ON DIFFICULT PASSAGES

            Here read (KJV) Matthew 18: 7-9 Matthew 25:1-13 Nahum 2:1-13


There are many passages in scripture that simply cannot be fully understood. Sometimes, preachers preach sermons from these passages and attempt to explain them, but their explanations never seem to be quite adequate. Often, too many loose ends and unanswered questions remain after these sermons.

For instance, in Matthew 18:7-9, why does Jesus teach that a person can enter into life maimed when no one is maimed in God's afterlife? Perhaps Jesus was not speaking of the afterlife, but was symbolically teaching about the agony of repentance when a lost sinner feels the need to completely submit to God and become "born again" by God's grace. A believer does receive eternal life the very moment he or she becomes "born again." Then again, why did Jesus say nothing about faith and God's salvation in this parable?

The parable of the ten virgins is especially hard to understand. The fact that they are called virgins implies that they have by faith become the children of God. Yet, Jesus taught that five of them were foolish and had no oil. Throughout scripture, oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is given to all who believe and they are sealed forever by the Holy Spirit, then the five foolish virgins could not have run out of oil even if they were living in a backslidden condition.

When the bridegroom comes, which must be symbolic of the coming of Jesus Himself, the five foolish virgins ask the five wise virgins for some of their oil. The five wise virgins refuse, and tell the five foolish virgins to go buy some oil for themselves. This seems to indicate that oil may not be symbolic of the Holy Spirit in this particular parable because the Holy Spirit cannot be bought. God always freely gives the Holy Spirit to those who believe. The symbolic meaning of oil in this parable does not seem to be clear.

Then, at the end of the parable, the bridegroom comes and receives the five wise virgins into the marriage feast but shuts the five foolish virgins out, telling them: "I know you not." How can this be since scripture teaches that the whole church will be included in the Rapture, and that Christ can never lose even one of His believers?

One possible explanation is that the five foolish virgins are not believers at all. In the parable of the tares and wheat in Matthew 13, Jesus prophesied that the entire scope of future Christianity would contain believers and non-believers alike, and that in the end God alone will separate them. Thus, the five foolish virgins are symbolic of future nominal Christians who think they are true Christians because of their clean, moral lives and good works. Yet, they are not true Christians because they have never humbled themselves to God, admitted to Him that they are lost sinners, and put their trust in Christ alone to save them through His blood that He shed for them on the cross. They have never received the free gift of the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the oil in the parable, to cleanse them of their sins by the blood of Jesus and to justify them and to give them eternal life through His resurrection.

When the five foolish virgins ask the five wise virgins for oil when the bridegroom comes, the wise virgins, in effect, tell the foolish virgins that it is too late for them, and that they might as well continue in that which they have been doing all along; that is, try to purchase salvation, or at least some favor with God, through their own self-righteous efforts.
When the bridegroom comes, He receives the five wise virgins because they have received the oil which symbolizes the Holy Spirit. He refuses the five foolish virgins because they have never received the oil as a free gift. The fact that the bridegroom tells them, "I know you not" would seem to indicate this interpretation.

The book of Nahum prophesies about God's destruction of Nineveh because they had turned back to idolatry 150 years after they had repented because of the preaching of Jonah. Most of the book relates how God visited destruction on Nineveh through war.
The second chapter of Nahum seems to be somewhat confusing. The first part of the chapter seems to be about war against Israel, not Nineveh. And who is this Huzzab who is led away captive? Then the second part of the chapter turns back to the war against Nineveh. One possible explanation for this is that Nineveh first attacks Israel and achieves partial success, and then Israel counterattacks Nineveh and destroys it.

Many such passages in scripture are difficult to understand even when guided by the Holy Spirit. Why has God done this? Perhaps God desires that His children strive and pray over His Word in order to test their love for Him and their desire to know Him better. God's testing always makes His children better. Perhaps God simply enjoys giving His children puzzles to solve in order to test how deeply they desire to understand His Word.

One certainty is this. Part of having faith is to believe that God always knows what He is doing, even when we do not understand it.