Skip to main content

Jonah, Christopher J.H. Wright, and the Nations





I have to admit, some books just haunt me. That is, they keep calling me back to read them over and over again. This time it's The Mission of God by Christopher J.H. Wright that called me back. Check this passage out concerning Jonah:
"The book of Jonah has always featured in biblical studies of mission, sometimes as the only part of the Old Testament deemed to be of any relevance. Here at least is someone who has some semblance of being an actual missionary, sent to another country to preach the word of God. However, for all the fascination of the character and adventures of Jonah, the real missional challenge of the book undoubtedly and intentionally lies in its portrayal of God. If Jonah is intended to represent Israel, as seems likely, then the book issues a strong challenge to Israel regarding their attitude to the nations (even enemy nations that prophets placed under God's declared judgement), and regarding their understanding of God's attitude to the nations. The concluding open-ended question of the book is an enduring, haunting rebuke to our tendency to foist our own ethnocentric prejudices on the Almighty." (The Mission of God, 461)
The blessing to the nations promised by God to Abraham and through his seed comes up again here in the book of Jonah. Should Jonah have expected God to play favorites and keep his blessing for Israel alone? Is His mercy limited in scope? We see this thread running through the Old Testament Scriptures over and over that "The Judge of all the earth," "who will unquestionably do what is right, is also the "gracious and compassionate God" who "takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rather that they turn from their ways and live. The character of YHWH is exercised in forgiveness and mercy, extended to all nations, not just to Israel" (461). The embarrassment that Jonah feels because of God's merciful actions toward the nations and not especially to Israel is a sign of his stubborness and hardness of heart in failing to see the full portrait of God as displayed in the Old Testament.
I admittedly am embarrassed at why God pours out his blessing to the nations that I see as too far gone from the mercy and grace of God. My heart is in the wrong place and my gaze does not lift beyond the veil of the 50 states I reside among. Yet, I am reminded just the other day, that God does not play childish games of withholding mercy for a select few because they've been good to Him. No, God's mercy is reflected in blessing that shouts out among the cities of this world, Sao Paulo included, and the nations that are radically bent in all directions. My immediate and often impatience with God's work in the world is not something I'm proud of but in the recognition and repentance of this truth there is solace.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rise of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman

  The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman Navigating the culture that we take up residence in, with its laser focus on sexual identity, tolerance, and an individualism that raises its head at every corner, Christians need a robust account of how we got to this point in our Western culture without retreating to our churches nor morphing with the latest trends.   Carl Trueman, professor of religion and theology at Grove City College, brings his keen historical research to bear on this issue in his new book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.   Part historical survey and philosophical analysis, Dr. Trueman traces the trajectories of key thinkers such as Rousseau, Freud, and Marx, while also incorporating the insights of Charles Taylor and Phillip Rieff to form a cogent argument as to how we got to this point in our history, both in our expressive individualism and sexual freedom outlooks.   The book is surprisingly insightful and yet demands from the reader the pa
Post a Comment
Read more

The Conditioned Mind

The Conditioned Mind: Overcoming the Crippling Effects of Sin and Guilt by Michael J. Mannia Counselor and author Michael J. Mannia knows firsthand how the spiraling of sin and guilt can eat away at life.  His new book, The Conditioned Mind, is a look into how believers can overcome the effects of sin and guilt and live in the freedom that we have in Christ.  Through a careful look into the patterns that we develop and the mindsets that we get ingrained in, Michael is able to offer ways through guilt that bring freedom and healing.  I think this is not only a timely but a book that aims toward bringing real healing to its readers. In the first chapter Michael looks at two needs that we have: our need for love and our need for security.  Love isn’t something optional for the human race, but something it needs at its core.  “Additionally, we need to reciprocate love.  We need to feel loved as much as we need to love others (8).”  Love is a two-way street that inv
Post a Comment
Read more

Passover and Jesus

The Messiah in the Passover , Edited by Darrell Bock and Mitch Glaser Why should Christians celebrate and remember the Passover?   This is a striking question that needs to be understood as well as the historical and theological context of the Passover.   However obscure we sometimes view the Old Testament, there is some significant reasons why we should reach back and study the Passover.   Mitch Glaser in the Introduction states, “When Christians celebrate the Passover, they grow in their understanding of the Old Testament, affirm the Jewishness of the Gospel, deepen our understanding of the Lord’s Supper, and build community with fellow Christians…” (20).   This book is answer to why celebrate the Passover but even more importantly an answer to what the Passover is and what it signifies to us today.   The various contributors of this book, Messiah in the Passover, bring a wealth of ministry experience in relating the Jewishness of both Jesus and the Old Testament to
Post a Comment
Read more