Another matter: “I have led you forty years in the wilderness” – Rabbi Yehuda said: Come and see the humility of the Holy One blessed be He: The way of the world is that a person who has a son and he bears him, if he upsets him, he immediately casts him away. As it were, the Holy One blessed be He is not so. Instead, Israel was in the wilderness for forty years and they would anger him, but He would bear them.
From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “In the wilderness, where you saw [that the Lord your God bore you [asher nesaakha] as a man would bear his son]” (Deuteronomy 1:31). Another matter: Reish Lakish said: What is “asher nesaakha” (Deuteronomy 1:31)? He elevated [nesaan] them and exalted them; he rendered them like deities, as it is stated: “I had said: You are divine” (Psalms 82:6).
Another matter: Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said: The way of the world is that a person, if he has a son, he gives him to a maidservant to nurse him. If he does not have a maidservant, he gives him to a wet nurse. How long does she nurse him? It is for two or three years.
As it were, the Holy One blessed be He is not so. Instead, “And until old age I am He, and until gray hairs I will carry you. [I made and I will bear; I will carry and I will rescue]” (Isaiah 46:4). The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘My children, just as I exalted you in this world, so, I will exalt you and honor [umeyaker] you in the future.’ From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “Ephraim is a dear [yakir] son to Me…” (Jeremiah 31:19).