Genesis 6: The Nature of God and the Wickedness of Man

At first glance, there appears to be nothing inherently sinful in the actions described at the beginning of Genesis 6. Marriage and the multiplication of mankind accord with God's original command to "be fruitful and multiply." The issue, however, is not that humanity multiplied, but with whom life was shared. The corruption lies in the union itself.

At first glance, there appears to be nothing inherently sinful in the actions described at the beginning of Genesis 6. Marriage and the multiplication of mankind accord with God’s original command to “be fruitful and multiply.” The issue, however, is not that humanity multiplied, but with whom life was shared. The corruption lies in the union itself.

The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men

The interpretation held by St John Chrysostom and St Augustine identifies:

• The sons of God as the descendants of Seth

• The daughters of men as the descendants of Cain

The phrase “daughters of men” may deliberately avoid referring to them as the daughters of Cain. Over time, Cain’s lineage fades into obscurity, while the lineage of Seth is preserved because through it God intended to bring forth the Messiah. In this sense, Seth’s line bears the promise of life, whereas Cain’s line is associated with death and separation from God. The women are described according to the family into which they are born, but the tragedy is that the holy line abandons its distinct calling by joining itself to the corrupt line.

As Chrysostom observes, the descendants of Seth chose wives primarily because of their outward beauty. Their decisions were governed not by righteousness but by desire, and in doing so they gradually adopted the corrupt way of life of Cain’s descendants.

This pattern intentionally echoes the Fall in Eden.

In Genesis 3, Eve saw that the tree was pleasing, desired it, and took its fruit. Likewise, in Genesis 6, the sons of God saw the daughters of men were beautiful and took whichever they chose. Immediately afterwards, God declares:

“My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh.”

The progression is striking. Humanity once again chooses according to the desires of the flesh rather than according to communion with God.

Just as Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden so that they would not eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in a corrupted state, God now limits human life to prevent mankind from existing indefinitely in ever-deepening corruption. Death, paradoxically, becomes an act of mercy. Rather than allowing humanity to remain eternally enslaved to sin, God establishes an earthly end so that mankind may ultimately return to its Creator.

The Giants (Nephilim)

The Greek Septuagint translates the Hebrew Nephilim as gigantes The Church Fathers did not necessarily understand this to mean mythical giants in the modern sense.

Depending upon the Father, the term may refer to:

• people of extraordinary physical stature

• mighty warriors

• violent rulers or tyrants

• famous men of great earthly reputation

• individuals who were “great” according to worldly standards while spiritually corrupt

Genesis itself describes them as:

“The mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”

Their defining characteristic, therefore, is not necessarily their height but the civilisation they represent a society built upon strength, power, violence, prestige and self-exaltation rather than righteousness.

The Wickedness of Man

“Then 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 words "every intent and "only evil continually are astonishing.

For many years I assumed this meant that the generation before the Flood must have been uniquely wicked - far more corrupt than any generation since. If that were true, it would naturally explain why God judged them with a universal flood while allowing later generations to continue.

However, I now believe the passage reveals something deeper. It is not merely describing one exceptionally evil generation; it is exposing the condition of fallen humanity itself.

Left to ourselves, the human heart is corrupt. The flesh is restless, insatiable and continually inclined toward sin. This diagnosis is as true of humanity in 2026 as it was of humanity in Genesis 6. The forms of evil may differ, but the fallen nature remains the same.

The Flood, then, is not evidence that those people deserved judgment while we do not. Rather, it reveals what all humanity deserves apart from God’s grace. “The wages of sin is death.” Divine judgment is therefore not arbitrary but perfectly just.

This raises an important question: if we deserve the same judgment, why have we not suffered another flood?

The answer lies in God’s covenant with Noah. The Flood demonstrates both the seriousness of sin and the justice of God, while the covenant demonstrates His faithfulness. God promised never again to destroy the earth by water, not because mankind ceased to be sinful, but because He chose another means by which His justice and mercy would unfold in history.

Humanity has not become less deserving of judgment; rather, God remains faithful to His word. The Flood stands as a perpetual testimony to both the depth of human corruption and the certainty of divine justice, while also pointing forward to the greater salvation that would come through Christ. God’s justice has not disappeared; it has been delayed in mercy, and it will ultimately be fulfilled according to His perfect wisdom.

Lest we forget, all we need do is dare lift our eyes and gaze upon the rainbow.

Genesis 6:6:

“The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

Perhaps this is one of the most arresting verses in the whole of Scripture. It immediately raises two difficult questions:

• Does God make mistakes?

• Can human beings inflict emotional pain upon God?

Does God make mistakes?

We often say that hindsight is 20:20. We make decisions without complete knowledge, only later seeing where we went wrong. God, however, is not like us. If He is eternal, all-knowing and present at every moment of history, then He knows all that was, all that is and all that is to come. God possesses neither foresight nor hindsight; He simply has perfect sight.

How then can Scripture say that God “was sorry” He had made mankind?

The Hebrew word translated “was sorry” (nāḥam) is closely related to the name Noah, whose name means “rest” or “comfort.” There is a beautiful irony here. Humanity has become the source of God’s sorrow, yet Noah is introduced as the one through whom God will bring comfort and rest to the earth.

God’s “sorrow” should therefore not be understood as regret over a mistake or an admission that His plan had failed. Rather, it expresses the grief of divine love.

An artist may look upon a masterpiece that has been deliberately vandalised. The artist does not regret creating it; he grieves what it has become. Likewise, God delighted in His creation, declaring it “very good.” Humanity was fashioned to bear His image, to share in His life and to reflect His glory. Sin did not surprise God, nor did it frustrate His eternal purposes, but it disfigured the beauty of what He loved.

Humanity had become a pale ghost of what it was created to be; a caricature of God’s image, a shadow of its intended glory.

God is not remorseful because He made a mistake.

He is sorrowful because what He loves has become corrupted.

He is heartbroken, not regretful.

Can we emotionally hurt God?

The Fathers of the Church answer this question with great care.

They consistently teach the doctrine of divine impassibility, meaning that God does not undergo emotional change, suffering or psychological disturbance in the way human beings do.

St Augustine teaches that God is immutable. If God could be emotionally wounded or altered by external events, He would be subject to change and therefore would not be truly God.

St Athanasius likewise insists that God is beyond the passions that characterise fallen human nature. Emotions such as grief, anger and sorrow, as we experience them, imply limitation and change, neither of which can be attributed to God.

St John of Damascus summarises the patristic consensus by saying that God is impassible- He cannot be overwhelmed or acted upon by anything outside Himself.

Strictly speaking, then, we cannot inflict emotional pain upon God as though He were psychologically wounded by our actions.

Why, then, does Scripture say that we “grieve” God?

Scripture plainly says:

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” (Ephesians 4:30)

The Fathers do not dismiss this language. Instead, they explain that God speaks to us in ways we can understand.

St John Chrysostom teaches that when Scripture says God is grieved, it uses human language to impress upon us the seriousness of sin.

Similarly, St Gregory the Theologian explains that these expressions are divine accommodations. God stoops to speak in human terms so that finite minds may grasp realities that ultimately transcend human language.

This does not mean the language is false. Rather, it communicates a profound relational truth.

Our sin does not wound God’s divine nature, but it truly opposes His will, rejects His love and breaks communion with Him.

Does our sin affect God?

The Fathers make an important distinction.

It does not affect God in His nature.

God’s being, His peace, His perfection and His eternal blessedness remain untouched by anything we do.

Yet our sin does affect our relationship with Him.

It is an offence against His love.

It is described as grieving Him because He genuinely loves His creation, and we freely reject that love.

As St Irenaeus explains, humanity’s sin does not diminish God; rather, it damages us and our participation in Him. The tragedy of sin is not that it takes something away from God, but that it separates us from the very Life for which we were created.

Genesis 6 therefore reveals not a God whose emotions are unstable, but a God whose love is perfect. His sorrow is the language of covenantal love, not emotional weakness.

Noah Pleases God

“Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9)

Against the darkness of Genesis 6, Noah stands as a striking contrast. While the world had become consumed by violence and corruption, one man remained faithful.

A timeless lesson emerges from this verse:

True righteousness does not wait for society to become righteous.

“Perfect”

The word “perfect” does not imply that Noah was sinless or possessed the absolute perfection that belongs to God alone. Rather, the Church Fathers understand it to mean integrity, spiritual maturity and wholehearted devotion.

St Augustine explains that Noah’s perfection was not the final perfection that the saints will receive in the resurrection, but the perfection attainable by one still journeying through this life:

“In so far as they can be perfect in their sojourn in this world.”St. Augustine

Elsewhere he adds:

“A man is not therefore… entirely without sin because he is described as perfect.”St. Augustine

This distinction is important because Scripture later records Noah’s drunkenness (Genesis 9). Noah’s designation as “perfect” does not mean that he was incapable of falling into sin. Rather, it means that the overall direction of his life was toward God. His life was characterised by faithfulness, repentance and sincere obedience.

The Fathers therefore distinguish between three kinds of perfection:

• Absolute perfection which belongs to God alone.

• Final perfection which the saints will receive in glory.

• Present perfection which consists in spiritual maturity, integrity and wholehearted faithfulness during this earthly life.

Noah was called perfect not because he had no weaknesses, but because he refused to divide his heart between God and the spirit of his age.

“In His Generations”

The phrase “in his generations” magnifies Noah’s righteousness.

St John Chrysostom writes:

“Noah being alone perfect in his generation, pleased God.”St. John Chrysostom

Noah’s holiness was demonstrated not in the absence of temptation but in the midst of overwhelming corruption. He remained righteous within a civilisation that had abandoned God. The darkness surrounding him became the very backdrop against which his faithfulness shone.

This also forms a deliberate contrast with the earlier account of the sons of Seth and the daughters of Cain. While many from Seth’s godly lineage surrendered their inheritance through lives governed by desire, Noah preserved the character of the righteous line.

His faithfulness was therefore neither accidental nor merely inherited. Though born into the line of Seth, Noah still had to choose obedience for himself. He continued walking with God when so many others had abandoned Him.

Noah reminds us that holiness is never determined by the moral climate of the world around us. Faithfulness has always been a personal response to God’s call. In every generation, God seeks those who will walk with Him, even if they must walk alone.

A beacon of Christ:

In the midst of a world consumed by violence and corruption, one man remained faithful.

Noah.

Through the faithfulness of one righteous man, humanity was preserved.

The Flood demonstrates that God’s judgment is real, but Noah demonstrates that righteousness is never insignificant. Faithfulness in a wicked generation is never wasted.

Genesis ultimately points beyond Noah to Christ.

Through the faithfulness of one man, the human race was preserved.

Through the faithfulness of one greater Man, the human race was redeemed.

Noah became the means by which life continued.

Christ became the means by which eternal life was restored

I’d combine these into one continuous argument:

God’s patience before the Flood →

The ark as an invitation to repentance →

Water as both judgment and salvation →

The Flood as an expression of both justice and mercy

The Flood: Judgment and Mercy

The Flood should not be understood as a sudden outburst of divine anger. Before judgment came, God allowed an extraordinary period of time for mankind to repent.

For St. John Chrysostom the construction of the ark was itself a prolonged warning to the world. Noah did not build it secretly. For years, the enormous structure stood before his generation as a visible testimony to the judgment that God had announced.

“One hundred years passed between God’s warning and the flood.”St. John Chrysostom

The sight of Noah patiently constructing the ark should have moved those around him:

“To placate such a gentle and merciful Lord.”St. John Chrysostom

God therefore did not delight in the destruction of mankind. He warned before He judged and delayed judgment so that there might still be an opportunity for repentance.

St Augustine beautifully describes the construction of the ark as:

“In a certain sense a preaching of mercy.”St. Augustine

The ark itself was therefore a sermon. Every piece of wood Noah added proclaimed both judgment and mercy judgment was coming, but salvation remained possible.

The Flood did not interrupt God’s mercy; it came only after that mercy had been persistently rejected.

The Waters of Judgment and Salvation

There is then a remarkable paradox within the Flood itself. The same waters that destroyed the corrupted world also carried Noah and his family into a renewed creation.

St. Augustine therefore describes the Flood as:

“A type both of baptism to believers and of destruction to unbelievers.”St. Augustine

The water did not have only one purpose. Outside the ark, it became an instrument of judgment; within the ark, it carried the faithful safely through judgment.

The old world disappeared beneath the waters, while Noah emerged into a world made new. The Flood therefore becomes an image of death followed by new life, and for this reason the Fathers recognised within it a foreshadowing of Baptism. The old life is buried beneath the water so that a new life may emerge from it.

The Flood was therefore not merely an act of destruction. It was simultaneously an act of judgment, purification, preservation and renewal.

Justice and Mercy Meet

St John Chrysostom draws attention to the contrast between Noah and the world around him:

“The flood came and swept away all those unbelievers, but preserved him who believed.”St. John Chrysostom

The waters ultimately revealed externally what had already taken place spiritually.

Noah had heard God’s word, believed it and obeyed. His generation heard the warning but continued unchanged. Long before the ark separated Noah physically from the world, his faith had already separated him spiritually from its unbelief.

The Flood therefore reveals that God’s justice and mercy are not opposites.

His mercy warned mankind.

His patience delayed judgment.

The ark provided a means of preservation.

But when mercy was continually rejected, justice followed.

The same event consequently became judgment for those who persisted in unbelief and salvation for the one who believed. The waters that brought an old and corrupted world to its end carried the faithful into the beginning of a new one.

Written by

A Fellow Pilgrim