Midrash sur La Genèse 18:8

(Ib. b) It happened once that R. Eliezer b. R. Joshua and R. Zadok were sitting at the wedding feast of the son of Rabban Gamaliel, and the latter waited upon them. When he extended a cup to R. Eliezer, the latter refused to accept it; but when he gave it to R. Joshua, he did accept it. R. Eliezer then said to R. Joshua: "What is this, Joshua, that we are sitting and Rabban Gamaliel should serve upon us!" Whereupon R. Joshua answered him: "We find that even a greater man than he did serve upon others. Abraham was considered the greatest in his generation — nevertheless it is written (Gen. 18,8) And he stood by them under the tree. Perhaps you will try to explain this that they appeared to him like angels. The fact is that they appeared to him like Arabians. Why then should we not let Rabban Gamaliel, the great, stand and serve upon us?" R. Zadok then remarked to them: "How long will you leave aside the honor of Heaven and occupy yourself concerning the honor of man? Behold, the Holy One, praised be He, blows the winds, brings clouds, causes rain to come down to us, and causes everything to sprout from the earth with which He prepares a table for each and every one, and we shall not allow Rabban Gamaliel the Great to stand and serve upon us!"

"The LORD is our Master, how mighty is Your Name in all the earth." Rav said: "We find three places where the angels prosecuted God; the creation of man, the tabernacle, and the giving of the Torah." Where do we find [this phenomenon] regarding man? When God wished to create man he consulted the angels as it says (Genesis 1:26) "Let Us make man." They began to say "What is man that you recall him?!" [God] replied " Tomorrow you'll see how smart he is." When He created man what did God do? He brought all animals before the angels and asked them the names of all the animals and they did not know. God said to them "Do you want to know the wisdom of Man? I will ask him and he will tell me what all their names." What did God do? He brought all the animals and birds before Adam as it says (ibid. 2:19) "And the LORD formed from the earth." Rabbi Acha said, Did it not already say (ibid. 1:25) "And God made the beasts of the land?" What does the word "and He formed" come to teach us? Rather there it says "and He made" i.e. created them and here it says יצר from the root that connotes convergence as in (Deuteronomy 20:19) "when you besiege a city. (Genesis 2:19) "And He came to Adam to see what to call them" Isn't God omniscient? Rather "to see" means "to show the angels Adam's wisdom [by showing what Adam would call them]," and Adam independently came up with the same name as God for each and every animal. Then God asked him, "And you, what is your name?" He replied, "it is appropriate to call me Adam because I was created from the earth (Adamah)." God asked, "And what's My name?" Adam replied "It is appropriate to call you the LORD because you are the Lord of the entire world." That is why He says (Isaiah 42:8) "I am the LORD, this is My name."

And thou shalt make the altar of acacia-wood (Exod. 27:1). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Tell them to erect an altar for burnt offerings so that it may atone for the sins of My sons. I made an agreement with Abraham their father that if his sons sinned, I would forgive them because of their sacrifices, as it is said: And he said unto him: “Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old (Gen. 15:9). What do the letters in the Hebrew word mizbeah (“altar”) stand for? The mem stands for mehilah (“pardon”), the zayin stands for zekhut (“merit”), the bet for berakhah (“blessing”), and the het for hayyim (“life”). The burnt offering (ha’oleh) ascended on your account. Thus Solomon said: Who is this that cometh (oleh) up out of the wilderness? (Song 3:6). Boards of acacia-wood standing. These were used because of the merit of Abraham, as it is said: And He stood by them under the tree, and they did eat (Gen. 18:8).