Why does the Lord say he is a father to Israel and Ephraim is his firstborn?

The Old Testament does not often use the word father to describe the Lord. However, in Deuteronomy 32:6 the Lord rebukes Israel for rejecting the Lord and he says to them, Is he not your father who created you, who made you and established you? A few hundred years later, speaking to the northern tribes of Israel, Hosea does not use the word father but he describes how the Lord cared for them as a son (Hosea 11:1–6).¹ Even before the Exodus and the covenant the Lord describes Israel as his firstborn son (Exodus 4:21–23). There was a permanence in the bond between the Lord and his people that brought hope in even the most desperate of situations.² This background gives significance to Jeremiah’s use of the word father here.

This bond between the Lord and Israel and his commitment to them is emphasized when he says, Ephraim is my firstborn. In the ancient East the firstborn son was the heir, and he received a double portion of the inheritance. Ephraim, Jospeh’s son, had been lifted by Jacob to the status of firstborn above his brother Manasseh (Genesis 28:17–19). Ephraim went on to be the strongest tribe in northern Israel³ By using the name here, the Lord is not suggesting special treatment for the northern tribes. Rather, the name is used as a poetic way of referring to the whole people of Israel and the status the nation holds as the Lord’s adopted son, lifted up to the status of his firstborn purely because of his love for them. Despite everything, the Lord will care for Israel as his very own firstborn son, and they would receive all the blessings that went with that status.