Midras Yehezkiel 33:24: Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bamidbar Rabbah, Esther Rabbah & Kohelet Rabbah

(Is. 41:2:) WHO HAS AROUSED RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM THE EAST, IS CALLING HIM TO HIS FEET?⁵Cf. Gen. R. 43:3. The Holy One said: Abraham enlightened my world with his righteousness. Why? Because his whole generation was wicked; and from all of it I found only one, as stated (in Ezek. 33:24): ABRAHAM WAS ONE. Were there two? Only one with his righteousness. And so the Holy One said to him (in Gen. 22:11): ABRAHAM! ABRAHAM! Why two times? Because Abraham was righteous from his beginning to his end. Similarly < we read > (in Gen. 46:2): JACOB! JACOB! similarly (in Exod. 3:4): MOSES! MOSES! and similarly (in I Sam. 3:10): SAMUEL! SAMUEL! They were righteous from their beginning to their end. < Where is it shown >? From what we read on the matter (in Gen. 6:9): THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF NOAH: NOAH < WAS A RIGHTEOUS MAN>.⁶Cf. Gen. R. 30:4; M. Pss. 9:7.

“Which cannot be measured and cannot be counted” (Hosea 2:1). After He set a limit: “the number will be” (Hosea 2:1), He then says they have no limit, “which cannot be measured and cannot be counted”? It is, rather, that the Holy One blessed be He showed Hosea, just as He showed Abraham, and said to him: “Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you could count them” (Genesis 15:5). What is this matter; “count the stars, if you could count them”? Does the one who said “and count” then say “if you could count”?³⁴Would God tell them to count something that He tells them is uncountable? It is to inform you that he showed him by number: One, then two, then three, then twelve, then seventy, and then He showed him countless constellations. Why did He show it to him in that manner? He showed him a sign that He will multiply them in the world in that manner. He showed him one, as initially, he was alone in the world, as it is stated: “Abraham was one, and he inherited the land, but we are many and the land was given to us as a heritage” (Ezekiel 33:24), as he initially came to take refuge under the wings of the Divine Presence. He then showed him two, Abraham and Isaac. He then showed him three, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He then showed him the twelve tribes. Then seventy, corresponding to the seventy people who descended to Egypt. Then He showed him the countless constellations, as Israel is ultimately destined to be fruitful and to multiply until they are not quantified, as it is stated: “The children of Israel were fruitful and propagated” (Exodus 1:7). To Hosea as well, He showed him by number and without number, as initially they were by number, and they were then fruitful without number. That is why it is stated: “Which cannot be measured and cannot be counted…”
Another matter, in this world they have a number, as it is stated: “You will remain few in number” (Deuteronomy 4:27). But in the future, the children of Israel will be like the “sand of the sea, which cannot be measured and cannot be counted.”

“Was [haya] [a Judean man in the Shushan citadel]….” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Everyone about whom “haya” is stated, it is he at the beginning and it is he at the end.⁹ He was righteous from beginning to end. They objected to him; but isn’t it written: “One was [haya] Abraham” (Ezekiel 33:24)?¹⁰ Abraham began his life as an idolater; he wasn’t the same at the beginning and the end. He said to them: That is not, in fact, a refutation, as Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At age three Abraham identified his Creator. That is what is written: “Because [ekev] Abraham heeded My voice” (Genesis 26:5). The number of years that Abraham heeded the voice of his Creator is the equivalent of ekev (172),¹¹Ayin – 70, kof –100, beit – 2 and he lived one hundred and seventy-five years. [If one does not accept this explanation,] how do I find expression for haya about him? It means that he was fated from the beginning to guide the entire world to repent.¹²Although Abraham was not a believer in God his whole life, he had the potential from the beginning.
“[The Lord God said:] Behold, the man has become [haya] [like one of us, knowing good and evil]” (Genesis 3:22) – he became fated to die. “The serpent was [haya] more cunning” (Genesis 3:1) – he was fated for punishment. “Cain was [haya] a cultivator of the ground” (Genesis 4:2) – he was fated for exile, as you say: “Cain departed from the presence of the Lord” (Genesis 4:16); saying that he would be “restless and wandering” (Genesis 4:12). “There was [haya] a man in the land of Utz” (Job 1:1) – he was fated for suffering. “Noah, a righteous man, was [haya] faultless” (Genesis 6:9) – he was fated to acknowledge his Creator. “Moses was [haya] herding (Exodus 3:1) – he was fated for salvation. Mordekhai was fated for redemption.
Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis: Rabbi Levi said: Anyone about whom haya is stated witnessed a new world. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: They are five.
Noah – yesterday “Water eroded stone” (Job 14:19), as Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Even millstones were dissolved during the flood, and now [after the flood] it says: “The sons of Noah who emerged from the ark…” (Genesis 9:18),¹³Immediately following this verse, the Torah relates how the earth was repopulated by Noah’s sons while Noah was alive. indicating that he witnessed a new world.
Joseph – yesterday “they tortured [his feet] with chains” (Psalms 105:18), and now “And Joseph was [haya] was the ruler over the land” (Genesis 42:6); that is, he witnessed a new world.
Moses – yesterday he was fleeing from Pharaoh and now he is drowning him in the sea; that is, he witnessed a new world.
Job – yesterday “He spills my bile onto the ground” (Job 16:13), and now “and the Lord gave Job double what he had had” (Job 42:10); that is, he witnessed a new world.
Mordekhai – yesterday “he wore sackcloth and ashes” (Esther 4:1), and now “he emerged from before the king in royal garments” (Esther 8:15).
“And his name was Mordekhai” (Esther 2:5). Just as myrrh [mor] is first of all the spices,¹⁴It is first on the list of ingredients of the sacred oil of anointment (Exodus 30:23). so was Mordekhai first among the righteous in his generation.