As Father’s Day approached this year, God highlighted to me one of His Names in my readings from the prophets which I had never noticed before. In the passage God is speaking to His children, addressing their backsliding. In the middle of His message, you hear the pain in His heart as He cries, “Then I Myself said: ‘How gladly would I make you sons and give you a pleasant land – the most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ I thought you would call Me – Avi! – and would not turn from following Me.”  (Jeremiah 3:19)
Now I had painted “Abba,” meaning “Daddy” in Hebrew, many years ago, but this Name was brand new to me. “Av” means Father and by adding the ‘i’ you get a personal possessive noun in Hebrew. Avi literally means, ‘My Father.’ Using the title ‘Avi,’ God clarifies He has a personal relationship to us. He is ‘our Father.’
Knowing this, now my heart broke even more as I went back to the passage in Jeremiah and recognized the cry of the Lord as He has been betrayed by His people repeatedly. Though He has been their Husband and their Shepherd, their stubborn hearts have rebelled, and they have become backslidden. But this is not the end of their story, or ours.
After His cry for His people to call Him, ‘Avi,’ God Himself also declares, “Return backsliding children! I will heal your backsliding.” (Jeremiah 3:22) Avi graciously offers a way for us, His children, to be restored and even announces that He will give us shepherds after His own heart. Not only that, but He also makes a promise that we “will call Jerusalem the throne of ADONAI and all the nations will gather into it, to Jerusalem, in the Name of ADONAI.” (Jeremiah 3:17)
Reading this, my heart felt like it would explode with gratitude. My friends, God does not leave us as shameful orphans who have rebelled against Him – when we return to Him with all of our hearts, He is ‘Our Father’ who will restore us not only from our backslidden state, but He will also give us His Kingdom. He is our ‘Avi’ and our Eternal Home is secure in Him.
In Isaiah 9:6, God declares He is our ‘Aviad’ – “Everlasting Father.”  By including His Name as Father into the prophesy of the Messiah, He announces that He Himself was stepping into time, taking human form with His Son Jesus Christ, to lay down His life for His children on the cross and rise again as the means of reconciliation. Oh friends, what an Awesome Father we have! He is not a Father who is far off, but one who entered our broken world to care for His own. Because of His mercy, we can now be adopted as sons and daughters of the Most High King, and we can call Him, ‘Aviad” – our “Everlasting Father” for all eternity.