As a loving Husband, Jehovah cared for his people. Through his prophet Jeremiah, he reminded them of what the relationship was at first, saying: “‘I well remember, on your part, the loving-kindness of your youth, the love during your being engaged to marry [like a virgin], your walking after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown with seed.

Jer. 2:2, 3.

When Jehovah delivered the Israelites from Egyptian enslavement and led them through the wilderness, the nation was in its youth. By reason of the covenant concluded with the people at Mount Sinai in the Arabian wilderness, Israel became a wife to the Most High.

Israel showed an initial trust in Jehovah God, responding to the opportunity of leaving Egypt and then undertaking a hard journey through an inhospitable wilderness.