“I hear the sound Of a mighty rushing wind, And it’s closer now than it’s ever been. I can almost hear the trumpet, as Gabriel sounds the call; at the midnight cry we’ll be going home!”

Over the past decade of broadcasting our online ‘Rightly Dividing’ King James Bible studies, we have played a lot of really good and edifying Christian hymns and songs. I have never kept account of how many songs we’ve played most often, but I know this much. The incredibly beautiful and soul-stirring song ‘Midnight Cry’, sung by John Starnes, would be in the top five of our most-played songs without a doubt. From a spiritual perspective, it’s wonderful and I never get tired of hearing it, but from a rightly dividing perspective it’s a hot mess.

“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” Matthew 25:5,6 (KJB)

I am not being critical of this beautiful Christian song, but what I am doing is using it as an object lesson to show you the power of what rightly dividing, as we are commanded by Paul in 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJB), is really all about. So why do I say the the ‘Midnight Cry’ we see in Matthew 25 has nothing to do with the rapture of the Church? Because there are no Christians in Matthew 25, just Jews and Tribulation Saints. Those Ten Virgins we read about in the passage are not Christians of any kind, they are Jews.

“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.” Matthew 25:1 (KJB)

Everything you need to know about who these virgins are is contained in the first six words of the very first verse. Here the Holy Spirit is directing your attention to people who are looking for a kingdom on Earth, and not a spiritual kingdom in Heaven. No Christian was ever promised the Kingdom of Heaven, when you and I got saved, we were placed into the Body of Christ in the Kingdom of God. Those two kingdoms are not the same.

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Christians in the Church Age are “sealed unto the day of redemption”, and can never, ever lose their salvation. They can lose rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ, but their salvation and entrance into Heaven is never in doubt once they become born again. But these Ten Virgins in Matthew 25 are not as fortunate. They all started out with full lamps of oil, but a full 50% fell by the wayside and were denied entrance into the marriage when the Bridegroom arrived. Why do you think Jesus tells the people in the Tribulation to “endure to the end”? Because if they don’t endure to the end, they die unsaved. This is never the fate of a born again Christian in the Church Age.

Everything about the parable of the Ten Virgins points to a future time where God will again be dealing with His people, the Jews. They are waiting for a King who will bring in a Kingdom. It will have its fulfillment in the time of Jacob’s trouble, where faith + works will be the doctrine of the day. The Two Witnesses and the 144,000 will be preaching from books like Hebrews and James, as well as the “constitution of the kingdom” found in Matthew 5-7 (KJB).

These virgins are going to a marriage, but the wedding ceremony has already taken place. They are not the Bride, they are guests and servants. How do we know that? The good Dr. Luke has the answer.

“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” Luke 12:35-37 (KJB)

You will take careful note that the people here in Luke 12 have their “lights burning”, as do the virgins in Matthew 25. Not only that, but Luke says when “their lord arrives”, it is after having been at the wedding. Did you catch that? By the time the Ten Virgins meet the Bridegroom, the wedding is all done and they did not attend nor were they even invited. So we see quite clearly that the ‘Midnight Cry’ in Matthew 25 shows us Jesus returning in Revelation 19 at the Second Coming, not the rapture of the Church.

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:” 2 Peter 2:19 (KJB)

Lastly, the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church is not at midnight, it is in the morning! Paul says that the rapture of the Church is comforting, it is light, bright and full of hope, the exact opposite of the gloominess and darkness that heralds the Day of the Lord, see Amos 5:18-20 (KJB), at the Second Coming. Just as the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God are two different kingdoms, the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming are two completely different events.

John Starnes – Midnight Cry

Please enjoy John Starnes singing “Midnight Cry” recorded live in 1988.

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