Does God Sustain the Universe or Leave It to Natural Laws?

Is what moves the electrons around the atom actually the spiritual dimension within matter — meaning the divine presence within it? How do we know that the Creator of the world didn’t simply create it and then leave it to function according to natural and spiritual laws?

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The electromagnetic force moves electrons, and this very force only exists because God continuously sustains it. According to Jewish thought, God doesn’t create once and then walk away. He isn’t a being with hands and feet who can leave His universe. God is infinite, present everywhere, at all times — both in the smallest atom and in the largest galaxy.

The Ongoing Presence of God

The very reason the universe continues to exist is because God wills it so. Without that constant divine will, creation would simply dissolve back into nothingness — what the Torah describes as tohu va’vohu (chaos and void).

This is very different from a table, chair, or computer, which can continue to exist without their makers’ involvement. The universe itself, however, doesn’t have independent existence — it exists within God and through His will. God is not a detached craftsman but the very ground of reality itself.

Humanity’s Unique Role

Humans are different from animals or machines. We are conscious beings, capable of asking about our existence and reaching out toward the divine. This capacity makes us more like children than products. Just as no parent abandons their child, so too God does not abandon humanity.

The proof is inside us: our very souls carry the longing to connect with God, and our inner sense of love between parent and child is itself a reflection of divine love. That love is a sign that the Creator has not, and will not, abandon creation.