Whereof not only the hurt might be able to destroy them, but also the very sight might kill them through fear.

“Therefore, because fire overflows and boils, water also overflowed on the earth, lest the heat of the rising sun and the burning stars should scorch it, and an unusual vapor should harm the tender beginnings of things. How many springs, rivers, and lakes water the lands; is it not because some internal fire sends up vapor within them? For from where would trees sprout, or grain and crops break forth or be ripened, unless an inner fire also gave them life? This fire is often struck out from stones, and frequently leaps out even from wood itself when it is being cut. Therefore, just as the creation of fire is necessary so that things may remain ordered and arranged, and the kindness of heaven may temper the harshness of the waters; so also the abundance of waters is not superfluous, lest one should consume the other, because unless there is a suitable measure of each, just as fire dries up water, so also water extinguishes fire. And so He has weighed and measured all things; for even the drops of rain are numbered for Him, as we read in the book of Job (Job 28:25). Knowing that there would easily be either a lack of things or the dissolution of the universe if one should prevail over the other, He has so balanced the losses of both; that fire should not consume too much, nor water overflow: but there should be a moderate reduction of each, which would remove the excess and preserve what is necessary.”

“Everything was made through the Word, from the angels to the smallest worm. What among creatures is more exalted than an angel? What is easier to overlook than a worm? Well, he who made the angel also made the worm. The angel, however, was made for heaven, the worm for the earth. This was how the one who created them arranged it. If God had put the worm in heaven, you might criticize him. Likewise, if he had wanted the angel to be born of corruptible flesh. And yet God does something similar to this, and there is nothing to reproach him for. What, in fact, are human beings born of the flesh, if not worms? And God makes these worms into angels. If the Lord does not hesitate to say, "I am a worm and not a man," who would hesitate to say what is written in the book of Job, "How much more are human beings rot, and their children worms?" First he says, "human beings are rot," and then, "their children are worms." The man is rot and his child a worm, because worms are born of decay. See what he who in the beginning was the Word wanted to do for you—the Word who was with God, the Word who was God. And why did he lower himself like this for you? So that you might feed on milk, given that you were still unable to nourish yourself on solid food. And therefore, brothers and sisters, it is in this sense that you must understand the words, "Everything was made through him, and without him nothing was made." Every creature, without exception, was made through him, the smallest just as the greatest, things above us just as things below us, things spiritual just as things corporeal—everything was made through him. There is no form, no cohesion or harmony of parts, no substance that can be measured by weight, number or height—nothing exists except through that Word and originates from that creator Word, to whom the word of Scripture refers, "You have arranged all things in number, weight and measure."”