Ripe

When Ammon rejoiced over the success of their missionary labors to his brothers, he said, “Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! (Alma 26:5)”  This is one of the few spots in the scriptures in which the word ripe is used with a positive connotation.  Here it seems that the analogy is that the Lamanites were ripe for the gospel; they had been prepared by the Lord and were ready to be “harvested” by the Nephite missionaries.  This is the kind of scripture that I would expect in conjunction with the idea of ripeness, probably because to me when fruit is ripe it is at its best.  But nearly all other references to being ripe refer to those who are wicked and who have reached their last chance. 

                Here are a few saplings of how we see the word ripe used:

·         “Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God. But behold, this people had rejected every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity; and the fulness of the wrath of God was upon them” (1 Nephi 17:35)

·         “For the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the earth; and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity they shall perish” (2 Nephi 28:16)

·         “If the time should come that this people should fall into transgression, they would be ripe for destruction” (Alma 10:19).

·         “For behold, there is a curse upon all this land, that destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness, according to the power of God, when they are fully ripe” (Alma 37:28)

·         “Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe” (Alma 45:16)

·         “The time cometh, saith the Lord, that when ye shall cast out the righteous from among you, then shall ye be ripe for destruction” (Helaman 13:14)

·         “For the hour is nigh and the day soon at hand when the earth is ripe; and all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble” (D&C 29:9)

·         “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” (Joel 3:13)

I guess the analogy goes something like this: just as we eat food when it is totally ripe, so too will the Lord destroy the wicked when they are “ripe” for destruction.  This seems to be some kind of threshold that people pass after which there is no return.  There is a limit to the wickedness that the Lord will allow, and when we reach that line we will be cut off from the Lord and receive His punishment.  The bottom line is that you don’t want to ever be ripe in the Lord’s eyes!