“Send you men” – Rabbi Aḥa the Great began: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8). To what is the matter comparable? It is to a king who had a beloved one and stipulated with him and said to him: ‘Go with me and I will give you a gift.’ He went with him and died.
The king said to the son of his beloved one: ‘Even though your father died, I am not retracting the gift that I said to him. You come and take it.’ So is the matter: The king is the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He. The beloved one, this is Abraham, as it is stated: “The offspring of Abraham My beloved” (Isaiah 41:8).
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Come, go with Me, “go you from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father’s house”’ (Genesis 12:1). He stipulated with him that he would give him a gift, as it is stated: “Arise, walk through the land…[as to you I will give it]” (Genesis 13:17), and likewise it says: “For all the land that you see, I will give to you” (Genesis 13:15). The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘Although I stipulated to give the Land to the patriarchs and they died, I am not retracting it’; rather, “but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).