9 Climate Change and Eschatology
169
mercy was not limited and reserved for the Jewish people, but applicable to all peoples
everywhere.
The Jews also gained the conviction that it was their holy task to tell the world
about this (monotheistic) Creator God who was merciful and forgiving to those who
would believe in Him, repent and turn away from their evil ways. In Isaiah 66:18–19
it says: “The time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come
and shall see my glory. I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those
who survive to the nations …” (Is 66:18–19 ESV/NIV) Hence, the Jewish people
were to be a sign for the surrounding nations. But that missionary notion may have
given way to “a spirit of bitterness and vengefulness toward other lands” after the
exile (The Interpreters Bible VI, p. 872). That is the probable theological backdrop
against which one must read the Jonah narrative, the intention of which seems to be
to reawaken in the nation of Israel the missionary destiny to which they once felt
called by their God.
The mercifulness of God is obviously an important theme of the book and is
exemplified by the story of Jonah whose doomsday message to the Ninevites was
thwarted by their contrition and repentance on the one hand and by God’s mercy
and forgiveness on the other. When Jonah grew angry after seeing that his prediction
had not come to pass, he told God with a reproachful undertone: “I knew that you
are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,
and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me,
for it is better for me to die than to live.” And God’s answer to him was: “Do you
do well to be angry? … Should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there
are more than 120.000 persons …?” (Jon 4:2–3.11 ESV). The main message of the
Book of Jonah appears to be that God’s mercy is for all to grasp: the Assyrians, the
Babylonians and the Persians. God is for all, and his mercy is for all. In this way,
the book of Jonah modifies the dooming judgment messages of the Israelite prophets
against their surrounding nations (see, for instance, Joel 4) by setting a counterpoint.
Commenting on the lesson of the Jonah narrative and applying it to the here and now,
the German theologian Helmut Fischer writes: “We are being challenged to clarify
and re-arrange our relationship to those who have a different world view, a different
faith and a different value system than we have” (Fischer 2019, p. 99).
Historical-Critical Considerations
While it is true that some biblical literalists still consider the Book of Jonah to have
a historical basis, most modern exegetes consider it to be a fictional narrative with
an important lesson. (For a discussion of the pros and cons of the historical option,
see, for instance, The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. VI, p. 871 f.) “The popular modern
view is that Jonah was written as an imaginative tale either as an allegory of the
exile and mission of Israel (cf. Je. 51:34), or to teach the truth of God’s universal
love by way of a parable.” (NBC 1970, p. 746) Fischer suggests that the Jonah
text “does not wish to be read as reporting an actual event.” (Fischer 2019, p. 96)
169
mercy was not limited and reserved for the Jewish people, but applicable to all peoples
everywhere.
The Jews also gained the conviction that it was their holy task to tell the world
about this (monotheistic) Creator God who was merciful and forgiving to those who
would believe in Him, repent and turn away from their evil ways. In Isaiah 66:18–19
it says: “The time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come
and shall see my glory. I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those
who survive to the nations …” (Is 66:18–19 ESV/NIV) Hence, the Jewish people
were to be a sign for the surrounding nations. But that missionary notion may have
given way to “a spirit of bitterness and vengefulness toward other lands” after the
exile (The Interpreters Bible VI, p. 872). That is the probable theological backdrop
against which one must read the Jonah narrative, the intention of which seems to be
to reawaken in the nation of Israel the missionary destiny to which they once felt
called by their God.
The mercifulness of God is obviously an important theme of the book and is
exemplified by the story of Jonah whose doomsday message to the Ninevites was
thwarted by their contrition and repentance on the one hand and by God’s mercy
and forgiveness on the other. When Jonah grew angry after seeing that his prediction
had not come to pass, he told God with a reproachful undertone: “I knew that you
are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,
and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me,
for it is better for me to die than to live.” And God’s answer to him was: “Do you
do well to be angry? … Should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there
are more than 120.000 persons …?” (Jon 4:2–3.11 ESV). The main message of the
Book of Jonah appears to be that God’s mercy is for all to grasp: the Assyrians, the
Babylonians and the Persians. God is for all, and his mercy is for all. In this way,
the book of Jonah modifies the dooming judgment messages of the Israelite prophets
against their surrounding nations (see, for instance, Joel 4) by setting a counterpoint.
Commenting on the lesson of the Jonah narrative and applying it to the here and now,
the German theologian Helmut Fischer writes: “We are being challenged to clarify
and re-arrange our relationship to those who have a different world view, a different
faith and a different value system than we have” (Fischer 2019, p. 99).
Historical-Critical Considerations
While it is true that some biblical literalists still consider the Book of Jonah to have
a historical basis, most modern exegetes consider it to be a fictional narrative with
an important lesson. (For a discussion of the pros and cons of the historical option,
see, for instance, The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. VI, p. 871 f.) “The popular modern
view is that Jonah was written as an imaginative tale either as an allegory of the
exile and mission of Israel (cf. Je. 51:34), or to teach the truth of God’s universal
love by way of a parable.” (NBC 1970, p. 746) Fischer suggests that the Jonah
text “does not wish to be read as reporting an actual event.” (Fischer 2019, p. 96)