The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 196

assemblies, I c1rnnot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting, Your new moons and your appointed fea~ts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me· I am wear.,· to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide min'e eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear" (Isa. i. 13-16). II. BEOAUSE RIGHTEOUSNESS, APART FROM THE DEST RITUALISM, IS ABSOLUTELY VALU• ABLE.. Spiri~ual exce!l~nc~, whether it_ shows itself _or not, is essentially good; it is God-hke. Like electrimty m the material system, it 1s the subtle element which binds the _moral uni~erse into unity and tunes it into music. Ritualism,~~ its best, has only a circumstantial, local, and temporary worth; but the value of spmtue.l ex.celle11ce is absolute, universal, and eternal, CONCLUSION. Beware of mere formality in religious worship. • A man may cry •Church! Church I' at every word, With no more piety than other people. A <law's not reokoned a religious bird Because it keeps a-cawing from e, steeple. The temple is a good, e. holy place, But quacking only gives it an ill savour· While saintly mountebanks the poroh dis~aoe, And bring religion itself into disfavour." (Thomas Hood.) D.T. Ver. S.-Divine institutions co1·ropte,d. "Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood." It is supposed that Gilead here means Ramoth- gilead, the metropolis of the mountainous region beyond Jordan and south of the river Jabbok, known by the name of Gilead (Josh. xxi. 28; 1 Kiags vi. 18). It was here that Jacob and Laban entered into a sacred covenant with each other. It was once a Yery sacred place; it was one of the celebrated cities of refuge (Deut. x.x. 23; Josh. xxiii. 28). The place, which was once a city of refuge, an institution of the God of heaven, had now been desecrated by wicked men, and become the scene of_" iniquity" and" blood." Observe two things- . ' ·, L That Di-rine institutions, specially designed for man's good, ARE OFTEN CORRlTI'TED BY HIJIL Gilead, as a city of refuge, was of Divine ordinance, designed for speclal good. It was s_et apart for protecting men from the injustice of being put to death' as murderers where the motive to murder did not exist, and thus preventing the shedding of innocent blood. But this very place for justice had now become the scene to "work .iniquity," the place of mercy the scene that was now "polluted with blood." Thus men may- nay, they have done and still do-corrupt God's special ordinances for good. We say special ordinances, for all God's ordinances are for good. Whilst all places on earth are for the good of man, Gilead had a specific appointment. 1. The Bible is a special ordiaance of God for good. Men have corrupted that. They do so sometimes by denying its truth altogether, but oftener by perverting its doctrines. 2. 'l'he gospel ministry is a special ordinance of God for good. From the beginning almost God set apart men for the special work of indoctrinating their fellow-men with the principles ol everlasting rectitude and the doctrines of redemptive mercy-prophets, apostles, evan"elists, pastors, etc. But men have sadly corrupted this Divine institution; few things on earth have been more corrupted by man than the ministry. • IL That Divine institutions specially designed for man's good, when corrupted, BECOME THE WORST OF ALL EVILS. Holy Gilead, once the scene of Divine mercy, was now filled with "iniqnity" and "blood." 1. A corrupted Bible is the worst of' nil books. It does more mischief than any infidel productions. Political tyrannies, slaveries, wars, persecutions, have all been sanctioned and encouraged by a corrupted Bible. Alas! the millions of Christendom hate the Bible-not the Bible that God gave, but man's corrupted version of that Bible. 2. A corrupted pulpit is the worst of all ministries. Popes, arch bishops, bishops, and the clergy in every grade in all Churches, have been found amongst the most intolerant despots and the most bloody persecutors of all times. They consecrate the banners of the warriors, they advocate ;lifl cause of slavery, they have ever been the prime obstructors to the promotion of Ii bcrty and the advancement of the universal rights of man, An old expositor he.s said, OH, VI, 1-11.] THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 195