Overview

Few parts of the OT are more challenging to read than the prophets. Not only are so-called messianic passages relatively rare, but apart from Jonah, these books seem to present a message that is particularly negative, if not xenophobic, when it comes to the 'nations.' Daniel Timmer contends that this impression is not only mistaken, but diametrically opposed to the books' message. Following the direction established by God's foundational promise to Abram in Genesis 12, Timmer examines the presentation of the nations in the Latter Prophets in their original contexts, through the NT and into the church's contemporary mission. He explains how the prophets' negative presentations of the nations fit into God's purpose to redeem people from every tribe and nation, and explores the radical significance of the prophets' frequent predictions that non-Israelites will become integral members of God's chosen people. The volume also deals with practical issues, including the place of ethnicity and nationality in Christian identity and the church's fraught relationships with secular and political power structures.

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Reviews

""The Latter Prophets continually bear witness to a God whose ways with the nations both highlight his sovereignty and surprise us. Timmer's impressive study brings what the prophets have to say about the nations to the foreground and explores how this relates to the gospel and contemporary politics."" --Andrew Abernethy, Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College, Illinois ""What a fine, learned and timely book. An excellent example of exegesis, theology and cultural critique! We have few examples where a book combines all three in a thorough and learned way on a topic of universal relevance. There is much here for both the preacher, the apologist and the historian/cultural analyst. This is one of the most thorough books I have read on the topic of the nations in the prophetic oracles, and it is unique in working from a biblical-theological and canonical perspective. Timmer shows, in the end, not just the view of the foreign nations within each prophetic book, but their place within the trajectory of the biblical canon. There is not only divine judgment for nationalistic idolatry and arrogant overreach but also a concern for the salvation of the nations (and in particular individuals within the nations) and their purification to live in the presence of God as his people in a new creation. Thus the resurrected Christ's command for his disciples to go into the entire world and to preach to the nations the good news is but a logical consequence of this prophetic message. I enthusiastically recommend this book!"" --Stephen G. Dempster, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, Crandall University, New Brunswick ""In his timely book, Daniel Timmer unfolds the rich and diverse ways in which the Old Testament prophets depict the nations in God's sovereign purposes of judgment and salvation. He skilfully shows us how to do biblical theology by weaving together ancient imperial contexts, the prophets' countercultural engagement with their world, and the contemporary relevance of their unique view of power. Look no further for help if you've ever had the (mis)impression that the God of the prophets is ethnocentric and xenophobic!"" --Jerry Hwang, Associate Professor of Theology, Trinity Christian College, Illinois ""Daniel Timmer has given more attention to the non-Israelite nations in the prophets than most. In 'Egypt My People . . . and Israel My Inheritance', he brings his breadth of research to bear in a fresh way. Beginning by setting the messages of the individual prophetic books in conversation with the national ideologies of the ancient Near East, Timmer evinces the underlying threads of what the prophets critique and how they frame their oracles of salvation. Through chapters chock-full of exegetical and biblical-theological insight, Timmer's redemptive-historical survey compellingly demonstrates the biblical vision for the one people of God in Christian Scripture. Timmer's final chapter on the relevance of the prophetic books for considering the gospel's challenge to contemporary world-view issues is a much-welcomed inclusion. I trust many will find this book a helpful resource not only for the study of Christian Scripture but also for the motivation to spread the word and ways of the triune God to the ends of the earth."" --Andrew M. King, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Missouri, and Spurgeon's College, London ""Standing at a crossroads of redemptive history, Israel's prophets spoke into the world of ancient Israel with a multinational vision of what God will do to restore his people and his world. With unique clarity, the Latter Prophets speaks to the Lord's sovereignty over some of greatest empires in human history, and Daniel Timmer masterfully walks us through the ideologies of these ancient kingdoms and the message of the true King who reigns over them. Yet Timmer's theological vision does not end with the Old Testament. With the skill and intuition that only comes from decades of research and reflection, Timmer guides us through a biblical-theological picture of the nations in the Latter Prophets and how it shapes our understanding of the work of God in the New Testament. Historically accurate, carefully articulate, and theologically rich . . . tolle lege!"" --William R. Osborne, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, College of the Ozarks, Missouri ""Dan Timmer has provided an invaluable resource by tracing God's purposes for the nations throughout the books of the prophets and offering an adept biblical-theological exploration of this theme. Particularly enlightening is his analysis of the ideologies promoted within the different non-Israelite nations mentioned in the prophets, the prophetic critiques of these ideologies, and how they are seen in our world today (e.g., materialism, political liberalism, imperialism and decolonization). This book is essential reading for missiology students, pastors looking to apply the messages of the prophets to the modern world, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of God's glorious plan to include people from all nations in the blessed kingdom of his Son."" --Anthony R. Petterson, Lecturer in Old Testament and Biblical Hebrew, Morling College and Australian College of Theology, Sydney ""Daniel Timmer, one of our most insightful interpreters of the prophets (among other things), here offers a one-stop shop on the non-Israelite nations in Isaiah to Malachi. All of Timmer's many gifts are on display here: his characteristic erudition, keen insight, wide command of the literature (both primary and secondary) and sound judgment - all captured within a biblical-theological framework that pays particular attention to questions of ideology. The final chapter is alone worth the price of the book, as Timmer contemplates how the prophetic word bears upon the ideologies that rule our own world, lives and hearts."" --Brent A. Strawn, D. Moody Smith Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Professor of Law, Duke University, North Carolina

Author Information

Daniel Timmer (PhD, Trinity International University) is professor of Biblical Studies and director of PhD program at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary.

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