THE NECESSITY OF AFFECTIONATE OBEDIENCE TO GOD; AND THE MANNER OF
PRODUCING THAT OBEDIENCE IN THE HEARTS OF THE ISRAELITES.
The following principles in relation to the affections will be
recognised by consciousness as true in the experience of every man. As
they lie at the foundation of the moral exercises of the soul, and as
they relate to the sources and central principles of all true
religion, it will be necessary for the reader to notice them, in order
that he may see their application in subsequent pages.
1. The affections of the soul move in view of certain objects, or in
view of certain qualities believed to exist in those objects. The
affections never move--in familiar words, the heart never loves,
unless love be produced by seeing, or by believing that we see, some
lovely and excellent qualities in the object. When the soul believes
those good qualities to be possessed by another, and especially when
they are exercised towards us, the affections, like a magnetised
needle, tremble with life, and turn towards their object.
2. The affections are not subject to the will;[10] neither our own
will nor any other will can directly control them. I cannot will to
love a being who does not appear to me lovely, and who does not
exhibit the qualities adapted to move the affections; nor can I, by
command, or by any other effort of will, cause another being to love
me. The affections are not subject to command. You cannot force
another to love, or respect, or even, from the heart, to obey. Such an
attitude assumed to produce love would invariably produce disaffection
rather than affection. No one (as a matter of fact) thinks the
affections subject to the will, and, therefore, men never endeavour to
obtain the affections of others solely by command, but by exhibiting
such a character and conferring such favours as they know are adapted
to move the heart. An effect could as easily exist without a cause as
affection in the bosom of any human being which was not produced by
goodness or excellencies seen, or believed to exist, in some other
being.
[10] We state the facts in the case, of which every man is
conscious in his own experience, without regard to the theories of
sects in religion or philosophy.
3. The affections, although not governed by the will, do themselves
greatly influence the will. All acts of will produced entirely by pure
affection for another are disinterested. Cases of the affections
influencing the will are common in the experience of every one. There
is probably no one living who has not, at some period of his life, had
affection for another, so that it gave more pleasure to please the
object of his love than to please himself. Love for another always
influences the will to act in such a way as will please the object
loved. The individual loving acts in view of the desires of the loved
object, and such acts are disinterested, not being done with any
selfish end in view, but for the sake of another. So soon as the
affections move towards an object, the will is proportionably
influenced to please and benefit that object; or, if a superior being,
to obey his will and secure his favour.
4. All happy obedience must arise from affection. Affectionate
obedience blesses the spirit which yields it, if the conscience
approve the object loved and obeyed, while, on the contrary, no
happiness can be experienced from obedience to any being that we do
not love. To obey externally either God or a parent, from no other
than interested motives, would be sin. The devil might be obeyed for
the same reasons. Love must, therefore, constitute an essential
element in all proper obedience to God.
5. When the affections of two are reciprocally fixed upon each other,
they constitute a bond of union and sympathy peculiarly strong and
tender:--those things that affect the one affecting the other, in
proportion to the strength of affection existing between them. One
conforms to the will of the other, not from a sense of obligation
merely, but from choice; and the constitution of the soul is such that
the sweetest enjoyment of which it is capable arises from the exercise
of reciprocal affection.
6. When the circumstances of an individual are such that he is exposed
to constant suffering and great danger, the more afflictive his
situation the more grateful love will he feel for affection and
benefits received under such circumstances. If his circumstances were
such that he could not relieve himself, and such that he must suffer
greatly or perish; and, while, in this condition, if another, moved by
benevolent regard for him, should come to aid and save him, his
affection for his deliverer would be increased by a sense of the
danger from which he was rescued.
7. It is an admitted principle that protracted and close attention
always fixes the fact attended to deeply in the memory; and the longer
and more intensely the mind attends to any subject, other subjects
proportionably lose their power to interest. The same is true in
relation to the affections. The longer and more intensely we
contemplate an object in that relation which is adapted to draw out
the affections, the more deeply will the impression be made upon the
heart, as well as upon the memory. The most favourable circumstances
possible to fix an impression deeply upon the heart and memory
are--First, that there should be protracted and earnest attention;
and--Second, that at the same time that the impression is made, the
emotions of the soul should be alive with excitement. Without these,
an impression made upon the heart and the memory would be slight and
easily effaced; while, on the contrary, an impression made during
intense attention and excited feeling will be engraved, as with a pen
of steel, upon the tablets of the soul.
Now, with these principles in mind, mark the means used to fix the
attention and to excite the susceptibilities of the Israelites, and,
while in that state of attention and excitement, to draw their
affections to God.
The children of Israel were suffering the most grievous bondage, which
had arrived at almost an intolerable degree of cruelty and injustice.
Just at this crisis the God of their fathers appears as their
Deliverer, and Moses is commissioned as his prophet. When the people
are convened and their minds aroused by the hopes of deliverance,
their attention is turned to two parties: one, Pharaoh, their
oppressor and the slayer of their first-born; and the other the God of
Abraham, who now appeared as their Deliverer, espousing their cause
and condescending personally to oppose Himself to their oppressor.
Then a scene ensues adapted in all its circumstances to make a deep
and enduring impression upon their memory and their hearts.--The God
of Abraham seems, by his judgments, to have forced the oppressor to
relent, and to let the people go. At this point hope and encouragement
predominate in their minds. Now their oppressor's heart is hardened,
and he renews his cruelty; but while their hopes are sinking, they are
again revived and strengthened, by finding that God continues to use
means to induce Pharaoh to release the captives. Thus, for a
considerable length of time, all the powers of excitability in their
nature are aroused to activity. Towards that being who had so
graciously interposed in their behalf they felt emotions of hope,
gratitude, love, and admiration. Towards their oppressor feelings of
an opposite character must have been engendered; and this state of
exciting suspense--the emotions vacillating between love and hatred,
hope and fear--was continued until the impression became fixed deep in
their souls.
Keeping in mind the fact, that the more we need a benefactor and feel
that need, the stronger will be our feelings of gratitude and love for
the being who interposes in our behalf--notice further: When, through
the interposition of the Almighty, the Israelites were delivered, and
had advanced as far as the Red Sea, another appeal was made to their
affections which was most thrilling, and adapted to call by one grand
interposition all their powers of gratitude and love into immediate
and full exercise.
The army of the Israelites lay encamped on the margin of the Red Sea,
when, suddenly, they were surprised by the approaching host of
Pharaoh;--before them was the sea, and behind them an advancing
hostile army. If they went forward, they would find death in the
waves; if they returned backward, it would be to meet the swords of
their pursuers. A rescue, by earthly means, from death or bondage more
severe than they had ever borne, was impossible. Just at this crisis
of extremity, Jehovah appears as their Deliverer. The bosom of the
pathless sea is cleft by the power of God. The stricken waters recoil
upon themselves on either side. The Israelites pass over in safety.
The Egyptian host enter, and are overwhelmed in the waters.
Now, it may be affirmed, without qualification, that, in view of the
nature and circumstances of the Israelites, no combination of means,
not including the self-sacrifice of the benefactor himself, could be
so well adapted to elicit and absorb all the affections of the soul,
as this wonderful series of events. That this result was accomplished
by these means, is authenticated by the history given in the Bible.
When the people were thus delivered, they stood upon the other side of
the sea, and their affections, in answer to the call which God had
made upon them, gushed forth in thanksgiving and praise. Hear the
response of their hearts, and their allusion to the cause which
produced that response:
'I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the
horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my
strength and song, and he is become my SALVATION. He is my God, and I
will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt
him.'--Ex. xv. 1, 2, etc.
Thus was the attention of the whole nation turned to the true God. An
impression of his goodness was fixed deeply in their memory, and their
affections drawn out and fastened upon the true object of worship. Now
this, as was shown in the commencement of the chapter, was necessary,
before they could offer worship either honourable or acceptable to
God. The end was accomplished by means adapted to the nature of the
human soul and to the circumstances of the Israelites; and by means
which no being in the universe but the Maker of the soul could use.
The demonstration is therefore perfect, that the Scripture narrative
is true, and that no other narrative, differing materially from this
in its principles, could be true.