Joel iii. 13. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
THIS is a remarkable prophecy of the destruction of God's enemies. The prophet summons the exe- cutioners of vengeance to come up against thema. They are represented as a field of corn ; the command is given to cut them down ; and the prophet instantly sees them fall ; " multitudes/' &c. Our Lord delivers a parable resembling this in reference to the whole world. In a similar manner we shall improve the passage before us, by inquiring,
I. What it is that ripens men for the great harvest —
There is a ripeness to which every one must attain. The wicked have a measure of sin which they must fill upb ; the righteous have degrees of holiness for which they are reserved0 : there are growing in the great field of the world both tares and wheat ; and both are ripening for their proper end.
Sin is ripening some for vengeance —
[It unfits the soul for the enjoyment of God. It renders a person meet for destruction d. It creates many horrors, which are foretastes of hell itself.]
Holiness, on the other hand, is ripening others for glory—
a The valley of Jehoshaphat, or of decision, to which they are summoned, ver. 12, 14. seems to be not any particular place : It may rather be considered as an allusion to the utter destruction which his enemies (the Syrians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Grecians, and Romans) should successively bring on each other. And it may have a further reference to the destruction of Antichrist, and of the wicked at the last day.
b Gen. xv. 16.
c Eph. iv. 7, 13. Not that there is any general standard either of sin or holiness to which all persons must attain : There is no degree of sin to which any shall be impelled against their will ; nor of holi- ness, which any shall be prevented from surpassing. But some are kept from more sin, and others are excited to more holiness, by the preventing or assisting grace of God ; for sinners would commit more sin unless prevented, and saints attain less holiness unless excited.
d As dry wood for the fire. See Luke xxiii. 31.