Khartoum in the 1880's: the Revolt of Muhammad Ahmad and the murder of General Charles Gordon

by Michael Streich

In the early 1880s, a Muslim uprising began in the Sudan, threatening Egypt and British colonial interests. The leader of the revolt was Muhammad Ahmad who called himself the “Mahdi” or expected one. His object was to restore Muslim practices and eradicate foreign influences. Through awe and fear, the Mahdi managed to gather thousands of loyal followers. Ultimately, Great Britain was obliged to address the situation, and did so by sending a national hero to Khartoum, General Charles Gordon, known as “Chinese” Gordon for his leadership in suppressing the Taiping Uprising in China some years earlier.

 

Early Attempts to Restore Peace

 

The liberal government of Prime Minister William Gladstone was discussing down-sizing imperial military commitments and rejected any initial appeals to significantly take on the Sudanese uprising. Sudan was a province of Egypt, which was, ostensibly, part of the Ottoman Empire but “advised” by the British through their proconsul, Lord Cromer.

 

The Egyptian khedive hired a British colonel and tasked him with leading an army into the Sudan to destroy the Mahdi. Given the rank of general in the Egyptian army, William Hicks led a force of 10,000 men (some estimates are lower) into the one million square miles of desert. Ambushed, Hicks and his entire command were annihilated virtually to the last man. Although subsequent forays led by Valentine Baker and Lt. General Gerald Graham were slightly more successful, public outcry in Britain forced the government to react.

 

Chinese Gordon is sent to Evacuate Khartoum

 

Charles Gordon was seen as a “Christian soldier,” who, as previous Governor General of Equatoria and then the full Sudan, ended slavery. He knew the Bible well and had even managed to locate the site of the Genesis “Garden of Eden.” As a soldier, Gordon was a sapper – a military engineer. This would serve him well when forced to fortify Khartoum.

 

Yet Gordon was also fiercely independent and whose personal view of justice conflicted with political prerogatives. Stubborn, insubordinate, and frequently arrogant, he traveled up the Nile River to evacuate the Europeans and Egyptians despite having publicly criticized this policy in the British press only weeks before the assignment was given. Gordon had his own agenda. He would defend Khartoum against the Mahdi.

 

The Relief of Gordon

 

By 1884 it became apparent that Gordon was not leaving Khartoum. The prospect of his death and the loss of the Sudan prompted national outcry in Britain, including Queen Victoria who pressured Prime Minister Gladstone into sending a relief force. On March 25^th, the Queen wrote the Secretary of War, Lord Hartington (a hawk in the Cabinet), “Gordon is in danger: you are bound to try to save him.”

 

Gordon was a living symbol of all that Britons saw of their empire and their values. In death, he became, according to Karl Meyer, “a devout martyr who died bravely while on an impossible mission for an ingrate government.” In Parliament, Gladstone’s government narrowly averted a vote of censure.

 

Ultimately, General, Sir Garnet Wolseley was sent to Cairo to command a relief force of 10,000 British soldiers. Wolseley was a friend of Charles Gordon and a bitter critic of Gladstone, whom he blamed for Gordon’s death. Through brilliantly improvised tactics, including the construction of hundreds of specially designed boats that could navigate the Nile cataracts, the relief expedition moved up the Nile.

 

“Too Late”

 

The forces of the Mahdi breached Khartoum’s defenses in January 1885, slaughtering the inhabitants and murdering Governor-General Charles Gordon. His severed head was paraded before the Mahdi on a pike. Referring to Prime Minister Gladstone, General Wolseley wrote in his journal, “He is responsible for Gordon’s death and all the bloodshed and horrors attendant upon the fall of Khartoum.” (Tuesday, 17^th February, 1885)

 

Sources:

 

Byron Farwell, Queen Victoria’s Little Wars (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1972)

Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac, Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008)

Lytton Strachey, Eminent Victorians New York: Harvest Books/Harcourt Brace & Company, 1969)

Lord Garnet Wolseley, In Relief of Gordon: Lord Wolseley’s Campaign Journal of the Khartoum Relief Expedition 1884-1885, edited by Adrian Preston (London: Hutchinson Press, 1967)

How Social Security was Born: Not a Bonus, But a Guaranteed Retirement for all Americans Michael Streich

 

Formally known as the Wagner-Lewis-Doughton social security bill, the Social Security Act was passed by Congress June 19, 1935 and signed into law as immediate legislation by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Old age benefits were discussed by Roosevelt and key supporters who would hold positions in his administration before his 1933 inauguration. His Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, writes that Roosevelt, “…always regarded the Social Security Act as the cornerstone of his administration…” Not all Americans supported the measure, referring to the act as “socialism.” It is still considered controversial and falls under Congressional scrutiny whenever Republicans make significant gains in Congressional representation, as happened most recently in the 2010 midterm elections.

 

The Social Security Act Begins as an Unemployment Insurance Measure

 

During the heady days of FDR’s first Hundred Days, New York Senator Robert Wagner and Rep. David J. Lewis of Maryland approached Roosevelt with a rudimentary bill to provide unemployment insurance. Roosevelt, however, wanted to include social security. Concerns over benefits for America’s seniors arose out of the popularity of the Townsend Movement. This movement proposed generous old age pensions at federal expense.

 

The 1935 bill was the product of many lengthy committee hearings, unending hours of research, and continual brainstorming by FDR’s brain-trust. The initial measure included a health care plan, but this part of the bill was dropped as Roosevelt knew the medical establishment would oppose it, and the rest of the bill was not to be opened to the danger of failure.

 

Passing Social Security and Unemployment Insurance

 

Combining Social Security and unemployment benefits was the recommendation of Harry Hopkins, one of FDR’s key advisers. Unlike other New Deal programs, it was to be a permanent program and not deficit funded. Roosevelt stated, “We can’t sell the United States short in 1980 any more than in 1935.”

 

Roosevelt might have been astounded that in 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected President, beginning the tide of conservative ascendancy in the Congress. By 1985, into his second term, the Senate Budget Committee, led by New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici, recommended a one-year freeze on Social Security benefits.

 

As passed in 1935, Social Security was limited. During Committee hearings, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau opposed a universal system, suggesting that rural farm workers be exempted as well as small businesses that employed less than ten people. Frances Perkins recounts in her memoirs, none of the provisions would completely solve the nation’s poverty, but it was the first step in solving future depression-condition problems.

 

Opposition to Social Security during the New Deal and Beyond

 

No emergency legislation will make an immediate difference without the necessary funding. Before Congress adjourned in the summer of 1935, Louisiana Senator Huey Long, one of Roosevelt’s most ardent critics, mounted a filibuster to stop any funding legislation. His filibuster lasted until adjournment and Roosevelt was forced to creatively look for temporary workers to help set up the newly independent agency.

 

Others, like Oklahoma Senator Thomas Gore, asked Secretary Perkins during a hearing “isn’t this like socialism?” The entire notion of “cradle to grave” federal entitlement reeked of socialism for stalwart GOP lawmakers. These views were vocally resurrected every time Congress expanded Social Security.

 

In 2010 and again in 2011, Social Security recipients received no cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) yet their Medicare contribution costs rose. In the 2010 midterm election, most seniors voted Republican.

 

Senator-elect Rand Paul of Kentucky campaigned on the promise that he opposes “any cuts in benefits for seniors” and “raising the Social Security retirement age…” Days after the election, however, he said “everything is on the table” to balance the budget. (ABC News, November 3, 2010)

 

National Health Care Tied to the Social Security Bill

 

Although Roosevelt cut health care from the 1935 bill, when Congress revisited Social Security in 1939 Senator Wagner attempted to add amendments, including a disability benefit. Congress voted down these expansions.

 

Wagner’s 1939 Health Bill was designed to expand unemployment benefits and Social Security. This was not a universal, federally mandated health plan such as found in other nations. Opting into the plan was not mandatory nor did his bill include forcing Americans to purchase health insurance.

 

Nevertheless, it was severely attacked, most notably by the American Medical Association and the pharmaceutical industry. Universal health care had been attempted since 1915 and was deemed a progressive measure. Not until March 2009 would Congress enact a health care bill that provided affordable coverage for all Americans.

 

The Role of Government during Periods of Economic Hard Times

 

Conservative Republicans led by President Herbert Hoover in the early years of the Great Depression abhorred federal intervention that amounted to any hint of welfare. Even Franklin Roosevelt rejected the government “dole.” But Roosevelt and the liberal Democrats believed that the role of the federal government was to stimulate the economy by putting people to work and providing safety mechanisms like unemployment insurance.

 

Advisers like Frances Perkins made the argument that even a minimal unemployment payout in the first weeks of unemployment would stop evictions and enable breadwinners to provide for their families.

 

Senator Wagner stated that, “Industry can not run with the mechanical perfection of a gyroscope and out of simple caution we must continue to devise methods of dealing with those who may be severed from their normal work despite our best efforts.”

 

Social Security provided one concrete method for ensuring the survival of American retirees. It continues to do so today. For most, the monthly payout represents a fixed income that covers the bare necessities. Any tampering with those benefits would be criminal to the millions who paid into the system all of their lives.

 

Sources:

 

Lewis L. Gould, The Most Exclusive Club (Basic Books, 2005)

J. Joseph Huthmacher, Senator Robert F. Wagner and the Rise of Urban Liberalism (Atheneum, 1968)

Frances Perkins, The Roosevelt I Knew (Viking Press, 1946 First Edition)

 

Earth Day: Make it a Reality  - Michael Streich

Earth Day is April 22nd, 2023, a designation that should cause every civilized person to shiver. Germany is shutting down it's last three nuclear powered plants - Emsland , Neckarwestheim, and Isar II. Yet 49% of the Germany people, according to NDR, oppose this and want the plants kept open. Most in opposition were over the age of 35. Younger citizens who approve of the closings are members of the Greens, FDP, and Linke parties. To make up any future energy losses, the government plans to increase coal exploitation, which becaomes a major pollutant in and of itself.

The same arguments are heard in the U.S., especially as the Biden Administration seeks to force a new Executive Order auto featuring regulations vastly increasing the number of EVs. But where are the charge stations and how strong is the existing power grid? On Earth Day, inhabitants of East Palistine, Ohio will still breath toxic air and drink bottled water because tap water may still be contaminated. Across the United States, many water sources are contaminated for a variety of reasons, some affecting large population centers such as Philadelphia.

"...With purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain..." May be becoming a lovely history reference but hardly the everyday truth. 

Climate change is on many world leaders public narratives but cities like Jakarta and Bangkok are still sinking into the ocean. And South Africa still suffers from an on-going water shortgage. What countries can claim they have no examples of climate change? Yet world leaders, prodded by corporate and other monied interests, act like Climate Change is just another Jules Verne novel.

In February 11-20th, 2021, the state of Texas underwent an unprecedented freeze, it's power grid almost completely failing, and twitter commentators reminding Senator Ted Cruz of a comment he once made that he would believe in climate change when, "Texas freezes over." 

As this is written, Fort Lauderdale, Florida is under water after a so-called once in a thousand year rain event, nearly 26 inches within a 24 hour period. How many more records will be broken as the climate change narrative becomes more true?

Earth Day should be a funeral dirge for people that go about their lives dismissing all actions such as those mentioned above. Of course, older politicans who have always denied climate change like former president Donald Trump may not care since many drastic predictions will work themselves out after these politician have passed on.

In the Broadway musical "CoCo," (1969) Katherine Hepburn sings, "...the world belongs to the young..." This Earth Day, youth must take a stand and demand change. Thus far, at least in the U.S., no democrats and no anti-woke candidates even believe in the changes yet to come. That must not become a harbinger of the next two decades.

 The Protestant View of Heaven: Are the Streets Really Gold?  M.Streich

In 1949, Ira F. Stanphill, a preacher in the Assemblies of God denomination, wrote the hymn “Mansion Over the Hilltop.” The chorus exemplifies the view of heaven as believed by most Christians:

 

“I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop,

In that bright land where we’ll never grow old;

And someday yonder we will never more wander,

But walk the streets that are purest gold.”

 

Stanphill’s verses are not alone in depicting heaven as a city of gold full of mansions. A popular late 19^th Century Methodist hymn by Edgar Stites refers to “…Beulah Land…where mansions are prepared for me…”

 

The Christian Belief of Mansions in Heaven

 

This popular belief derives from a mistranslation of the Gospel of John 14 2-3 that occurred during the creation of the King James Version of the Bible. None of the original sources of this passage refer to mansions. Scholars point to the use of the term “chateau” in French translations used to help produce the King James Version.

 

Based on original sources, the best translation seems to be, “In my father’s house are many resting places.” The German Reformer, Martin Luther, translated the passage as “Wohnungen” or places to live. The fact remains, however, that for Christians, heaven is a real place.

 

Human Models of Heaven

 

C. Austin Miles captured the human model of heaven in his early 20^th Century hymn, “Dwelling in Beulah Land.” The skies are cloudless, the fountains never run dry, and manna is in “bountiful supply.” Similarly, the time of American slavery produced dozens of Spirituals depicting heaven as a place of freedom from the bondage of slavery. These Spirituals often utilized imagery from the Hebrew Exodus.

 

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, the journey of “Christian” is chronicled through a series of obstacles and temptations. In the end, however, he reaches the “Land of Beulah,” crosses the river, and is welcomed into the “Celestial City.” Heaven as a Celestial City is the hallmark of Christian images of the afterlife.

 

I Peter 3.22 speaks of Christ as being in heaven, “at the right hand of God.” Although Christians believe that God is omnipresent, they also refer to the “throne of God,” images taken from allegorical literature like the Apocalypse of St. John. Psalm 139.8 highlights this dilemma: God is in heaven yet also in “Sheol.” Francis Thompson’s poem, “The Hound of Heaven” classically describes the God of Heaven who is also the God of everywhere.

 

The Christian image of heaven is frequently criticized by those that question an absolute and eternal state of grace. Unlike C.S. Lewis’ Great Divorce, which emphasizes repentance for the travelers from the “Grey Town” to heaven, George Bernard Shaw’s Don Juan in Hell derides heaven as “the most angelically dull place in all creation.”

 

The Location of Heaven

 

Heaven was always thought to be beyond the reaches of earth. After the resurrection of Jesus, he ascended into heaven (Mark 16.19) and “sat down at the right hand of God.” In the Old Testament, the great prophet Elijah was taken by a “whirlwind to heaven…” (II King 2.1).

 

Throughout the ancient world the high place was the abode of God or the gods. The Psalmist writes, “I will life up my eyes to the mountains; From whence shall my help come?” (121.1) In Genesis 6, God prepares to blot out his creation when he “saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth.”

 

The promise of heaven has served Christians for centuries as an eternal hope, especially when times are desperate. Whether an actual “place,” a state of the mind, or some notion of a parallel universe, heaven continues to reflect a worthy goal for many questioning the afterlife.

 

Sources:

 

Favorite Hymns of Praise, (Tabernacle Publishing Company, 1967)

New American Standard Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1973)

They Walked With God, Michael Williams, editor (Fawcett Publications, 1957)

 Luther and the Lawless One: A former presidential candidate view of Anti-Christ  m.Streich

 

 

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann recently changed her church affiliation from Lutheranism to an interdenominational faith institution. At issue, in part, was the Lutheran position that the papacy was equated with the Biblical Antichrist. Bachmann’s decision highlights the role religion plays in contemporary American politics, especially among Evangelicals. Evangelicals tend to support conservative candidates that are pro-life, reject homosexuality, and support Israel on the basis of “end times” prophetic themes. Equating the papacy with the Antichrist, however, alienates Roman Catholics who, as a group, have tended to vote Republican based on social issues.

 

Should Lutherans “Backpedal” the Notion of the Pope as Antichrist?

 

The historical “search” for the Biblical Antichrist can be traced back to the first generation of Christians. The Lutheran view is based on Martin Luther’s belief that his generation would witness the prophetic end of times. Luther scholar Heiko Oberman, for example, wrote that Luther perceived that, “shadow of the chaos of the last days and the imminence of eternity.”

 

Luther’s view of a satanically inspired papacy can also be corroborated by the 1545 Origins of the Pope. Historian R.W. Scribner points out that Luther was very deliberate in associating his name with the offending woodcuts, each of which equates the papacy and Church hierarchy with demonic roots and influences. Reformation scholar Mark Edwards, Jr. writes that, “At the heart of Luther’s Against the Papacy at Rome, Founded by the Devil lies his intense conviction that he was attacking the antichrist itself.”

 

Selectively Using Bible Passages to fit Political Agendas

 

Both Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin identify with evangelical beliefs. Both tend to highlight Bible passages in the same casual and erroneous way that they perceive American History. Both of these observations are highly significant. There is little consistency. Bachmann, for example, has been criticized for her recommendation of a revisionist biography of Robert E. Lee that defends American slavery much as Southern apologists John C. Calhoun and George Fitzhugh did over 150 years ago (see Ryan Lizza’s New Yorker article on Bachmann, August 15, 2011).

 

Slavery was condoned in the Bible. Conservatives also extrapolate Old Testament Mosaic law to build a case against homosexuality. Bachmann’s husband runs a clinic that, among other things, “cures” homosexuals. Lizza identifies Bachmann, for example, with the Christian evangelical belief known as Dominionism and writes about the influence of Francis Schaeffer on Bachmann’s world view. But consistency is not part of that Biblical foundation.

 

If politicians like Bachmann and Palin applied the Bible consistently, they would have to account for Christ’s many challenges regarding social justice, a phrase used by conservatives to define so-called liberal “give-away” programs like Medicaid. Yet some of the very conservatives identifying with this view have accepted federal funds like Medicaid, including Rand Paul, a rising star among Tea Party activists and a former medical doctor, as well as Bachmann’s husband.

 

Re-Interpreting History to Promote Inconsistent Conclusions

 

The cavalier attitude toward slavery is but one example of historical revisionism and misinformation. Consider the following statement by the Family Value, a conservative group, that was signed by presidential hopefuls Bachmann and Rick Santorum: “Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American president.”

 

Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass would disagree. In fact, Republicans in 1860 would vehemently disagree. But times have changed. According to the Air Force Times (August 15, 2011), the US Air Force has discontinued an “ethics” training course “for new nuclear missile officers” after receiving objections to the content. Course content used Christian saints like Augustine to defend the notion of a “just war” as well as military leaders such as George Washington and “Stonewall” Jackson “as examples of men with strong religious convictions who fought in wars.”

 

The “just war” fits well with the nebulous war on terror. It enables conservatives like Senator John McCain to oppose the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. It encourages Sarah Palin to advocate a continued military presence in the Middle East. Like her fellow Tea Party conservatives, she wants to cut spending, but that does not include defense expenditures; the Middle East wars have cost an estimated $4 trillion. For politicians that use the Bible to crucify gays, the Sermon on the Mount is never applied to “collateral damage.”

 

Women in the New Testament

 

Female candidates gleaning the Bible for “proof texts” to support conservative agendas like the Defense of Marriage Act should turn to I Timothy 2:11: “Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.” Evangelicals will quickly point out that such passages refer to women within a specific church hierarchy. The entire passage, however, is indicative of how women were perceived in the first century.

 

Only a small number of American faith traditions deny women an equal role. Mitt Romney may have a problem with that if Mormonism becomes an issue. It can also be argued that Catholicism denies women an equal role. Most Americans accept the equal role of women even as they accept homosexuality. Certainly most Americans view American slavery as an evil, rejecting the idea that slave families in the pre-Civil War South were well cared for by slave-masters.

 

Religion, Political Agendas, and Truth

 

The Lutheran position regarding the papacy and the Antichrist may be offensive, but it is true – which may be why politicians would want to distance themselves from the denomination. The truth is, however, that all faith traditions have a history and a set of beliefs, some of which may be offensive to certain voting groups. The notion of heaven and hell can be very selective and should have no part in political debate. The United States was founded by Christians but not as a theocracy. This is frequently forgotten by some presidential candidates.

 

Sources:

 

Mark U. Edwards, Jr., Luther’s Last Battles: Politics and Polemics 1531-46 (Cornell University Press, 1983)

Toby Harnden, “Michele Bachmann signs controversial slavery marriage pact,” The Telegraph, July 10, 2011

Ryan Lizza, “Leap of Faith: The making of a Republican front-runner,” The New Yorker, August 15, 2011

Eric Marrapodi, “Michele Bachmann officially leaves her church,” CNN, July 15, 2011

Markeshia Ricks, “Air Force yanks nuke ethics course,” Air Force Times, August 15, 2011

 Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins M.Streich

The parable of the ten virgins, found in the Gospel of Matthew 25, 1-13, relates the story of a wedding night to the “kingdom of heaven.” Told by Jesus, the parable uses imagery recognizable in both Greek and Roman weddings. The action takes place at night and highlights the plight of ten virgins, five foolish and five wise. The parable lends itself to a number of so-called spiritual or meditative applications by contemporary Christians, but at the time of Christ, the details would have been more profound.

 

Preparation for the Coming of the Bridegroom

 

Ancient Mediterranean weddings, notably in Greece, featured the bridegroom arriving in the evening at the home of the bride in order to escort her to his house. Once there, a banquet would take place celebrating the wedding for all of the invited guests.

 

Roman wedding days also ended with the groom escorting the bride to his house in the evening, followed by festivities that could last for days. The reader is reminded of the wedding feast of Cana in John’s Gospel (chapter 2) during which the wine “gave out” on the third day.

 

Ancient Lamps Fueled by Oil

 

In the Matthew parable, ten virgins “took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” Each of the virgins had lamps. These small, hand-held lamps could hold enough oil for only one night. Five of the virgins took flasks of oil with them; they are described as “prudent.” The other five, however, brought no additional oil.

 

The Bridegroom is Delayed in the Parable of the Ten Virgins

 

The actual passage in Matthew 25 states that the bridegroom “was delaying.” It was his choice to arrive late. His delay was not caused by any unexpected actions. Was he testing the fidelity of his brides? The ten virgins, however, “began to sleep,” waiting for the bridegroom.

 

At “midnight” the word was given that the bridegroom was arriving. But the five “foolish” virgins had no oil and their lamps had extinguished. They asked the five prudent virgins to share their oil, but were told to “go instead to the dealers and buy for yourselves.” The sharing of precious oil was out of the question.

 

Unconditional Love and the Blindness of the Foolish Virgins

 

Christians are often at a loss for words by this advice. The five prudent virgins refused to share. They must have known that the five foolish virgins would never make it to the bridegroom’s house. The five prudent virgins persevered and planned ahead, but there was no contingency plan to assist fellow virgins in need of oil.

 

The parable seems to address the issue of unconditional love as well. Surely the bridegroom could have provided for the foolish virgins if they were betrothed to him, but he did not. He was betrothed to ten virgins, but only five were waiting for him.

 

The Wedding Feast Excludes the Foolish Virgins

 

When the bridegroom arrived, he took the five prudent virgins with him to his house. In the ancient world, this procession would have included invited wedding guests, following the wedding carriage aglow with torches of light. Once at the bridegroom’s house, the bride would be ceremonially taken into the dwelling and the guests would enter for a celebration.

 

Once the foolish virgins replenished their oil, they made their way to the bridegroom’s house, but the doors were closed. When they asked to be admitted, the bridegroom sent his answer: “I do not know you.” They missed their opportunity. The parable does not suggest what happened to them.

 

Message of the Parable of the Ten Virgins

 

Verse 13 of Matthew 25 summarizes the intent of Jesus’ story: “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day not the hour.” This can be applied in many ways. Some Christians apply it to the Second Coming of Christ. Others relate it to the everyday spiritual faith journey.

 

Some readers question the use of ten virgins for one bridegroom. Does this suggest plural marriage? Others note the actions of the five prudent virgins that refused to share their oil, knowing that sending out the foolish virgins to buy oil would decrease their chances of seeing and being escorted by the bridegroom.

 

But Jesus began the parable by comparing it to the Kingdom of Heaven. A literal reading and understanding of the parable demonstrates that not all will be at the final banquet, not all will be at the wedding feast. Another application might suggest that some who claim to be of God are hypocrites, whose personal agendas lead to a lack of oil in their lamps. Jesus seems to be asking, “have you enough oil to recognize the bridegroom?”

 

The final verse also indicates the mental and spiritual state of those seeking the Kingdom of heaven: since the time of the bridegroom is not known, it is important to be “on alert.”

 

Source:

 

New American Standard Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1973)