Jonah 2:7
"When my soul fainted within me
I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto Thee, into Thine Holy Temple."
Although Jonah belonged to the LORD, his rebellion served as a reminder of the sin nature that resides in us all. No child of God is exempt from sin. In fact, Scripture says in 1 John 1: 8: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us."
However, for the LORD's children, the Holy Spirit continually reveals their sin, causing them to turn again and again to the LORD Jesus Christ, the Truth, as was the case with Jonah.
If Jonah was to preach to these Gentile sinners, it would only be after God had revealed to him his own desperate state before Him. Evidence of the Spirit's work in Jonah is fourfold:
1. He was made to despair of any good in himself: "When my soul fainted within me."
2. He was caused to turn to the LORD: "I remembered the LORD.”
3. He was given a cry of need unto the LORD: "and my prayer came in unto Thee."
4. He was brought to rest in Christ and His sacrificial life and death: "into Thine Holy Temple."
What was in the temple? The High Priest, the sacrifices, the altar, and mercy seat—-ALL fulfilled in Christ as the sinner's Substitute.
There are NO cases too difficult for the LORD. Knowing ourselves to be sinners, and trusting that it was for sinners such as we are that Christ died, shall we not rest in WHO Christ is and WHAT He has accomplished?
We rest IN Christ and His finished work alone!
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