13.
While the bridegroom tarried. Mt. 25:5a The timing of the bridegroom is in His hands. He does not deliberately delay His appearing, nor will He come to the wedding before His time. The Lord is punctual and fulfills all of His schedule on time. He will not prolong His marriage beyond the set time. Heb. 10:37 The vision of His Word is right on time, for He has an appointed time for each and every prophetic utterance pertaining to the last days. Angelic messengers, Prophets and Apostles spoke of the truth that the Lord has predetermined time and all of its events, particularly so, in the end of the age. Habakkuk spoke of an appointed time which should be accomplished in the end. This too, though it seemed to tarry or be delayed, would come to pass in His time. Hab. 2:3 The Word of the Lord by way of Gabriel (an archangel, the Holy Spirit in angelic manifestation) declared that the visions given to Daniel would be accomplished at the appointed time, in the end of the age. Dan. 8:19 Such terminology is not unusual in the revelation that came to Daniel. Dan. 10:1, 14, 11:27, 11:25. Time and the dwelling place of mankind He has also established. Acts 17:26.
Not until the cry of His approaching was there an evident difference between the five wise and the five foolish. They all slumbered and slept. A state of affairs which would be expected of the foolish. It is rather astonishing to find the wise also nodding and dropping off to sleep. However, the division at this stage has not yet been made. Also, the condition which will determine the difference between the two is oil or a lack thereof.
At midnight, a dark and foreboding hour of the night. In Bible times, an hour when most were sleeping soundly. This hour can portray instances of good or of evil. Take for instance the institution of the first Passover in Egypt. The Lord scheduled it to take place at the midnight hour. Ex. 11:4 To those who were the obedient, the wise who followed the instructions of the Lord it was an hour of deliverance, that is, to the children of Israel. To the Egyptians it became an hour of death and great sorrow. The most prized, the firstborn from man and beast died at the visitation of the death angel. Ex. 11:5 What was a great blessing to Israel was a terrific judgment to the ungodly, unbelieving Egyptians. Faith in the promises of the Lord determine the eternal status of each and every individual.