Forty years without heavenly oil.

by Alejandro Roque Glez.

“But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of them… shall wander in the wilderness forty years… After the number of the days in which you searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my breach of promise… I Yahweh have said, I will surely do it.”

(Numbers 14:21-23, 31-35)

This was the case for 40 days. God through Moses sent a representative from each tribe, to examine and to see with their own eyes the land of fruits and abundant blessings that God was about to deliver, but soon they lost faith in God when seeing the very tall and hefty inhabitants of Canaan, spreading themselves with fear and misgivings which very quickly transmitted to the crowd in the camp.

The congregation of Israel––plagued with such a fear––began to complain and rebel against Moses and God; as it was not enough for them the unique privilege in history of witnessing so many miracles in Egypt and during the following days on the Sinai desert, including the crossing of the Red Sea, through two walls of water and where they walked on dry; avoiding the attack and devastating massacre they could suffered if Pharaoh’s army had reached them (Ex 14:27-31).

The Lord ascribes them such a lack of faith in the Divine’s promise; and due to that they will not immediately enter to possess the land, but one year for each day they inspected the territory––40 years v.33-34––they shall peregrinate in the desert until this extremely rebellious generation (v.21-23) ceased to exist. Their children would be the ones who would enter to possess the land, once elapsed the forty years total.

Israel had to wander forty years in a desert (Jos 5:6) that could have been crossed in just days.

Sometimes in our lives we are disobedient to God’s advices and counsels, and finally reaping in distresses that last years for redress, heal, and mending. In the parable of the Ten Virgins (Mt 25:13)––and referring about the return of Jesus––we see five of the virgins who are prepared to meet the bridegroom being wise and prudent. The other five were foolish, trusting in their own wisdom and not the one coming only from our Creator.

The prudent and wise took backup oil in their lamps in case the bridegroom––by His sovereign authority––decided lengthening a bit in his return (as long as we are living now), and the foolish simply relied on their self-sufficiency. Sleeping time came as always, after the daily expectations, until the husband suddenly appeared between trumpets and jubilant cries, dark late at night; albeit the lamps of the top five wise virgins were the only ones burning because they had backup oil and light, guiding them to where it was the entrance into the chamber of the bridegroom. The foolish ones were left in the dark without finding the entrance to the wedding, and stayed outside, forgotten in a tenebrous world, discouraged and without light.

Likewise Jesus, the husband of the parable, shall come at an hour you do not expect. Is your lamp on? Does the Word of God’s oil burns in your spirit every day? Do not do as the israelites when God sent them to inspect the promised land and due to much fear of death they had lost all hope of ever seeing it; but get up––without fear––turn on your lamp, be part of the five wise, and do not let occur on you as it says the story of the parable; when the other five foolish virgins thought to finally find the door into the marriage chamber and asked to be allowed to enter, they implored saying: “Lord,Lord, open to us. But he answered and said; truly I say to you, I know you not.Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man comes.”

(Also read the author's book entitled: 'The Great Peacemaker from Hell,' which recreates in a narrative form the final events, now very close).

[These and other Old Testament prophecies are explicatively compiled in the author's book entitled: 'Prophecies in the Pentateuch;' in print and digital editions]

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