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This emblem of the harvest is used elsewhere in the Bible. The text probably refers to the harvest of the wicked. Two things for consideration.

I. THE PROCESS OF RIPENING. In the natural world we think of the later period of growth, after the ear is formed, as the ripening time. Consider the process of ripening as regards the wicked.. (Genesis 15:16.) "The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." It was ripening, but not ripe. Sin has dominion over a man. Sin is the spring and root of eternal ruin. The signs that sin is ripening are two.

1. The habit of sinning wilfully, and living wilfully under the dominion of known sin.

2. Growing insensibility to the truths which have a tendency to awaken the mind. The ripening process as regards the righteous is the converse of that which takes place with the wicked. There is a ripening process going on in every child of God. That which is the cause of this ripening in the Christian is holiness. Increasing holiness alienates him more and more from sin, and from the follies and vanities of the world. Signs of the ripening process are —

1. A deepening sense of our own personal unworthiness, and helplessness, and guiltiness in the sight of God.

2. Growing simplicity of trust in the person and work of Christ. It is the work of the Spirit to reveal Christ to the soul.

II. THE HARVEST ITSELF. For the individual the time of death. For the world the judgment day. The children of God are ripening for a blessed harvest. The wicked are ripening for a harvest of wrath, of fiery indignation.

(Emilius Bayley, M. A.)

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KJV: Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

WEB: Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great."