The Chain of Witnesses From Heaven and Earth Down to the Ant

"And Joshua said, You are witnesses against yourselves this day" (Joshua 24:22). Rabbi Meir used to say: When Israel were worthy, they testified about themselves, as it is said, "And Joshua said, You are witnesses against yourselves." When they corrupted themselves, as it is said, "Ephraim has surrounded Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit" (Hosea 11:12), the tribes of Judah and Benjamin testified against them, as it is said, "And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard" (Isaiah 5:3). When the tribes of Judah and Benjamin corrupted themselves, He called the prophets to testify against them, as it is said, "And the LORD testified against Israel and against Judah by the hand of all His prophets" (2 Kings 17:13). When they corrupted the prophets, as it is said, "But they mocked the messengers of God and despised His words and scoffed at His prophets" (2 Chronicles 36:16), He called the heavens to testify against them, as it is said, "I call heaven to witness against you this day" (Deuteronomy 30:19). When they corrupted matters with the heavens, as it is said, "The children gather wood... to make cakes for the queen of heaven" (Jeremiah 7:18), He called the earth to testify against them, as it is said, "Hear, O earth, behold, I bring evil" (Jeremiah 6:19). When they corrupted matters with the earth, "Their altars also are as heaps in the furrows of the field" (Hosea 12:11), He called the roads to testify against them, as it is said, "Stand by the ways and see" (Jeremiah 6:16). When they corrupted the roads, "You have built your high place at the head of every way" (Ezekiel 16:25), He called the nations to testify against them, as it is said, "Therefore hear, O nations" (Jeremiah 6:18). When they corrupted matters with the nations, "But they mingled with the nations and learned their works" (Psalms 106:35), He called the mountains to testify against them, as it is said, "Hear, O mountains, the controversy of the LORD" (Micah 6:2). When they corrupted the mountains, "They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains" (Hosea 4:13), He called the cattle to testify against them, as it is said, "The ox knows its owner" (Isaiah 1:3). When they corrupted matters with the cattle, "And they exchanged their glory for the likeness of an ox" (Psalms 106:20), He called the beast to testify against them, as it is said, "Even the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times" (Jeremiah 8:7). When they corrupted matters with the beast, "So I turned and looked, and behold, every form of creeping thing and beast" (Ezekiel 8:10), He called the fish to testify against them, as it is said, "Or speak to the earth and it shall teach you, and the fish of the sea shall declare to you" (Job 12:8). When they corrupted matters with the fish, "And You make man as the fish of the sea" (Habakkuk 1:14), He called the ant to testify against them, as it is said, "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise" (Proverbs 6:6). Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: How contemptible is this man who must learn from the ant! Had he learned and acted, he would already be contemptible; how much more so when he must learn her ways and does not even learn.