In chapter 11 of Cross Vision, Greg Boyd attempts to draw a sharp distinction between what God does, and what God allows.

According to Boyd, this is a distinction which is often obscured in the OT.

In Ex 12:12, for example, Yahweh tells Moses: “I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals”.

In v23 of the same chapter, however, we read, “When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.”

In the first of these verses, Yahweh is (mistakenly thought to be) the agent of destruction, whereas in the second, the Spirit of Christ breaks through and reveals that ‘the destroyer’ is.

In Jeremiah 13:14 the prophet repesents God as saying, “I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them”

Once again the Spirit of Christ breaks through, and clarifies that it is not the Lord himself, but Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who put ‘Zedekiah, king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city  who  survive  the  plague,  sword  and  famine…to the sword; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.’ (Jer 21:7)

It appears, then, that

‘Because Jeremiah and other OT authors had a cloudy vision of God that only allowed them to catch glimpses of the truth, they couldn’t clearly or consistently distinguish between the God who judges and the violent agents who carry out his judgments.’

This dual approach – where God is sometimes credited with doing the punishment himself, and at other times merely allowing others to do it – is found repeatedly in Lamentations.  It was not an angry God, but a grieving God, who withdrew his protection from his people and allow them to suffer the fate they had brought upon themselves.

For other examples, compare Deut 28:63 with Deut 31:16-18; Jer 33:5 with Jer 34:2; Eze 21:31a with Eze 21:31b; Jer 12:8 with Jer 12:7; and Jer 25:30–31, 33 with Jer 25:38.

Does this undermine our confidence in the divine inspiration of the Old Testament?  No, says Boyd:

‘What the true God actually did was humbly allow himself to appear guilty of things he in fact merely allowed.’

Comment

Just as it is not to be denied that the punishment of sin is partly self-inflicted, so it is not to be denied that God often used means to achieve his ends.

It seems that for Boyd, it is not OK for God do punish evildoers directly, but it is OK for him to allow someone else to do his ‘dirty work’ for him.

I don’t see how that lets God off the hook.