Before we go into the account of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, we need to take a look at the numerology of the Scriptures. To do so will not only help us to understand the parable of the ten virgins, but it will add to our understanding of Daniel's seventy weeks as well.

Numerology is the study of the meanings of the numbers in the Bible. It is built on the premise that there is a system to the use of the numbers in the Bible. Numerology is part of the shroud that covers prophecy. The following chart contains the Scriptural meanings assigned to just a few key numbers.

The numbers used in the parable of the ten virgins are 10 and 5; but to understand them, we'll need to know the basic meanings behind the numbers that can be combined to make 10 which includes all the numbers from 1 through 10.

As we analyze Biblical numbers, we need to keep in mind that they need to be viewed in their context, and that their symbolic meaning is usually in addition to their regular applications.

One. The number one represents unity and is God's number. The Lord our God is one God. Oh, He is three alright: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; but they three are one. There is much more involved in the number one; but for our purposes here, we'll introduce each number with a minimum of applications.

Two. The number two is the number of the churches as typified by the two wives of Jacob. Leah is a type of Israel, the wife of Jehovah; and Rachel is a type of the Gentile Church, the Bride of Christ. The number is prevalent in those Scriptures having to do with the churches: the two fishes, the two in the field, the two elect, the two divisions of the ten virgins, the two days assigned to each, etc.

Three. The number three is a little more involved. First, it is God's numerical signature. His nature is threefold: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. His witness on the earth is the water, the Spirit, and the blood. Man was created in His image: body, soul, and spirit, etc.

In addition, three seems to be the number of God's testing. Speaking to Peter—and through Peter to Israel—Christ said that, "before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice" (Matthew 26:34).  Jesus saw the agony of the cross three times before the crucifixion: once before creation, once in the garden of Gethsemane, and again on Calvary before the nails pierced His flesh. Jesus was tried in three courts of man, etc.

The number three also deals with God's judgment. When Christ took the judgment of man upon Himself, He hung on one of three crosses during which time the sun was darkened for three hours. As Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale, so was Christ three days in the belly of the earth, etc.

And then, three is the number of resurrection. "Destroy this temple [His body] and in three days I will raise it up." Jesus told the Jews (Jn. 2: 19). There were three raised from the dead in the Old Testament. There were three disciples and three in their glorified states at the transfiguration. On the third day Israel will be raised. The Bible speaks of three translations: Enoch, Elijah and the Church, etc.

All three of these elements—the testings, the judgments and the resurrections—can be seen in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord.

Four. Four is the number of God's creation. The four beasts of Revelation represent life on the earth. The symbolic four corners of the earth and the four winds are inclusive terms that signify the "whole earth." The hearts of men are compared to the four kinds of soil. Jesus told His disciples not to say in their hearts, four months and then the harvest (Jn. 4:35), etc.

Five. Five is thought of as grace. Beginning with the number five, numerology becomes more complex and even more fascinating. Some of the combinations that make five are: one plus four: the grace of God (one) working on behalf of His creation (four); and three plus two: God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit reaching out to the world through His churches. The Age of Grace began on the fifth day of creation's existence. The miracle of Christ blessing the two fishes (the churches) and the five loaves of bread (the Word of Grace: the Scriptures) to feed the multitudes...on and on go the examples of five representing grace.

Six. Six in the Scriptures is the number of man and it is used quite extensively beginning with the creation account where God made man on the sixth day and put him in charge of His creation. Prophetically, using God’s time and the 7-day doctrine, we can see man with a 6 day or 6,000 year rule under the law which will be ceded to Christ for the 7th or Sabbath Day (the millennium). This was beautifully depicted at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. For six days a cloud covered the mount, but on the seventh the glory of God appeared on the mountaintop for all of Israel to see.

The combinations of numbers that make up six are: five plus one (The grace of God offered through His Only Begotten Son), three plus three (The Godhead's provision of the resurrection for all), four plus two (Unregenerated man [the field] and the churches called to work them), and three times two (The Godhead in His churches seeking to save the world)! We should note that all combinations making up the number six have to do with God's concern and His efforts to save mankind.

Seven. The number seven represents things that are final or complete.

Eight. Eight is the number of new beginnings. Noah was the eighth person in the lineage of redemption. There were eight people on the ark at the time of the new beginnings, etc.

Nine. Nine represents the Holy Spirit and His fruit and work. There are nine gifts of the Spirit, nine fruits of the Spirit, etc.

Ten. Ten is the measure of man's responsibility to God and to his fellow man. We're given the tithe or the tenth part with which to support our efforts. The Ten Commandments help guide us in our efforts. If God had found only ten righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah, trying to keep His commandments, He would have spared the cities, etc.

Ten has many compounds: one plus nine (God revealing Himself to His world through the fruits and the gifts of the Holy Spirit through the Believers); two plus eight (the Church exhibiting the new birth/new creation); seven plus three (the finished work of the cross testified to by the regenerative work of the Godhead in the Believer who has been made a whole person—body, soul, and spirit); four plus six (the whole creation put under man's dominion by the sovereignty of God—especially the spiritual aspects which have been charged to the Spirit-filled Church); five plus five (the two churches, the recipients of God's grace); and two times five (God's grace to the world through the two churches).

Before we go on into the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, let’s examine a few more key numbers from God’s arithmetic. To do so will not only add credibility to the numbering system, but as we'll see when we get to the number "seventy," its application to Daniel’s seventy weeks is fascinating and informative as well.

Eleven. The number eleven is associated with judgment and, consequently, the cross. We all know the story of Dinah, Jacob’s eleventh child whose name means judgment. We’re told how that she was defiled by the Hivites and how that Dinah’s brothers, in retribution, slew all the males of the city wherein Dinah was being kept (Gen. 34). Another Old Testament figure involved in judgment was Noah’s son Ham, the eleventh generation from Adam. His judgment was of God and it has carried forward to all of Ham’s posterity (Gen. 9:22-27). In the New Testament we learn that on the sixth (6) hour of that fateful day, God’s grace (5) let His Son take the judgment of man on Himself on the cross (Mt. 27:45). Because of the cross, it is now possible for the Spirit (9) to be given to the Church (2). Also, on the cross, judgment was paid in full (7) for all of creation (4), etc.

Twelve. The number twelve has to do with the foundations of the Church, especially in regards to its great commission. Some of the combinations that make up twelve are: judgment in His body (11) "... for to make in himself of twain one new man" or one Church (Eph. 2:15) (1); man’s full responsibility to God and man (10) being met by an obedient Church (2); The fruit of the Spirit (9) plus the power of the Godhead revealed in the completed believer (3); the message of the new birth (8) taken to the world (4) by the Church; the message of God’s grace (5) seen in His complete salvation committed wholly (7) to His Church (Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven [Mt. 18:18]). In the Kingdom Age, the Church will be composed of man in two states: the natural and the glorified or (6) plus (6). The multiples that make up twelve are 6 x 2, God reaching out to mankind (6) through His churches (2), and 3 x 4, the Godhead (3) bringing to pass the plan of redemption for His creation (4).

Thirteen. The number thirteen is associated with rebellion and the depravity of fallen man. Its infamy has spilled over into the secular world where the number is considered to be unlucky and is associated with things that are evil. In Mark 7:21-23 Jesus taught on the thirteen evils that proceed from the heart and defile the man. In the Old Testament we read of the infamous Nimrod, the thirteenth from Adam, who founded Babel: the city known for its rebellious tower of Babel and the seedbed of the apocalyptic Babylon the Great (Rev. 14:8; 17; 18). In the Book of Revelation, the dragon, one of Satan’s names and a symbol for evil, is mentioned thirteen times, etc.

The number thirteen as with other numbers of a negative nature, affords opportunity to illustrate the goodness of God and the Scriptural admonition to overcome evil with good. As can be seen, the combinations that total thirteen all add up to something good for God’s creation; e.g., God put mankind (6) under sin (total depravity) (7) so that He might have mercy on all (Rom. 2:9-12; 11:32). God’s remedy for the depraved state of man is Himself (1) working through the foundation of His Church (12) to bring about His plan of redemption. In obedience to its commission, we see the Church (2) preaching the sacrificial death of the cross (11). The Godhead (3), all three, played a role in Christ becoming flesh and fulfilling the full responsibility of the flesh to its Maker (10). In the death of His Only Begotten Son, we see the grace of God (5) making provision for the new birth (8), and providing a way for His creation (4) to produce good fruit (9).

As we’ve said, it’s not our purpose to do an exhaustive study on the subject of numerology; instead, we’ve only wanted to set forth enough of the Bible’s usage of numbers to validate the system so that we can use the spiritual application of numbers to grasp the concept of Daniel’s seventy weeks and to understand the parable of the ten virgins. For this reason, we’ll look at only one more number.

Seventy. The number seventy as reflected by the multiples seven and ten can be seen as representing the full responsibility of God to His creation: a responsibility fulfilled by the cross and entrusted to His Church (cf. the 70 elders of Israel and the 70 disciples that Jesus sent out two by two).

Because of the cross, the number 70 now has special significance for all of mankind; for it has provided man with a choice. Men and women can now receive Christ as Lord and Savior and enter into eternity knowing the fullness (the 70x7) of God's forgiveness and blessings or they can reject what He did at Calvary and enter into the eternal fullness (the 70x7) of His wrath and cursings.

For the rebellious of Israel, though, the number seventy has more often been associated with times of judgment than it has blessings—the seventy years of captivity being a prime example. Also, as we mentioned when studying Daniel's seventy weeks, the seventy weeks or seventy-times-seven situation adds a prophetic dimension to Israel's divine judgment. Because of their refusal to obey God in the matter of the Sabbath, especially the Sabbatical years wherein they were to be gracious to one another, the factor of seven, the weeks of years, was inserted into their judgment.

There is another factor incorporated in the seventy weeks that we should consider. Inasmuch as each peak of prophecy is associated with a time of divine, universal judgment brought about by sin, it's understandable that the three peaks of prophecy from Daniel’s time forward would come to past when the divisions of his seventy weeks are in effect (see illustration #9). At the time of the first peak of prophecy, the sixty-ninth of Daniel’s seventy weeks ended with the birth of Christ who was born to bear the judgment for all sin in His body on the cross. At the second peak of prophecy at the end of our age, the first half of Daniel's seventieth week will end with the nations of the world being judged as to how they treated Israel during that three and one-half year period. . The last half of Daniel’s seventieth week will come at the third peak of prophecy at the end of the Kingdom Age. Its major judgment will be the judgment of the lost of all the ages known as the Great White Throne Judgment. At this time, all who hated God, who snubbed His righteous law, and who rejected the gift of eternal life which is found only in His Son will be judged and cast into the lake of fire to burn forever and ever.

As we can see, for the student of the Bible, a study of God’s numbering system can not only prove to be fascinating, but it can also be helpful as we set our minds to understanding the Clock of the Ages. Consequently, with our introduction to the God’s numbering system in hand, let’s turn now to Matthew 25 and see what light it sheds on the parable of the ten virgins.