Certainly! Below is a fully polished and theologically enriched version of your original message, written in native-level English, using appropriate Scripture references (primarily from the ESV – English Standard Version for clarity and theological soundness). Additional insights are also included to provide a deeper theological foundation, especially concerning the justice of God, original sin, federal headship, and eschatological hope.
Why Did God Destroy Children in Noah’s Flood?
Question: If children are innocent and without personal sin, why did God allow them to be destroyed in the flood during Noah’s time? Why would a just and loving God wipe out even babies? I find this troubling. And what about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah—did the children there also deserve such judgment?
Answer:
This is one of the most emotionally difficult and theologically challenging questions people face when reading the Old Testament. The flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 6–9; Genesis 19) were sweeping judgments from God, and they included the loss of life among adults, children, and even animals.
Genesis 7:22 (ESV) states:
“Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.”
Only Noah and his family—eight people in all—survived (Genesis 7:23). That means countless others, including infants, perished.
But does this mean God is unjust? Let’s look more deeply.
God is the Creator of life and the righteous Judge of all the earth. Abraham asked a crucial question when pleading for Sodom:
Genesis 18:25 (ESV):
“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
The answer is a resounding yes. God never acts in injustice, even when His judgments seem harsh from our limited perspective. God sees not only individual actions, but the entire sweep of history and eternity.
While infants have not committed personal sin, Scripture teaches that all humanity inherits a sinful nature through Adam, the federal head of the human race. This is known as original sin.
Romans 5:12 (ESV):
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”
Infants are not morally culpable in the same way adults are, but they are still part of a fallen creation. Death entered the world because of Adam’s sin (Genesis 3), and all creation was subjected to futility (Romans 8:20).
This means that no one—not even a child—is truly “innocent” in the fullest theological sense.
There is a difference between bearing guilt and experiencing consequences. A child may not be guilty of a sin, but they may still suffer the results of others’ rebellion. The flood and the judgment of Sodom were not targeted at infants—but at a corrupt, violent, and perverse society.
Genesis 6:5 (ESV):
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth… every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
God’s judgment came not randomly, but after generations of increasing wickedness. The destruction of Sodom was likewise due to “grave sin” (Genesis 18:20). Children perished because they belonged to a community under divine judgment, not because of personal sin.
Though children may suffer in temporal judgment, Scripture gives us reason to believe in God’s mercy toward them in eternity. King David, after the death of his infant son born from his sin with Bathsheba, said:
2 Samuel 12:23 (ESV):
“But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
David expresses hope that he would one day be reunited with his child, indicating a belief in the child’s ultimate security with God.
We trust in the mercy and justice of God—that He will do what is right with those who die in infancy. Many theologians affirm that such children are saved by God’s grace, not by their innocence, but through the atoning work of Christ (see also Matthew 18:10, where Jesus speaks of children’s angels always seeing the face of the Father in heaven).
For adults who died in the flood or in Sodom, the physical destruction was only the first phase. Jesus warns of a greater judgment still to come.
Matthew 10:15 (ESV):
“Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”
This shows that God’s temporal judgments (like fire or flood) do not exhaust His justice. A final, eternal judgment awaits all who reject Him. Jesus also said:
Luke 12:5 (ESV):
“But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”
Scripture also shows that actions—both sinful and righteous—can affect generations.
Exodus 20:5–6 (ESV):
“…visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation… but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
King David’s sin led to the death of his child (2 Samuel 12). Yet we also see that a parent’s faithfulness can bring blessing to their children and descendants (Proverbs 20:7; Psalm 103:17).
God’s judgments are not to be taken lightly. The stories of Noah and Sodom show the seriousness of sin and the holiness of God. But they also point us to our need for grace, which is found fully in Jesus Christ.
What we learn is this:
Therefore:
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, KJV)
Share this truth with others. Live wisely. Trust in the mercy of Christ. And may the Lord bless you.
Let me know if you’d like a shorter summary version or formatted for a sermon or article.
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