Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD has spoken,
I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Read Chapter 1
Athanasius the Apostolic
AD 373
And if they had examined with their understanding the things which were written, they would not have carefully fulfilled the prophecies which were against themselves, so as not to make their city now desolate, grace taken from them, and they themselves without the law, being no longer called children but strangers. - "Festal Letter 10"
The one who is [begotten] from another by nature is a true child, just as Isaac was to Abraham, and Joseph was to Jacob, and as the radiance is to the sun. But those who are called children only from virtue and grace are called so not by nature but because of what they have received by grace. They still are not of the same nature as the one who gave them [the gift]. They are the ones who received the Spirit by participation, about whom it is said, “I produced and exalted children, but they rebelled against me.” Of course, they were never really children by nature, and because of this and the fact that they reverted [to their former ways], the Spirit was taken away and they were disinherited. But when they again repent, God will receive them again and give them light. He will again call them children who at the beginning had been given grace. - "Four Discourses Against the Arians 1.11.37"
Earth. He apostrophises these insensible things, (Calmet) because they contain all others, and are the most durable. (Theodoret) (Deuteronomy xxxi. 1.)
When Moses was going to bring Israel to the Promised Land, he had in full view all that they would do, that they were going to disregard those things he transmitted to them. “Listen, O heaven,” he says, “and attend, O earth, to the words out of my mouth.” I give you as witnesses to heaven and earth, says Moses, that when you enter the Promised Land and you abandon the Lord God, you will be scattered abroad to all nations. Isaiah came, and the threat was going to be realized. You could not invite the deceased Moses and all those who had formerly heard and had died; so Isaiah calls to mind instead the elements that Moses brought forth as witnesses. - "Homily on Repentance and Almsgiving 8.3"
Our Lord frequently proclaimed God as a Father to us. He even gave us an instruction “that we call no one on earth father, but the Father whom we have in the heavens.” So, in praying [“Our Father”] we are likewise obeying the precept. Those who recognize their Father are blessed! This is the reproach that is brought against Israel, to which the Spirit attests heaven and earth, saying, “I have begotten children, and they have not recognized me.” - "On Prayer 2"
