Pesikta DeRav Kahana 23:10

"And Abraham lifted up his eyes" (Genesis 22:13). Rabbi Yudan said: this teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed our father Abraham the ram tearing loose from one thicket and getting entangled in another thicket. The Holy One said to him, "Abraham, so are your children destined to be caught in sins and entangled in troubles, and in the end they will be redeemed by the horns of a ram, as it says, 'And the LORD shall be seen over them, and His arrow shall go forth like lightning' (Zechariah 9:14)." Rabbi Hanina said: this teaches that the Holy One showed Abraham the ram tearing loose from one thicket and getting entangled in another. The Holy One said to him, "Abraham, so are your children destined to be caught among the nations and entangled in kingdoms and dragged from kingdom to kingdom — from Babylon to Media, from Media to Greece, from Greece to Edom — and in the end they will be redeemed by the horns of a ram, 'And the LORD shall be seen over them' (Zechariah 9:14)." All sevenths are beloved. Among the firmaments above, the seventh is beloved: heaven [shamayim], and the heaven of heavens, and the firmament [raki'a], and the skies [shehakim], and the dwelling [zevul], and the abode [ma'on], and the plains [aravot] — "extol Him who rides upon the plains [aravot]" (Psalms 68:5). Among the lands the seventh is beloved: eretz, adamah, arka, gai, tziyah, neshiyah, tevel — "and He shall judge the world [tevel] in righteousness" (Psalms 9:9). Among the generations the seventh is beloved: Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch — "and Enoch walked with God" (Genesis 5:22). Among the patriarchs the seventh is beloved: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses — "and Moses went up to God" (Exodus 19:3). Among the sons the seventh is beloved: Eliab, Abinadab, Shimea, Nethanel, Raddai, Ozem, David the seventh (1 Chronicles 2:15). Among the kings the seventh is beloved: Saul, Ish-bosheth, David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa — "and Asa cried to the LORD his God and said, LORD, there is none beside You to help between the mighty and the powerless; help us, O LORD our God, for on You we rely" (2 Chronicles 14:10). Among the sabbatical cycles the seventh is beloved: "and you shall hallow the fiftieth year" (Leviticus 25:10). Among the years the seventh is beloved: "but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow" (Exodus 23:11). Among the days the seventh is beloved: "and God blessed the seventh day" (Genesis 2:3). Among the months the seventh is beloved: "in the seventh month, on the first of the month" (Leviticus 23:24).