Moses Questions God

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: When Moses was writing the Torah, he would write the work of each and every day. When he reached this verse, as it is said, "And God said: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26), he said before Him: Master of the universe, why do You give an opening to the heretics? It is astonishing! He said to him: Write, and let the one who wishes to err, err. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Moses, this man whom I have created, do I not raise up from him both great and small? For if the great one should come to take permission from one smaller than himself, and he says, "Why should I need to take permission from one smaller than myself?" they say to him, "Learn from your Creator, who created the upper beings and the lower beings, yet when He came to create man He took counsel with the ministering angels." Rabbi Levi said: There is no kingship here; rather, it is a parable of a king who was strolling at the entrance of his palace, and saw a clod lying cast aside. He said: What shall we do with it? Some of them say: public baths; and some of them say: private baths. The king said: I shall make it into a statue. Who can object?