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.
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...
Israel and the Church: Israel in Egypt
53-0325 §83
And watch the ten virgins that went out. All of them virgins. Five of them were foolish; five had oil in their lamps. What is the oil? The Holy Spirit, see. That's right. They were all virgins, lived good, clean lives. You say, "Well, brother, I don't go to dances. I don't go to shows." That's just the moral thing. Unless there has been a Supernatural! Not because you shouted, not because you spoke with tongues, not because you jumped up-and-down, not because you did this; but something supernatural has happened in...
The Seal of God
54-0514 §64
But you see how that spirit moved right up here. And Jesus looked and foresaw that through that Catholic church, coming out. Said "Don't call no man 'father'; don't use vain repetitions"---all these things coming out. Said, "Now, be careful, the antichrist will be so close till it'll deceive the very elect if possible." Look, there were how many virgins went to meet the Lord? Ten. All of them were virgin. What does sanctify mean? "Pure, holy, virgin." Ten of them were virgins. Five had no oil in their lamps. Five h...
The Seven Church Ages
54-0512 §68
Now, in the holy place, where the shewbread; and many of you clergymen understand. And you people here at the tabernacle, being taught with a good teacher here, you know these things. The seven golden candlesticks, they had little lamps on top of them, that burnt oil. Over in Zechariah, where he saw the vision, I believe it was, and he saw the wild olive tree and the tame olive tree; the Jew and the Gentile, way before the dispensation of the Gentile. They had golden censors, and both of these golden censors run in...