Nehemiah 9:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

They have convincingly established that everything in existence is either created or uncreated. St. John Damascene explains that created beings are undoubtedly changeable; what comes into being must undergo transformation, whether through decay or other changes. Conversely, if something is uncreated, it is necessarily unchangeable, since things of differing natures cannot possess the same attributes. It is evident that all beings, including angels, undergo changes and exhibit diverse movements. Spiritual entities, like angels and souls, can alter their state through free will, either advancing in goodness or diminishing in it. Other beings change through physical generation and destruction, growth and decline, or shifts in quality and location. Thus, the transitory must be created; if it is created, it must be the work of a Creator, who must, in turn, be uncreated. For if the Creator were created, there must be another who created Him, leading back to an uncreated source. Hence, the Creator must be unchangeable, and nothing apart from God can truly embody this unchangeability.

While Moses does not explicitly mention angels in the account of creation, their existence is affirmed throughout Scripture. Ezra's proclamation, "Thou, O Lord, art one; Thou hast created the heavens, the firmament of the heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that is in it, the seas and all that is in them; and Thou livest all these things, and the heavenly hosts worship Thee," implies the creation of angels, who are referred to by this title in the Bible, as seen in Luke 2:13, and depicted as surrounding God’s throne in worship (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 7:11; Psalm 96:7).

The depth of God's care for the world and His creatures is affirmed throughout the Holy Scriptures, as illustrated in the Book of Nehemiah. The Holy Fathers and teachers of the Church have defended the doctrine of God’s Providence against pagan philosophers and heretics, asserting its reality through logical reasoning based on God’s role as Creator and the nature of His creation. They highlight three core points: first, God's infinite goodness necessitates that He cannot abandon His creations, which exist solely out of His benevolence, without His divine guidance; second, God's omnipresence means that He is present in all things, aware of their conditions and needs; and third, God’s omnipotence enables Him to care for the world effortlessly.

Thus, in denying Providence, one essentially denies the existence of God; if God is the ultimate Being, then He must attend to His creation. The Church’s teaching emphasizes that without God’s Providence, the world could not sustain itself, having come from nothingness and requiring constant sustenance; further, without it, the marvelous order of creation would descend into chaos. God's omnipotent grace allows angels to exercise their free will, leading them to a state of goodness from which they cannot fall, as He sustains all things, including angels, by the power of His word (Hebrews 1:3), imparting life to all (1 Timothy 6:13).