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A gracious and compassionate God

Mission, salvation and spirituality in the Book of Jonah

Maritime theology

A GRACIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE GOD
Mission, salvation and spirituality in the Book of Jonah
By Daniel C. Timmer
IVP. 240 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 1 844 744 992

This excellent book will be of great value for preachers or Bible study leaders, besides providing others with a grasp of how Jonah fits into the flow of redemptive history. Anyone with an intelligent interest in the Book of Jonah should find this useful.

Timmer, who is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi, has not written a typical commentary. This is a work of biblical theology.

Instead of the usual introduction, discussing authorship and a range of critical problems, Timmer plunges straight into his task. That task does not consist in a verse-by-verse discussion of the text. Rather, he discusses the theology of Jonah and places it in the context of the unity of Scripture, tracing its connections with other parts of the Old Testament and with its fulfilment in the New. This is by no means to the neglect of matters intrinsic to the book; Assyria and Nineveh in the eighth century receive detailed and stimulating treatment. However, Timmer does not get hung up on questions about fish, stomach contents and regurgitation. In short, this is a book that explores the theological interpretation of Scripture and sets it in a canonical context, viewing the Old Testament in the light of its eventual fulfilment in Christ.

It should be clear that, for those preaching on Jonah, this should be read in conjunction with regular commentaries that give close attention to the minutiae of textual matters. On the other hand, books of this nature will help preachers to avoid ‘synagogue sermons’, where the text is seen in detachment from its place in redemptive history, as if the Old Testament bore no connection to Christ. Cultivating that canonical mindset can only be of benefit to the church at large. It was commonplace in the patristic era, but it has been lost in the West as the challenges of the Enlightenment loomed large. Well done, Timmer.

Robert Letham,
a minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales, who lectures at WEST