"Let's make the Man" - isn't the Man the purpose of the creation?

Question

"וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹקים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ"

And God said, “Let US (plural) make man in our (plural) image, after our (plural) likeness..." Bereshis 1,26

To resolve the apparent problem of the plural "us" all the interpreters explain it was meant for the angels. It should be pointed out that G-d does not consult them in all other parts of the creation - creating the plants, the animals or Eden or else.

On the other hand, we hold that the purpose of the whole creation was the Man (for G-d to bestow his Brochos etc), and the rest of the creation (the plants, the animals AND the angels) are the "scenery", the setting for that purpose.

I have some difficulty understanding the situation where G-d asks the secondary actors whether the leading actor should be brought into the play.

Why would G-d consult the angels to bring the Man into the world?

Answer 1

As Rashi on that Passuk says, the purpose of this consultation with the angels was so that man would learn to emulate His actions to learn proper conduct and humility (text and translation from Chabad.org).

נעשה אדם: אף על פי שלא סייעוהו ביצירתו ויש מקום למינים לרדות, לא נמנע הכתוב מללמד דרך ארץ ומדת ענוה שיהא הגדול נמלך ונוטל רשות מן הקטן. ואם כתב אעשה אדם לא למדנו שיהא מדבר עם בית דינו אלא עם עצמו, ותשובת המינים כתב בצדו ויברא א-להים את האדם, ולא כתב ויבראו:

Let us make man: Even though they [the angels] did not assist Him in His creation, and there is an opportunity for the heretics to rebel (to misconstrue the plural as a basis for their heresies), Scripture did not hesitate to teach proper conduct and the trait of humility, that a great person should consult with and receive permission from a smaller one. Had it been written: “I shall make man,” we would not have learned that He was speaking with His tribunal, but to Himself. And the refutation to the heretics is written alongside it [i. e., in the following verse:]“And God created (וַיִּבְרָא) ,” and it does not say,“and they created וַיִּבְרְאוּ.” - [from Gen. Rabbah 8:9]

Answer 2

The image (selem) and likeness (debut) “Leu us make man in our image after our likeness (Gen 1:26) seem to be expressing the opinion that G-d has a shape. Selem does not mean a shape because G-d does not have shape. G-d does not have corporeality (tzelem). People are not made in the “image” of G-d in terms of likeness but in intellect.

The Talmud exclaims that G-d always consults His angel before he does anything in the Creation. How can an all-powerful G-d be unsure? Why is the plural used in this verse? Genesis verses 1:26 states, “Let us make man in our demut. Verse 1:27 relates that “God made man in His tzelem, in the tzelem of God, He made him.”

The (selem) denotes natural form which comprises the essence of reality and that is man's intelligence.

Plato's Timaeus quotes a sage, "The Holy One, blessed be he, as it were, does nothing without contemplating the host above." Does G-d contemplate? Rambam interprets it to mean that "G-d contemplates the intellects," and what comes into existence emanates. The sage says that G-d "does nothing without consulting the host above." Is something "above" G-d? The rabbinic dicta convey the idea that G-d works through angels. Maimonides equates angels with natural forces because G-d is not a Pasha surrounded by servants that carry out the Pasha's commands. G-d has no need for assistants. Thus, Rambam says G-d works from natural forces. This is why we must study nature.

Thus, G-d is not consulting angels but He is consulting nature (metaphorically).