In education, “why” is generally the highest level question that one can ask. Teachers are encouraged to use Bloom’s Taxonomy to create high-level questions. For example, instead of asking, “Which U.S. President, authorized by the U.S. Congress, sent the American military into the Iraqi conflict in 2003?” a teacher could ask, “Was President Bush justified in sending U.S. soldiers to Iraq and why do you think that?”
Here are several articles that I have read that relate to the title above and a few of my thoughts on each:
Whenever someone comes up with 10 reasons to think the coronavirus is a judgment of God, like Peter Leithart does here, I’m curious to see what he thinks. I am not only curious about his thoughts, I always try to find out a bit about him. I have done both.
Mr. Leithart asks the question “Why?” and his 10 reasons represent his thoughts about his home country, the U.S. Each one of his reasons is a possible answer for “Why?” and “Why now?”
In answering the first of the two questions in his article, Dr. Land states:
So, when people ask, “Did God cause this to happen?” the answer has to be, “No, He did not.” Why? The Bible tells us that “no one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). The Psalmist tells us that “the works of his hands are faithful and just” (Psalm 111:7) and “God is light and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
I particularly like Dr. Land’s reliance on scripture. I also liked it that he started the article with:
Whenever we seek to answer such questions, we must first express our humility, remembering the Apostle Paul’s admonition, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” (Rom. 8:23-24 CSB).
Dr. Land has impressive educational achievements and yet he says we need to remember our position in relation to God.
Did God allow the coronavirus? Dr. Land gives an interesting illustration using the Rose Bowl of 2006 (U.S.C. vs. Texas) to explain how God views human history. (It is an article worth your time.)
Dr. Land’s opinion:
“Did God cause the Coronavirus pandemic?” No. “Did God allow the pandemic to happen?” Yes.
Also, he states this:
Can God ultimately redeem the pandemic for good? That depends entirely on how we as Christians and as a nation respond to this terrible tragedy.
This is the title of N.T. Wright’s article that appeared in Time magazine.
No doubt the usual silly suspects will tell us why God is doing this to us. A punishment? A warning? A sign? These are knee-jerk would-be Christian reactions in a culture which, generations back, embraced rationalism: everything must have an explanation. But supposing it doesn’t? Supposing real human wisdom doesn’t mean being able to string together some dodgy speculations and say, “So that’s all right then?” What if, after all, there are moments such as T. S. Eliot recognized in the early 1940s, when the only advice is to wait without hope, because we’d be hoping for the wrong thing?
Since Mr. Wright calls certain reactions to the virus silly and “would-be Christian,” what is his view?
Rationalists (including Christian rationalists) want explanations; Romantics (including Christian romantics) want to be given a sigh of relief. But perhaps what we need more than either is to recover the biblical tradition of lament. Lament is what happens when people ask, “Why?” and don’t get an answer.
Is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow what happens when people don’t get an answer? I would agree that the answer is sometimes “yes.” But Christians I know don’t get answers and still call faith “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” I’ve never heard one quote the T.S. Elliot version of hope Mr. Wright uses:
What if, after all, there are moments such as T. S. Eliot recognized in the early 1940s, when the only advice is to wait without hope, because we’d be hoping for the wrong thing?
Christians know the hope that they have. It is a blessed hope.
They are “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus…”
I’m always concerned when someone thinks they have all of the answers, which is the tone of Mr. Wright here. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh. He did use the term “perhaps.”
The article ends with:
As the Spirit laments within us, so we become, even in our self-isolation, small shrines where the presence and healing love of God can dwell. And out of that there can emerge new possibilities, new acts of kindness, new scientific understanding, new hope. New wisdom for our leaders? Now there’s a thought.
We become small shrines? What is that supposed to mean? I’m all for new acts of kindness and I’m all for new scientific understanding, but Mr. Wright seems to clash with himself when he criticizes “Rationalism” at least twice in this endeavor.
I understand lamenting and I verily understand groaning. I don’t understand Mr. Wright.
John Lennox has written a book named “Where is God in a Coronavirus World?” Mr. Lennox is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and an Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford University. I have not read his book, but I have watched this video:
I have always appreciated the views of Mr. Lennox and had no different experience here. John is asked, “Why have viruses at all?” I’d recommend you watch the video.
I could continue to share opinions and make my own speculations but the truth is, I do not know why the Corona virus has hit our world now and I do not know why. I do think three of the four gentlemen above have given good possibilities for these questions. The fourth view (that of N.T. Wright) is also a possibility.
I do know one thing. If I understand the tribulation as Christ describes it in Matthew 24 (along with other passages in the Bible), COVID-19, at least to this point, is like a mosquito bite compared to what is eventually coming. Many people I talk to think that we are living in the days of “birth pangs” described in Matthew 24:8. I think this is very possible. Whether we are closing in on or are in the last days or not, here is a passage that we all should keep in mind:
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, 4 but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. 11 Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ 12 But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
This parable is stated directly after the chapter about the Tribulation. It is found in Matthew 25.
If I see any other interesting views on “Why?” and “Why now?” I may add them as time allows.
“Thou art my hope in the day of evil.” Jeremiah 17:17
The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm. True, it is written in God’s Word, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;” and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above; but experience tells us that if the course of the just be “As the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” yet sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover the believer’s sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light. There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the “green pastures” by the side of the “still waters,” but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in the place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, “Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen.” Oh! say not so, thou who art walking in darkness. The best of God’s saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of his children must bear the cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the willows. Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the shorn lamb, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God’s full-grown children. We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.
Charles H. Spurgeon
When I read this today, the verse seemed to fit our day in other ways as well. The deity of Christ is under attack perhaps more today than ever. Just this week, I’ve stumbled across several different religious leaders who do not give Jesus his full position as God as the Bible teaches. (30 “I and the Father are one.” – John 10) Add to that the many false prophets, prosperity teachers, New Apostolic Reformation leaders, New Age thought, Unitarian positions, cults, etc. (I’m not even including other religions here) and we have a time where Bible verses are twisted to make Jesus someone to fit personal wishes instead of the true Jesus found in scripture (Tota Scriptura). We need to be familiar with the entire Word of God so that we are not fooled by these impostors. I think it’s time for all of us to go back to the basics and study why we believe the things we do believe. I think this because basic Christian Orthodoxy which has spanned the ages is in question (i.e. the diety of Christ).
“Amidst chaos and confusion, where can we find hope?”
Just like my church (and yours) Parkside Church is full of empty seats until further notice. Pastor Begg gives a sermon to his congregation through his church’s website. It is relevant to our times. The message starts at 16:45. May God bless you by His Holy Spirit through this recent lesson.
Let me put it to you like this. Christianity is not a philosophy. What is a philosophy? Well, a philosophy is made up of ideas put forward by men, in an attempt to try to understand life and our problems and how to deal with them and how to solve them. It is a matter of ideas, of thoughts and of teachings. My point is that while there is obviously a teaching and a doctrine which is a vital part of Christianity, that is not the first thing. What differentiates this is that it is first and foremost a record of historical events and historical facts. What mean these stones outside Gilgal? All that they mean is that certain things happened to these people-history. Let us be clear about this. There are so many people today who talk about the Christian attitude-towards war and peace, a Christian attitude towards education, a Christian attitude towards art, drama and literature. Now all that tends to turn it into a philosophy, into a teaching, into a theory, into a point of view. But that is really not to be true to our position. So Christianity, we must remember, is not one of a number of theories and ideas and philosophies with respect to life. It is quite unique because it is teaching which is based upon history.
I can go further and I can say this. That this is the thing that differentiates the Christian faith from religion-from any kind of religion. You take these religions that people, some of them, are turning to at the present time. Buddhism or Confucianism or Hinduism, or any one of these ‘isms’. What are they? Well, they are all something invented by men. They are all teachings. They involve a kind of worship, but they are not based upon facts and upon events. They are all based upon ideas-and they are ideas that are supposed to lead you and to help you to arrive at the particular deity that you want to worship.
Now here again, you see, our Christian faith is entirely different. It calls attention to facts. And that is why this building in a sense is going to do exactly the same as the bread and the wine do in a communion service. They again are calling attention to facts. So, we must start with this all important matter-this principle-and realise that it is vital to our whole situation. The uniqueness of the Christian faith depends upon a series of historical facts and events and the teaching which results from them.
—————————–
It is probably not altogether right to excerpt from one of the greats, though I think the good Doctor would be happy with my reasoning here. How many were saying in 1977, when the sermon was given, that the Bible was a good book but that much of it consisted of “meaningful fables” and “nice stories” and that its historicity was in serious question? This type of liberal Christianity, already quite popular then, was something that Martyn Lloyd-Jones abhorred. How much more are the historical parts of the Bible under attack today? Yes, parts of the scriptures are beautiful poetry and some are eschatological wonders. But there are the parts that, until the past few centuries, were always considered history and still are by men in agreement with Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Remarkably, currently and in the recent past, men are calling what has always been considered history poetry or allegory. There is the “Documentary Hypothesis” and a myriad of similar criticisms which weaken the inspired intentions of the text. Some go so far as to question the miracles.
I admire men like David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Walter Martin, and Charles H. Spurgeon and I agree with them. All great scholars, they upheld the Bible as the inspired word of God in times of question. We are living in times when many consider the Bible as just another book on the shelf. In their time, these great men were astonished that anyone could have such an opinion and if any were with us today I think they would receive more mocking than they did in their day and would respond no differently than when they were alive.
This is a sermon that needs to be heard more today than ever. I am including a link to the text of this sermon and another to the recording of the actual sermon. Either would be more than worth your time.
The Basics conference of 2018 has ended. This year’s conference took place May 7-9, at Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. HERE IS A LINK TO ALL OF THE SESSIONS. I have not watched it all but I respect Alistair Begg enough to post the full conference.
The conference “aims to encourage and equip pastors to do the basics of Christian ministry well (most of the time). Given the unique responsibilities and challenges of life in ministry, we also hope that God might use the conference to refresh pastors and send them back to their home churches renewed for further Gospel work.”
As a layperson and former “minister of religion,” I found the parts of the conference that I watched helpful not only for those in pastoral ministry. After all, each Christian is given the great commission and the wisdom of these pastors may assist you in your walk with God and your efforts to assist others.
If you find something in any of the sessions that you would like to discuss, I would be happy to have that discussion as time allows.
The Q and A sessions are always interesting and this one is no exception. (It starts at just after the 15 minute mark.)
I appreciate this statement. You will see the same basic statement made in Charles Spurgeon’s sermon called THE SUM AND SUBSTANCE OF ALL THEOLOGY. It is a sermon version of this few minutes by Dr. MacArthur.
A Sermon (No. 1) delivered on January 7th, 1855 by C. H. Spurgeon at New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.
“I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”—Malachi 3:6
It has been said by some one that “the proper study of mankind is man.” I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can compass and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am wise.” But when we come to this master-science, finding that our plumb-line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought, that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass’s colt; and with the solemn exclamation, “I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.” No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God.
The following is a letter I received from a Christian “friend” in Israel who has asked to remain unnamed. I thought some of you might be interested in some of the practical things that go into the preparations for Passover in Israel.
Shalom!!
Happy Holiday! “Hag Sameach” literally means ‘holiday happy’ in Hebrew.
Even though Pasach (Passover) doesn’t start until the Eve of March 30th, the main greeting here in Israel now is “Hag Sameach.” Today, as I was at the grocery store, I could see the shelves being emptied where the things with ‘leven’ used to be. They let the things sell out and will not buy anything with leven in it until after Pasach. So I could not buy my soy milk today; they are already out. Anyway, everyone is preparing, cleaning their homes (probably where ‘Spring Cleaning’ came from) and washing their cars. The price to wash your car is now 50 shekels instead of 40 shekels. $2.90 more because of the holiday. I found out when I washed my car today!
It’s an exciting time to be in Israel!
Also, Christians in the ‘Holy Land’ and from around the world will be celebrating Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. I took (a) picture on a Palm Sunday where people were celebrating by waving Palm branches and singing in their own languages as they walked the path Jesus (Yeshua) took as He rode the donkey into Jerusalem.
May our Lord bless you as you remember His love for you during this amazing season. “Hag Sameach” Hoping you have a blessed holiday!
Nisan, the first month on the Jewish calendar (according to the Torah), coincides with March-April on the civil calendar, which marks the beginning of the spring months. On the first day of Nisan, God instructed Moses, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months, the first of the month of the year” (Exodus 12:2).
This month we celebrate the 8-day holiday of Passover, from the 15th through the 22nd of Nisan. It commemorates the Jewish people’s miraculous redemption from slavery in Egypt, and the birth of the Jewish nation. We will not see a year change for the Hebrew calendar until September 10th 2018, 1 Tishrei 5779, the Rabbinical New Year.
In Israel everyone is preparing for the coming celebrations, it is during this time that the Jewish people are looking to God and remembering His blessings. He brought His people from slavery to their homeland, where He will be glorified. This is a wonderful time for us to be praying for the Jewish people to come to know His love for them and for us to seek His blessings in our own lives.
Shana Tovah (Have a Good Year)
My comment:
Some of you will be waving palm branches this Sunday as a reminder of our Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem. Christians remember the resurrection on a daily basis but it is important to know about the last week of Jesus’ journey here on Earth. Each of the gospels spend quite an amount of time on it so it must be of great value.
All Christians should be praying for the peace of Israel. In the past five days:
A Muslim resident plowed into a group of soldiers, killing two and critically injuring two others.
A 32-year-old father of four who worked as a security guard at an excavation site in the Old City, succumbed to multiple stab wounds to his torso.
The IDF destroyed two terrorist tunnels leading from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Netanyahu said, “The time has come for the International Community to realize that the financial aid given to Hamas is being used underground.” The people continue to suffer in the Gaza Strip due to lack of medical aid, electricity and water, which their Government is expected to supply.
An Israeli man was injured after he accidentally entered a Palestinian Authority-controlled town near Beitar Illit south of Jerusalem. The man, who was driving on a motorcycle, took the wrong exit, and found himself in the Palestinian town. He was attacked by rock-throwing terrorists and suffered a head injury. IDF forces were dispatched to the scene and transported him to the hospital.
There are, of course, larger forces at work plotting the destruction of the tiny little nation that God has an everlasting covenant with. Jews continue to return to the land in spite of the dangers they face from surrounding nations.
It is amazing to watch.
One thing is clear; Israel will never be destroyed. It is one thing you can take to the bank. Uh..I’m not so sure about how secure that is these days though.
I’m always watching the next generation. I’ve been watching videos made by this young man this year. You may disagree with me but I think he is an artist. I think his message, in the end, is that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I will continue to watch his videos unless they take a very strange turn, like if he publicizes NAR leaders, or if his videos get too graphic. I think he has quite a following among the younger folks. I understand this means nothing but his message appears to be a scriptural one. This is only one of his videos but what do you think?
cr
P.S. I do wonder about the title “Prophetic Message” on his YouTube video. As he covers many of the signs like the ones Jesus speaks about in Matthew 24, I will give Jason the benefit of the doubt that he means the Bible is God’s prophetic message, not anything that he is “saying.”
P.S.S. Jason has taken down the word “Prophetic.” Makes me like him all the more and it shows that my guess in the P.S. was correct. His usage of scripture made it a pretty easy call but there are so many using the word “prophet” solely to make money these days, one must be on guard.
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Posted by Chris 
Wings of the Wind 
Why the Coronavirus and Why Now?
April 30, 2020In education, “why” is generally the highest level question that one can ask. Teachers are encouraged to use Bloom’s Taxonomy to create high-level questions. For example, instead of asking, “Which U.S. President, authorized by the U.S. Congress, sent the American military into the Iraqi conflict in 2003?” a teacher could ask, “Was President Bush justified in sending U.S. soldiers to Iraq and why do you think that?”
Here are several articles that I have read that relate to the title above and a few of my thoughts on each:
Is This A Judgment? (link)
Whenever someone comes up with 10 reasons to think the coronavirus is a judgment of God, like Peter Leithart does here, I’m curious to see what he thinks. I am not only curious about his thoughts, I always try to find out a bit about him. I have done both.
Mr. Leithart asks the question “Why?” and his 10 reasons represent his thoughts about his home country, the U.S.
Each one of his reasons is a possible answer for “Why?” and “Why now?”
Ask Dr. Land: Did God cause the coronavirus pandemic? If not, why did He allow it? (link)
In answering the first of the two questions in his article, Dr. Land states:
So, when people ask, “Did God cause this to happen?” the answer has to be, “No, He did not.” Why? The Bible tells us that “no one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). The Psalmist tells us that “the works of his hands are faithful and just” (Psalm 111:7) and “God is light and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
I particularly like Dr. Land’s reliance on scripture. I also liked it that he started the article with:
Whenever we seek to answer such questions, we must first express our humility, remembering the Apostle Paul’s admonition, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” (Rom. 8:23-24 CSB).
Dr. Land has impressive educational achievements and yet he says we need to remember our position in relation to God.
Did God allow the coronavirus? Dr. Land gives an interesting illustration using the Rose Bowl of 2006 (U.S.C. vs. Texas) to explain how God views human history. (It is an article worth your time.)
Dr. Land’s opinion:
“Did God cause the Coronavirus pandemic?” No. “Did God allow the pandemic to happen?” Yes.
Also, he states this:
Can God ultimately redeem the pandemic for good? That depends entirely on how we as Christians and as a nation respond to this terrible tragedy.
Christianity Offers No Answers About the Coronavirus. It’s Not Supposed To (link)
This is the title of N.T. Wright’s article that appeared in Time magazine.
No doubt the usual silly suspects will tell us why God is doing this to us. A punishment? A warning? A sign? These are knee-jerk would-be Christian reactions in a culture which, generations back, embraced rationalism: everything must have an explanation. But supposing it doesn’t? Supposing real human wisdom doesn’t mean being able to string together some dodgy speculations and say, “So that’s all right then?” What if, after all, there are moments such as T. S. Eliot recognized in the early 1940s, when the only advice is to wait without hope, because we’d be hoping for the wrong thing?
Since Mr. Wright calls certain reactions to the virus silly and “would-be Christian,” what is his view?
Rationalists (including Christian rationalists) want explanations; Romantics (including Christian romantics) want to be given a sigh of relief. But perhaps what we need more than either is to recover the biblical tradition of lament. Lament is what happens when people ask, “Why?” and don’t get an answer.
Is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow what happens when people don’t get an answer? I would agree that the answer is sometimes “yes.” But Christians I know don’t get answers and still call faith “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” I’ve never heard one quote the T.S. Elliot version of hope Mr. Wright uses:
What if, after all, there are moments such as T. S. Eliot recognized in the early 1940s, when the only advice is to wait without hope, because we’d be hoping for the wrong thing?
Christians know the hope that they have. It is a blessed hope.
They are “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus…”
I’m always concerned when someone thinks they have all of the answers, which is the tone of Mr. Wright here. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh. He did use the term “perhaps.”
The article ends with:
As the Spirit laments within us, so we become, even in our self-isolation, small shrines where the presence and healing love of God can dwell. And out of that there can emerge new possibilities, new acts of kindness, new scientific understanding, new hope. New wisdom for our leaders? Now there’s a thought.
We become small shrines? What is that supposed to mean? I’m all for new acts of kindness and I’m all for new scientific understanding, but Mr. Wright seems to clash with himself when he criticizes “Rationalism” at least twice in this endeavor.
I understand lamenting and I verily understand groaning. I don’t understand Mr. Wright.
Where is God in a Coronavirus World? (click on the video link below)
John Lennox has written a book named “Where is God in a Coronavirus World?” Mr. Lennox is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and an Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford University. I have not read his book, but I have watched this video:
I have always appreciated the views of Mr. Lennox and had no different experience here. John is asked, “Why have viruses at all?” I’d recommend you watch the video.
I could continue to share opinions and make my own speculations but the truth is, I do not know why the Corona virus has hit our world now and I do not know why. I do think three of the four gentlemen above have given good possibilities for these questions. The fourth view (that of N.T. Wright) is also a possibility.
I do know one thing. If I understand the tribulation as Christ describes it in Matthew 24 (along with other passages in the Bible), COVID-19, at least to this point, is like a mosquito bite compared to what is eventually coming. Many people I talk to think that we are living in the days of “birth pangs” described in Matthew 24:8. I think this is very possible. Whether we are closing in on or are in the last days or not, here is a passage that we all should keep in mind:
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, 4 but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. 11 Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ 12 But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
This parable is stated directly after the chapter about the Tribulation. It is found in Matthew 25.
If I see any other interesting views on “Why?” and “Why now?” I may add them as time allows.
Chris Reimers
Related:
Alistair Begg’s Easter Sermon 2020
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