oil into the bowl.
Seals 9: Questions and Answers on the Seals
63-0324M §48
...e new wine would be... Now watch. The oil and wine went together in sacrifice, went together in the church worship (now notice), assembled together, connected together. You that's got a concordance, look and see a whole string where wine and oil is met together in worship. If you've got a Cruden's, why, it says that there. Now notice on this. But now, you see, the oil is always the Holy Spirit. We find that over in Ezekiel, and we find it in the Old Testament, and we find it all through the New Testament. Why do we...
Church Ages, part 9: The ten virgins, and the 144,000
60-1211M §96
the wise virgin with oil in her lamp. She made ready. Now, while she was gone to get some oil... That's what they're trying to do right now. These great evangelical churches, trying to find these great things, you know, do ... go back to the Bible---back. "We need the Pentecostal blessing." Well, you can imagine what kind of a service they're going to have, see. They ain't going to get down there, and spoil all that manicure on them, and all that. Oh, no! They ain't going to give up them sororities, and societies,...
Church Ages, part 9: The ten virgins, and the 144,000
60-1211M §88
Now watch these two churches. If I could ... if there was some way I could just make the people see it! Just burns in my soul. These churches are just as clean and holy as this one. If they're all virgins, they're all virgins, just as clean. The only difference was the oil in the lamp, the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost, if it's in there, it produces the very same kind of fire it did on Pentecost. But they don't have no fire, no oil in the lamp. They have church ritual (church just as ritualistic as can be), fine c...
Questions and Answers
59-0628E §63
Look, all ten of them that went out were virgins. Now, there were ten virgins went to meet the Lord. Now, the word virgin means "sanctified (does anybody know that?), holy, pure, sanctified." There were ten of them that went out to meet the Lord. Now remember, they had been falling asleep in one watch, two watch, three watch, on till the seventh watch. But these really went to meet the Lord. And remember, as they went, the Lord came. That was the coming of the Lord's time. Not who was in the watch... Jesus spoke wh...