For example, in Exodus 4:22 God says that Israel is “My son, My firstborn.” Obviously Israel was not the first nation God “created,” but is instead the nation He has chosen to have a special relationship with Him. The same thought comes out much later in Jeremiah 31:9, where God again uses this kind of terminology when He says, “For I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” Such language speaks of Israel’s relationship to God and Ephraim’s special status in God’s sight.
