I reflect on this question quite often. I read the part of Genesis that explains why God flooded the earth, so I understand that God did so because humans were becoming increasingly corrupt. I just can’t help but think about the innocent children caught in the crossfire. I tried to do some research, but people had different, confusing theories. This one video talked about angels coming down to earth and having kids with women, which only caused more corruption. which then led me to the question, why would God allow angels to have kids with humans? I guess these are two separate questions, but what about the children caught in the crossfire wasn’t their death considered cruel? And if it’s true that angel married and had kids, why would God allow that to happen? I want to have a better understanding of God and his character Ik God is good, but I can’t help but think that the action of flooding the earth was cruel.
You’re not the first person to struggle with the God of the old testament verses the God of the new testament. The cross of Jesus makes such a profound change in how God deals with people. We also have to remember that God sees the bigger picture and His plans for men spans out to eternity.
When it comes to children, I believe the Bible teaches that children before the age of accountability are not held responsible for their sin. We can debate what age that is and it could be different for every child, but in the time before a child understands sin, they go to be with the Lord if they die. Would these children have remained innocent if they’d been allowed to live. Not likely. In this I see mercy for they are now in heaven. Romans 7:8-10
God’s plan was always to send us a Redeemer, born of a woman, God in the flesh. It says that Noah was perfect in his generations. That means his DNA was not tampered with. It was still purely human and it’s through Moses that the Savior would come.
As for why God would allow angels to leave their natural state and mate with women? Like us, they have agency. The gift of choice. The ability to choose for themselves. Do we want a God who controls us? What kind of love would we have for God if it was not a voluntary love? God is not a dictator nor does He want robots for children. Our faith, our relationship with Him and our walk is all by choice and He is there every step of the way to help us when we come to Him for help.
Some things we can know and there are other things we don’t yet know. It wasn’t an act of cruelty but a necessity. Throughout history God preserved the line from which Jesus would come. The Bible talks about how corrupt it was in Noah’s day and Jesus tells us it will be like that again when the time for this world draws down. We can only guess how the corruption of that day would have progressed. God knows, and He knew what needed to be done.
I’ve heard the same argument about Sodom - that there were innocents caught up in the destruction. God is just. God stamped out sin because humans wouldn’t, and celebrated sin, as the world does today. How effective are we, as humans, to stamp out sin? Take a look at the world around us and you’ll easily see that we literally breed sin. We are corrupt. Millions of children are murdered around the world on a daily basis under the guise of “health care” and “choice” yet I don’t see or read anywhere that anyone is as upset with governments for allowing something so vile as abortion as people are with God when he enacts His justice on the wicked. Yes, the righteous will go up in flames along with the wicked. As for the angels who procreated with human women: wasn’t Goliath one of the last few surviving giants who was slain by David? To me that story is so much more than a man, who is after God’s heart, slaying a giant in battle. It’s the condition of humanity (the giant) and the one who seeks God (David..you..me..any true Christian) and God rescuing, saving, delivering the one who seeks Him. I think this is why this story resonates with almost anyone, Christian or otherwise. We all face giants in life, but if we are truly seeking God then He will deliver us. It won’t be without some wounds, but He will deliver and save us. That’s just my personal interpretation of God and His character. Why He allows some things but not others is a mystery but when someone asks me “why does God allow children to fall into the hands of sexual predators” I respond with “God doesn’t allow it..we do.” The same applies to abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism and all the evil and wickedness in this world. We alllow it. We even celebrate it. Churches fly gay pride flags and use slogans like “all are welcome”. I get it, I really do..they are trying to reach a demographic that is really lost BUT some churches go beyond trying to reach them. We are living in Sodom and Gomorrah today. All I can say is pray for the return of Christ.
There are a few different ways to look at all of this.
The world is filled with flood accounts. More than one account exists in various cultures which may suggest that the flood was not as all-encompassing as we thought since the accounts are not identical accounts. Specific Regions may have been flooded, with survivors in various places who lived to tell the tale in their own unique ways. They each told it from their own perspectives, beliefs, etc. And remember, it happened long before accounts were written down. For those who survived the flood event though, it may have seemed as if the whole world had been flooded.
The angels in the Genesis account could be referring to the gods of other religions who had children with mortals, such as Hercules in the Greek pantheon. Some of these old myths may be based on people who actually had lived and bore incredible skills which inspired the myths. Samson for example was a judge blessed with great strength by God.
Genesis 6:4 says**4 The Nephilim[h] were on the earth at that time[i] (and also immediately afterward), when those divine beings[j] were having sexual relations with[k] those human women,[l] who gave birth to children for them. These children[m] became the heroes and legendary figures of ancient times.[n]**
The last line makes the connection with the pantheons of various gods and their offspring, whose tales are told in all the mythic heroic stories of various cultures. And the first part shows the Nephilim were not wiped out by the flood, as they were present immediately afterward. Which brings into question whether they had anything to do with being the reason for God’s wrath, because it did not eliminate them or what they were doing as pantheons continued to form with tales of children born from gods.
Did ancient followers of God in the times of Genesis believe other gods also existed? Was the mention of the Nephilim their attempt to explain the children of other gods, calling other gods angels that had served their God?
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Part of the problem is that we look at the past from the present. We don’t view the world, or the gods, or God, or the nature of Good and Evil in the same way as tribal people once did. Our thoughts, understandings, beliefs evolved with time. Zoroastrianism, for instance, introduced Cosmic Dualism to the world whereas it did not once exist. Ever heard of the sons of light verses the sons of darkness? Or Gnosticism? or Satan? or Hell? There is an evolution of thought taking place. The myths, stories, understandings are growing, expanding out. And in some instances, ideas have replaced the old gods, waging a whole new type of war in our minds.
There is a difference between sin/evil as a choice and sin/evil as an inherent condition. One understanding came first, then came the second. There is a difference between a Creation where every piece plays a part and serves a purpose, and a Creation where everything is divided and at war with itself.
In one instance, God is Lord of All Creation. This God sent an evil spirit to torment King Saul in 1 Samuel 16:14–23 Because He Can. In another instance, there is a Cosmic War between Light and Darkness, Order and Rebellion, where there can be only one Victor. The story changed, evolved. And our understanding is changing, evolving. We are learning, growing, and the story reflects it. While the God watching over us remains the same.
This is why we look at the Old Testament and struggle to make sense of what ancient people saw and what we see now. And why actions are harder to justify. And why things seem cruel now in retrospect.
And why we have collectively taken so much issue with what is happening now with Israel and Pakistan, with some cheering on the slaughter while others scream against the atrocities. When God clearly states in Old Testament prophecy that He will not be swayed by favoritism to spare anyone who sheds innocent blood on the land and it would be wiped clean of life.
It is the New Creation looking back at the Old Creation and asking, do we really live in the same Creation? We are growing as God intends. But part of the world is still living in the past, in the darkness, in the void.
And one vision of how this all ends is a war with complete devastation and destruction. While another vision is,
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Isaiah 2:4 (NIV) says: “He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”
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Micah 4:28 (KJV) echoes this: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
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Isaiah 11:6 (NIV) :“The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
These Scriptures emphasize the very same Kingdom of God that Christ spoke of, that He sent His Disciples out door to door and village to village to share with those who welcomed them. The Good News was that the Prophesied Kingdom of God was near, that the Prophesied Messiah had come, that Prophecy was being fulfilled. And through the Cross, it has come. Here, Now. While the Old-World sleeps, making its way toward death and destruction, a New Earth is waking up, uprooting the Old Vision where the world is laid waste in Judgement, and replacing it with a New Vision created through God’s Intervention and Plan for Salvation.
Because God is not bound by the same rules of space and time that we are. God sees all and knows all. And going back to the beginning, Genesis 1:2 **2 **Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
But the word for Formless in Genesis 1:2 is often overlooked:
The word for formless is: Tohu (תֹהוּ) means “emptiness,” “wasteness,” “desolation,” or “lack of order” Wikipedia. It can also imply something that has been laid waste or devastated, as in Isaiah 34:11, where it describes a ruined, uninhabitable land.
Or in other words, a state of Judgement. The beginning of this world was the ending of another. And because God is Eternal, beyond space and time, it can be argued that God saw how it would end and sought to change the outcome.
Jeremiah 29:11: **11 **For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
2 Creations. 2 Endings. 2 Stories being told, side by side, at the same time. Like the Weeds and the Wheat. And perspective changes everything.
I’m glad you asked this, because you’re not the first believer to wrestle with it. Genesis doesn’t hide the severity of the flood, and Scripture never asks us to pretend death is “no big deal.” At the same time, the Bible gives several truths that help us think carefully about God’s character.
1. God’s judgment in the flood was not random cruelty
Genesis says the earth was filled with violence and corruption, and that human evil had become widespread and persistent.
The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. Genesis 6:5-6
Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. Genesis 6:11-13
The flood is presented as God acting as the righteous Judge, not as God losing His temper. We may feel the weight of it, but Scripture frames it as justice, not sadism.
Also, God did not judge without warning. Noah is called a “herald of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5). God’s patience is emphasized elsewhere when the flood is discussed. In other words, this was not God being eager to destroy, but God enduring evil for a long time and then bringing decisive judgment.
2. The children question is the hardest emotionally, but it doesn’t prove God is cruel
Two things can be true at once:
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The death of children is genuinely grievous.
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God can still be just and good in His judgments, even when we cannot see every detail.
Scripture teaches that God is never unjust.
He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. Deuteronomy 32:4
It also teaches that every human life is ultimately in God’s hands, and He is the one who gives life and has authority over its end.
and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” Job 1:21
If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath, all humanity would perish together and mankind would return to the dust. Job 34:14-15
That does not remove the sadness, but it does change the category: the Creator is not a moral peer who “owes” us more time. He is the Lord of life
3. The flood also shows mercy: God preserved humanity
The flood wasn’t only a punishment. It was also God preventing the complete collapse of human society into unrestrained violence. Noah’s family was preserved, and from them God continued His plan that leads to Christ. That doesn’t make it easy, but it does show purpose.
4. About “angels having children”
Genesis 6 mentions the “sons of God” and the Nephilim, and Christians have long differed on what that means. The two main views are: fallen angels or the godly line/rulers. Either way, the chapter’s main point is clear: human evil and violence had become widespread, and God’s allowing rebellion for a time is not the same as approving it.in His time. God permitting sin for a season is not the same as God approving it.
5. The flood is meant to warn us and point us to salvation
The New Testament treats the flood as a serious warning about coming judgment, and it points us to refuge in God’s provision.
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:37-39
Noah’s ark becomes a picture of safety: God does judge sin, but He also provides a way of rescue.
God is not indifferent to evil, and He is not cruel. He is holy, just, and astonishingly merciful.
Well, I think @JennyLynne did a great job explaining it. God does not change. He is the same in the Old and in the New. His Word is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Even when all this passes away, and it will.
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Jesus said this.
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Matthew 24:35
Our God is a just God. He does things all the time that we cannot even come close to understanding.
The Flood is not the only time God called for the death of children. The Plagues of Egypt: The death of the firstborn in Egypt during the Exodus is another example where God’s judgment is executed. This act is seen as a response to Pharaoh’s refusal to free the Israelites, illustrating the severe consequences of sin and disobedience.
The Amalekites: In 1 Samuel 15:3, God commands the Israelites to destroy the Amalekites, including children. This command is often interpreted as a response to the Amalekites’ long history of hostility towards Israel, which posed a threat to the fulfillment of God’s promises.
While these narratives can be troubling, they are often understood within the broader context of God’s plan for humanity and the consequences of collective sin. Be it the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the Plagues of Egypt, ETC. God is in complete charge of all. Just because we do not understand something, or we do not like something, does not mean that it is not just and righteous.
Peter
There is no difference between the God we see in the Old Testament and the God we see in the New Testament.
The God revealed in the bible is Holy, Just, Loving and Merciful.
God gives the gift of life.
God removes in accordance with his will the gift of life.
In between God expects every person to follow his rules and he has given plenty of warnings to show the consequences of not doing so.
A child not brought up not to know God is the fault of the parents, not God and Jesus gave warning about the fate of those who lead children astray.
I understand the conundrum. And there are a lot of things that could be said to address it.
I’d like to offer my thoughts.
I think that in this context the narrative structure of Genesis is intended to provide us with instruction, and the stories are meant to tell us things about God, God’s relationship with the world, and His purpose for choosing Abraham leading to the Exodus.
Something that stands out to me in the story of the Flood is that the flood was intended as a judgment, and a way to “start over”. Noah and his family were intended to be a kind of Adam 2.0 to restart the human project, or that’s the narrative purpose they serve. But notice how after the waters recede and Noah and his family disembark onto dry land, and Noah even builds an altar to honor and worship God, that the whole sin problem is still blatantly there? Almost as soon as Noah builds an altar we find him drunk and naked in a tent, his son comes in and “exposes his nakedness” and Noah wakes up and proclaims a curse on Canaan’s family, specifically on his son.
The whole episode is weird in light of, well, “Righteous Noah” being preserved through the flood. It’s almost as though the flood didn’t actually solve the problem of sin.
And I can’t help but think that might be, at least in part, the point. The problem of sin can’t be fixed by wiping everything out and starting from scratch, there needs to be a radically different kind of solution. And that solution starts when a man named Abram, a simple pastoralist from Ur, is called by God to start a family. Spoiler alert: This leads to Jesus.
@Willow has asked: “How was God flooding the earth not considered cruel?”
I am aware that what I am about to say may also sound cruel, but cruelty is the concept we have been given to explore.
If cruelty is defined as “Acts disposed to inflict pain, suffering or death devoid of humane feelings or justice”, then there is a sense of personal cruelty every time you scrub your kitchen floor with bleach, every time you spread insecticide around your house to eliminate an ant infestation, every time you irrigate a wound and apply an antibiotic, evert time you pasteurize milk or raise the temperature of raw chicken to make it safe to eat. The very purpose of these acts is cleansing; making living organisms inert by cruelly removing their life. To your mind these organisms are bad; they are unredeemable, and worthy of death. Yet, you do what God has done with impunity, and you have done it many times, in many ways, often multiple times a day without guilt or remorse (as is just and right). In your mind resides a justification for your action as an act that serves the greater good.
For the very obvious similarities of these two accounts, there are, of course, some very stark differences.
The first difference is that there is much less justification in your pushing the “sterilize” button on your dishwasher, than there is for God pushing that button on His own earth. One blatant difference is that it is God’s earth; it is His “Creatio ex nihilo”, everything He ended He Himself began, and He began it out of nothingness. He has even greater right than the potter has over the clay because even the clay God created.
The second justification is that God is Just and acts with perfect justice. Even when we do not understand His actions we know, beyond all doubt, that everything He does is perfectly just. If God could be put on trial, He would be found innocent by an impartial jury of His peers. Since God is just, we can be absolutely sure His withdrawing life, from those into whom He placed it, is perfectly just. We can come to no other conclusion. That means God eliminated nothing that was undeserving of his action. No innocents were killed, there was no collateral damage, no blameless swept away with the guilty. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)
The third difference, unlike your hatred for germs, is that God actually loved His own creation. Not because they were worthy of His love, but because divine Love is the very essence of God. God, who created in His perfect way would naturally love the world He created. His own love moved God to restore His creation from the corruption that had overtaken it, to hoe the weeds so the cultivated garden could thrive. God’s deluge was an act of global salvation; ultimate mercy, unmatched grace, and enduring love motivated act of salvation. We have a term “tough love”, and it means sometimes we take corrective actions in a person’s life that they don’t particularly appreciate, but we know it is in their best interest. This global cleansing can be seen somewhat in that light.
Finally, Gods act of cleansing was testimonial. In this act God poignantly demonstrates the one inalterable rule that enables mankind to have a relationship with Him, sinless perfection. Nothing unclean can ever share in fellowship with the pure and Holy God; nothing soiled in any way can ever even see God and live. Holiness is the standard, and Holiness will be maintained in The Kingdom of God. Holiness we can never attain is then provided to us, but provisional holiness only comes through death. A global flood demonstrates for ever the seriousness and unbendable divine insistence on holiness in His presence. God can rightly say, “My world, My rules!” and our only response is submissive worship.
In His Hand.
KP
God doesn’t change, the OT God is the NT God. Jesus came and showed us all how loving he really is and what he actually wants for mortals. He gave fair warning to all what is acceptable and what is not. Mortals choose wrong for the most part. Mortals chose this sick satan ruled system by their rebellion in Eden that carried over to all offspring to this day. Gods kingdom promises= a cure all.
Hi, In that account God said, their thoughts were wicked all the time, the world was very violent as well. And fallen angels appeared as mortal, taking wives and making the Nephlim=giants-very violent. Thus all those parents were handing wickedness to their own children( occurs all over Earth today as well) Thus God saved those children from living wicked lives. God owns every iota of creation, he has 100% rights to say what is allowed and what is not allowed. There were only 8 humans that he considered righteous, if they fell, satan would have won. God knows 100% what he is doing, He is correct 100% of the time. All who love him know these facts. I hope this helps you.
@Willow, we always need to interpret the verses of the Bible in their whole context, which includes the previous chapters. You know, of course, that the chapter divisions were not part of the original Bible. Therefore, chapters four and five set the stage for chapter six. The lists of some of the ancestors of humanity that becomes infected with the destructive nature of sin hold the key. Those lists of the people descended from Adam through Seth and through Cain come together when the “sons of God,” that is, in the good line of Seth, marry the daughters of men (Cain’s evil line), and sin becomes a way of life of all humanity except Noah and his family in chapter six.
Now, to answer your concern for the children, I share that sadness; but God is a God of true justice, and those children would have grown up in a corrupt culture. If some of them called out to God for mercy, they would have certainly been saved. But we need to leave up to him the rest of the story. I hope my comments help you.
To answer the question of this thread, I say that God is the just Judge of his human creatures and has every right to condemn unrepentant sinners to death with his death sentence. That’s not cruelty; they deserve their punishment. I’m thankful that God is coming back to us through Jesus to show his perfect justice in the Final Judgment.