(condensed from Ein Ayah, Berachot 5:64)

Gemara: [In defense of Bnei Yisrael, when Hashem discussed destroying them after the sin of Golden Calf] Moshe said: “Remember Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, Your servants, to whom You swore in You” (Shemot 32:13). What does it mean, “in You”? Rav Elazar explained: Moshe said before Hashem: “Master of the Universe, if You had sworn in the heavens and the earth, I would have said that just as the heavens and the earth can cease, so too Your oath’s validity can cease. However, now that You swore in Your great name, just as Your great name is alive and lasts for all of eternity, so too Your oath stands for all eternity.”

Ein Ayah: If Bnei Yisrael’s continued existence depended on some rule of nature, there could, Heaven forbid, have been something that would make them cease to exist. This could occur when the rule would not have its conditions fulfilled or the nation would not be fulfilling its set role within that historical rule of nature. However, Hashem swore in His own name, and their existence does not depend on any natural set target but on the true completeness of His eternal great name, which will increasingly give light in humanity through Israel. Therefore, the oath cannot be nullified.