Another matter is that the earth and all its fullness belong to the Lord. This is what the verse says: "You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you" (Nehemiah 9:6) When were the angels created?
Rabbi Yochanan said they were created on the second day, as it says: "The waters above the heavens" (Psalms 148:4), and it is also written: "He makes his angels spirits" (Psalms 104:4). Resh Lakish said they were created on the fifth day, as it says: "And let birds fly above the earth" (Genesis 1:20), and it is written concerning angels: "With two wings they covered their faces" (Isaiah 6:2). Rabbi Luliani said: "Why were the angels not created on the first day?
So that people would not say that Michael was stretching from the east and Gabriel from the west while God was measuring in the middle. But it says: 'I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself' (Isaiah 44:24). Who was with me? Who was my partner in the creation of the world?"
David said before God: "Since you created the heavens and the earth for your name's sake, I call them the Lord's earth and its fullness" (Psalms 24:1). Rabbi Azariah, Rabbi Nehemiah, and Rabbi Baruchya said: "It is like a king who had two stewards, one responsible for what was in the house and one responsible for what was in the fields. The one responsible for the house knew everything that was in the house and everything that was in the fields, but the one responsible for the fields only knew what was in the fields.
Similarly, when Moses ascended to the heavens, he knew both the upper and lower realms and rebuked God for not taking care of them. As it says: 'Indeed, to the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it' (Deuteronomy 10:14). But David, who did not ascend to the heavens, praised God for what he knew, as it says: 'The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it' (Psalms 24:1)."
Rabbi Pinchas said: "A king of flesh and blood may have sheep but no pasture, or pasture but no sheep. But the Holy One, blessed be He, fills both the upper and lower realms, as it says: 'Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created' (Psalms 148:4-5). And it says (Jeremiah 23:24), "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?"
He has flesh and blood, but he has no flock to shepherd. He has a flock, but he has no pasture for them. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so; He has a flock and He has pasture. The flock is Israel, as it is said (Ezekiel 34:31), "And you, My flock, the flock of My pasture."
And He has pasture for them in the land and its fullness, and He knows how to shepherd them, as it is said (Ezekiel 34:15), "I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down." And He knows good pasture for them, as it is said (Ezekiel 34:14), "I will feed them in a good pasture." Woe to the land and its fullness for the sake of God.