When God's Judgment Feels Too Harsh: Understanding Genesis 6
A Deeper Reflection for Day 8
The Bible Doesn’t Read Like Propaganda
C.S. Lewis once observed that the Bible doesn’t read like the sort of book humans would write if they were inventing a religion. It’s too strange. Too uncomfortable. Too honest about both God and humanity.
Genesis 6 is a perfect example.
If the Bible were divine propaganda—designed to make God appealing and win converts—this chapter would have been edited out.
No human author trying to “sell” God would include a story where:
Humanity becomes universally corrupt
God regrets making us
God destroys nearly everyone
But the Bible doesn’t sanitize the story.
It tells the truth—even when the truth is devastating.
And that honesty is precisely why we can trust it.
The God of Genesis 6 is not a manufactured deity designed to make us comfortable.
He is the real God—holy, just, grieving, and utterly committed to dealing with evil.
This chapter is hard.
But it’s hard because it’s true.
And if we’re going to trust God with our brokenness, we need a God who tells the truth—even when it’s uncomfortable.
If You’re Angry or Confused Right Now
Let’s be honest: Genesis 6 is one of the most difficult passages in all of Scripture.
If you’re struggling with it, you’re in good company.
Some read this and feel their worst fears about God confirmed—that He is harsh, vindictive, or indifferent to suffering.
Others read it and feel seen for the first time—because God is naming the very evil and corruption they’ve witnessed in the world, and He’s not pretending it doesn’t exist.
Believers have wrestled with how to reconcile the Flood with “God is love.”
Victims of violence, abuse, or genocide may read this and feel triggered—or vindicated that God actually sees and grieves over evil.
All of these responses are understandable.
God is not asking you to pretend this passage is easy.
He’s asking you to stay in the conversation—to keep wrestling, keep asking questions, and keep seeking understanding.
So let’s address some of the hardest questions head-on.
Question 1: “How can a loving God destroy the world?”
The Answer Requires Understanding What God Was Destroying
Genesis 6:5 is one of the most devastating verses in Scripture:
“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil.”
Not “mostly evil.” Not “sometimes evil.” Not “evil with a few bright spots.”
Continually. Only. Evil.
Every thought. Every intention. Every moment.
This is total moral corruption.
Imagine a world where:
No one can be trusted
Violence is universal
Exploitation is the norm
Justice doesn’t exist
Compassion has disappeared
Children are raised in brutality
This is not a world God is “overreacting” to. This is a world where goodness itself has been extinguished.
And if God had allowed it to continue, there would be no hope for humanity at all.
God’s Judgment Was Both Justice and Mercy
Justice: Because evil had reached a point where it demanded a response. God’s holy nature requires Him to respond to evil. He is patient, but He will not allow wickedness to continue unchecked forever.
Mercy: Because the Flood stopped total corruption from consuming everything. It preserved a remnant (Noah and his family) so that humanity could continue—and so that God’s plan of redemption could unfold.
The Flood was not arbitrary cruelty.
It was surgery—devastating, but necessary to prevent complete death.
Question 2: “What about the children? What about innocent people?”
This is the hardest question of all.
And the Bible doesn’t shy away from it.
Scripture does not give us full detail about the eternal state of those who died in the Flood, and we must not assert more than Scripture says.
Here’s what we know:
1. The corruption was universal.
Genesis 6:5 says “every imagination” and “continually only evil.” This was not a situation where some were innocent and caught in the crossfire. The text describes total depravity.
The question of children in God’s judgments is one of the most difficult in Scripture. We must balance what we know:
All humans are born with a sin nature (Psalm 51:5, Romans 5:12)
God is perfectly just and does not punish the innocent (Genesis 18:25)
God is merciful to those who cannot yet choose (Deuteronomy 1:39, 2 Samuel 12:23)
We may not fully understand how these truths work together in the Flood narrative. But we can trust that the God who grieves over evil (Genesis 6:6) is the same God who acts with perfect justice and mercy.
2. God’s judgment is always righteous.
Abraham asks God in Genesis 18:25: “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
The answer is yes—always.
God does not act unjustly. Ever.
We may not understand all His judgments, but we can trust His character.
3. Death is not the end for those who belong to God.
The Bible teaches that God is merciful to children and those who cannot yet choose (Deuteronomy 1:39, 2 Samuel 12:23, Matthew 19:14).
We don’t know the eternal destiny of every person in the Flood.
But we know God is both just and compassionate—and He does not punish the innocent.
4. We see through a glass darkly.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:12: “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully.”
There are aspects of God’s justice we will not fully understand until eternity.
That doesn’t mean we stop asking questions.
It means we trust that the God who grieves over evil (Genesis 6:6) is the same God who will one day make all things clear.
Question 3: “This sounds like genocide. How is this different from human atrocities?”
The Crucial Difference: Authority and Motive
First, a definition:
Murder is the unlawful, unjustified taking of human life.
The Bible distinguishes between murder (always forbidden - Exodus 20:13) and other forms of death:
Warfare commanded by God (Deuteronomy 20, Joshua 6)
God’s direct judgment as Creator and Judge (1 Samuel 2:6, Deuteronomy 32:39)
The sixth commandment (”You shall not murder”) uses the Hebrew word ratsach, which specifically means unlawful killing—not all killing.
God, as the Author and Giver of life, has the authority to take life. Humans, who did not give life, do not have that authority except when God explicitly commands or permits it.
Human genocide:
Is committed by sinful, fallible people
Is motivated by hatred, fear, greed, or pride
Violates God’s command not to murder
Is an assertion of illegitimate authority
Always includes innocent victims
Is driven by evil intent
God’s judgment in the Flood:
Is carried out by the Creator who has ultimate authority over life and death
Is motivated by holiness and justice
Is a response to universal evil (not ethnic hatred or political gain)
Is accompanied by God’s own grief (Genesis 6:6)
Includes a provision of salvation (the ark)
Is part of God’s redemptive plan to preserve humanity
God is not “a human with more power.”
He is the Author of life itself—and He alone has the authority to give it and take it.
When God judges, it is not murder. It is justice.
When humans commit genocide, it is always murder. Always evil. Always condemned by God.
Question 4: “Why didn’t God just fix people’s hearts instead of destroying them?”
God Does Fix Hearts—But Not by Force
This question assumes that God could (or should) override human free will to prevent evil.
But if God forced us to be good, we wouldn’t be human—we’d be robots.
Love requires choice. Relationship requires freedom. True goodness cannot be programmed.
God changes hearts, but He does not coerce love—He draws, convicts, awakens, and regenerates in ways consistent with His character and our humanity.
God gave humanity the dignity of real choice—and humanity chose rebellion.
By Genesis 6, that rebellion had become so entrenched that even God’s patience had a limit.
But notice: God didn’t judge immediately.
Genesis 6:3 says God gave them 120 years—more than a century of grace and warning.
During that time, Noah was not only building the ark—he was preaching. 2 Peter 2:5 calls him “a herald of righteousness.” He warned his generation. He called them to repent.
Before Noah, Enoch had prophesied coming judgment: “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all” (Jude 1:14-15).
The people of Noah’s day were not destroyed without warning. They were given time, testimony, and opportunity to turn.
They refused.
The question isn’t “Why didn’t God fix them?”
The question is “Why did God wait so long before judging?”
God’s patience is astonishing.
But it is not infinite when evil reaches a point where it destroys everything good—and when repeated warnings are rejected.
For Those Who Have Suffered: God’s Heart in Genesis 6
If you have been a victim of profound suffering—whether through violence, abuse, chronic illness, or devastating loss—this passage may feel especially difficult.
Perhaps you’ve endured injustice that was never made right.
Perhaps you’ve watched helplessly as someone you loved suffered and died, and you can’t get past the unfairness of it.
Perhaps evil won in your story (temporarily), and no one—not even God—seemed to intervene.
You may read about God’s judgment and think:
“Where was God’s judgment when I was suffering?”
“Why did He wait to act against the wicked in Noah’s day, but He didn’t act when I needed Him?”
“If God grieved over evil then, why didn’t He stop the evil done to me—or to the one I loved?”
These are valid, honest, heartbreaking questions.
And God does not shame you for asking them.
Here’s what Genesis 6 says to you:
1. God sees the evil done to you.
Genesis 6:5 says: “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great.”
God is not blind. He is not indifferent. He does not miss what happens in dark places.
He sees.
2. God grieves over the evil done to you.
Genesis 6:6 says: “It grieved him in his heart.”
Your suffering matters to Him.
He is not a distant, detached deity observing your pain with cold calculation.
His heart breaks over what was done to you.
3. God will bring justice.
The Flood is a sign: Evil will not go unpunished forever.
God’s patience is long—but it is not infinite.
One day, He will make all things right.
Revelation 21:4 promises: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Justice is coming.
4. God has provided a way of escape.
Noah and his family were saved because they entered the ark.
The ark is a picture of Christ—the only refuge from judgment.
God has not left you without hope.
He has provided salvation—not just from future judgment, but from the power of evil in your life right now.
You are not alone. You are not forgotten. And one day, God will settle every account.
The Cross: God’s Answer to His Own Judgment
Here’s the stunning truth at the heart of the gospel:
The judgment that should have fallen on us fell on Jesus instead.
At the cross, God poured out the wrath that our sin deserved—not on us, but on His own Son.
Jesus became our ark.
He stood between us and the flood of God’s justice, and He took the full force of it so we wouldn’t have to.
The God who judged the world in Noah’s day is the same God who sent His Son to be judged in our place.
That’s not cruelty.
That’s love beyond comprehension.
Romans 5:8 says: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
The cross answers every question about God’s justice and mercy:
Is God just? Yes—sin was punished fully at the cross.
Is God merciful? Yes—the punishment fell on Jesus, not on us.
Does God care about evil? Yes—He hated it enough to die to defeat it.
Genesis 6 is hard.
But the cross is the answer.
A Note on Further Objections
We’ve addressed some of the most common questions about Genesis 6 in this reflection. But we know there are others:
Why create people God knew would rebel?
Isn’t the punishment disproportionate to the crime?
Why use a flood specifically—why not other options?
Even if God has the authority to judge, does that make Him worthy of worship?
These are legitimate questions that deserve thoughtful answers.
We’ll address them in future reflections as we continue through Scripture—particularly when we reach passages that shed more light on God’s character, His purposes in allowing evil, and the ultimate resolution of all suffering at the cross and in the new creation.
For now, we ask that you trust us: we’re not avoiding the hard questions. We’re committed to engaging them honestly as we walk through God’s Word together.
Permission to Keep Wrestling
You don’t have to have this all figured out today.
You don’t have to resolve every tension, answer every question, or feel comfortable with every detail.
No believer in history has ever done that.
The questions are too big. The mysteries too deep. The ways of God too far beyond our comprehension.
Even the apostle Paul—after writing most of the New Testament—could only say: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33)
If Paul couldn’t fully grasp it, neither can we.
And that’s okay.
God is big enough to handle your doubt.
He’s strong enough to hold your anger.
He’s patient enough to wait while you wrestle.
But here’s what we ask:
Don’t walk away.
Stay in the conversation.
Keep reading.
God chose story as the vehicle for the gospel.
Not a formula. Not a systematic theology textbook. Not a list of propositions.
A story—one that unfolds over time, through real people, in real history.
And you can’t know the whole story by reading bits and pieces.
You have to walk through it—beginning to end.
And then, when you reach Revelation, you start over.
And you read it again.
And again.
And again.
Each time, you understand more.
But you never understand it all.
That’s not failure.
That’s the nature of knowing an infinite God with a finite mind.
So keep going.
Because the story doesn’t end in Genesis 6.
It moves toward Genesis 12 (God’s promise to Abraham). Then Exodus (God’s deliverance of His people). Then the prophets (God’s repeated calls to return). Then the Gospels (God entering our brokenness in the flesh). Then the cross (God absorbing His own judgment). Then the resurrection (God defeating death itself). Then Revelation (God making all things new).
Genesis 6 is one chapter in a story that ends with restoration, not destruction.
So if today is hard—keep going.
The God who grieved in Genesis 6 is the same God who wept at Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:35).
The God who judged evil in the Flood is the same God who will one day wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:4).
He is just. He is holy. He is compassionate. He is faithful.
And He is trustworthy—even when the story is hard.
One Last Word
If you’re still here—if you made it through this reflection—thank you.
Thank you for not walking away.
Thank you for staying in the tension.
Thank you for trusting that God can handle your questions.
We don’t have all the answers.
But we know the One who does.
And we’re walking with you—one day, one passage, one painful question at a time.
Tomorrow, we’ll see God give Noah instructions for the ark.
And we’ll be reminded again: Even in judgment, God provides a way of salvation.
See you tomorrow.
The Bible for the Broken is published by Aurion Press LLC. © Aurion Press LLC. All rights reserved.