Many Christians believe that calling the Creator of heaven and earth “Father” is only seen in the New Testament. Some teach that God Almighty was distant to His people in the Old Testament. But God is called a Father, a Mother and a Husband to the nation of Israel. The following are Old Testament scriptures that tell of this relationship:

Jeremiah 31:9: They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a Father to Israel…

Isaiah 64:8: But now, O LORD, thou art our Father… and we all are the work of thy hand.

Isaiah 63:16: Doubtless thou art our Father…O LORD, art our Father, our redeemer; Thy name is from everlasting.

Deuteronomy 32:6: Do ye thus requite the LORD…? Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee? Hath He not made thee, and established thee?

Jeremiah 3:19: …I said, Thou shalt call me, my Father; and shalt not turn away from me.

Malachi 1:6: A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a Father, where is Mine honor? 

Malachi 2:10: Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? 

Proverbs 3:12: For whom the LORD loves he corrects even as a father the son in whom he delights.

Hosea 1:10: Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered…Ye are the sons of the living God.

The Father/son relationship between God and Israel is also cited in Exodus 4:22,23, Deuteronomy 14:1, Hosea 11:1, Isaiah 1:2 and Psalm 103:13.

Acknowledging God as “our Father” is a recurring depiction of the close relationship between the Creator and His people. It is frequently stated in the Old Testament, as Israel was and is His beloved family. 

Jesus and the New Testament writers did not invent this idea. Instead, they built upon the wonderful thought of having such a loving Creator who was willing to call His creation “His children.” However, INDIVIDUALS were not referred to as having a Father/child relationship other than Adam before he sinned and Jesus at his first Advent. They were either a friend, an enemy or a servant of God during these intervening years. 

At the tail end of the genealogy of Jesus, there is a significant statement made: Luke 3:37-38: …the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God (Greek: Theos).

Adam, the perfect man created in God’s image, was “the son of Theos.” Adam was considered a son before he sinned. Thousands of years would go by before the relationship of being a son to God would again exist. Once sin entered, sonship was set aside and being a friend of God or a servant of God became the closest any human could come until the subtle statement made by the angel Gabriel to Mary: Luke 1:34?35: 34 Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I am a virgin? 35 The angel answered and said to her, The holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy child shall be called the son of God (Theos).

When Jesus came at his first Advent, He expressed his infinitely deep connection to God in Mark 14:36, when he cried out to “Abba (Daddy) Father.” The Apostle Paul assures true Christians that we may also call God our “Abba Father” and receive solace and grace (Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6).  What a wonderful heavenly Father we have who never changes and always loves us!

Additional Resources: 
Christian Questions Podcast 3-Part Series: “Who is God?”
(The Father/son relationship is a specifically discussed in Part III)