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Yes, He
was called Father, for in the book of the prophet Isaiah we read that the
Israelites said to God: “Look down from heaven, and behold from the
habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy
strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained? Doubtless thou art our father, though
Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel
acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is
from everlasting. O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and
hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes
of thine inheritance. The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a
little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. We are thine:
thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name” (Isaiah
63:15-19), and in the book of Jeremiah we read that God rebuked the
Israelites by saying: “Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father,
thou art the guide of my youth? Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and
done evil things as thou couldest” (Jeremiah 3:4-5)
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