Midrash su Genesi 1:16

Unto the land that I will show you (Gen. 12:1). The Holy One, blessed be He, did not mention any specific place. This indicates that this was a trial within a trial, as in the case of a man who embarks upon a journey without being aware of his destination. What did Abraham do? He took his possessions and his wife and departed: And Abraham went, as the Lord had spoken to him (ibid., v. 4). And I will make of thee a great nation (ibid., v. 2). It is not written “I will establish you up as a great nation,” but I will make you a great nation; that is, I will create anew, as indicated by the verse And God made the firmament (ibid. 1:7); And God made the two great lights (ibid., v. 16). R. Phinehas the priest, the son of Hama said: When did the Holy One, blessed be He, make Abraham into a great nation? He did so when Israel accepted the Torah. Thus Moses proclaimed concerning them: For what great nation is there (Deut. 4:8).

(Ib. b) R. Simon b. Pazi raised the following contradiction: "The passage says (Gen. 1, 16), And God made the two great lights; and further it says, the greater light and the lesser light. The moon said before the Holy One, praised be He! 'Sovereign of the Universe, is it possible for two kings to use the same crown (to occupy an equal rank)?' Whereupon the Lord replied: Go and make thyself smaller (be reduced). 'Sovereign of the Universe,' pleaded the moon before the Lord, 'Is it because I said to you a worthy thing that I should make myself smaller?' 'Go and rule the day and the night,' said the Lord to her. The moon pleaded further: 'Of what avail will my light be; for a lamp at noon what good could it do?' The Lord said to her: 'Go [and be satisfied] for Israel will count their days [of the month] and years after thee (the lunar system).' 'The days are impossible to be counted unless it is after the solstice,' complained the moon; 'for the passage says (Gen. 1, 14) And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.' 'You can go [and be satisfied],' the Lord said to her, 'for the righteous will be called in your name: Jacob the little (Amos, 7); Samuel the little (I Sam. 17); David the little.' The Lord observed that the moon was not satisfied; He therefore said: 'Bring an atonement for Me because I caused the inferiority of the moon.' " This is meant by Resh Lakish; for Resh Lakish said: "What does the [strange] expression of the Torah in connection with the goat-offering of the new moon mean? For it says (Num. 28, 15) Unto God. The Holy One, praised be He! said: This goat-offering shall be an atonement for Me, because I caused the inferiority of the moon.' "

... …and the Holy One said to Israel, ‘my children – now take from me the cup of consolation.’ They replied to Him ‘Master of the World! You were angry with us and brought us out from within Your house and exiled us among the nations of the world [and that is like a vessel cast aside among the nations of the world] and now you’ve come to appease us?! He said to them, ‘I will give you an allegory, to what is this thing to be likened? To a man who married his sister’s daughter. He grew angry with her and sent her out of his house, and after some days came to appease her. She said to him ‘you were angry with me and threw me out of your house and now you’ve come to appease me?!’ He said to her, ‘you are are my sister’s daughter, maybe you will say in your heart that from the day that you went out of my house [another woman entered in, by your life] even I have not entered my house.’ Thus the Holy One said to Israel, ‘my children, from the day I destroyed My house below I have not gone up and sat in My house above. Rather, I sat in the dew and the rain. If you do not believe me place your hands in My head [and see the dew which is on My head, if it were not an explicit verse it would be impossible to say] as it says “…for my head is full of dew, my locks with the drops of the night.” (Shir HaShirim 5:2) And the Holy One clothed Zion with her strength, in reward for “The Eternal's strength and His vengeance were my salvation…” (Shemot 15:2) which they said at the sea, [and from where do we learn that the Holy One clothes her in her strength?] as it says “Awaken, awaken, put on your strength, O Zion…” (Yeshayahu 52:1)