A gracious and compassionate God - mission, salvation and spirituality in the book of Jonah

The book of Jonah is arguably just as jarring for us as it was for the ancients. Ninevah's repentance, Jonah's estrangement from God and the book's bracing moral conclusion all pose unsettling questions for today's readers. For biblical theologians, Jonah also raises tough questions regarding mission and religious conversion. Here, Daniel Timmer embarks on a new reading of Jonah in order to secure its ongoing relevance for biblical theology. After an examination of the book?s historical backgrounds (in both Israel and Assyria), Timmer discusses the biblical text in detail, paying special attention to redemptive history and its Christocentric orientation. Timmer then explores the relationship between Israel and the nations—including the question of mission—and the nature of religious conversion and spirituality in the Old Testament. This New Studies in Biblical Theology volume concludes with an injunction for scholars and lay readers to approach Jonah as a book written to facilitate spiritual change in the reader.

Publisher: IVP
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9781844744992

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Daniel C. Timmer is professor of biblical studies for the PhD program at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Professeur d’Ancien Testament, Faculté de théologie évangélique, Montréal, Québec. His books include The Non-Israelite Nations in the Book of the Twelve, A Gracious and Compassionate God (NSBT) and Nahum (ZECOT).

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"This book is highly recommended for laypeople, students, and ministers who desire to move beyond the flat reading of Jonah found in much popular-level Christian literature." Jerry Hwang, ThemeliosNovember 2012