In the discussion of the three parts of Mystery Babylon (Spiritual, Political and Commercial) and in the study of related Scripture, you will frequently run across the term the “Ships of Tarshish” (II Chronicles 9:21, 20:36-37, Psalm 48:7, Isaiah 23:1, Isaiah 60:9, Ezekiel 27:25). No one knows exactly where Tarshish was located. You will recall that when the Lord told Jonah to go east to Nineveh, he boarded a ship bound for Tarshish. If you board a ship in Israel, it is very probable that you will head west.

Therefore, we may conclude that Tarshish is west of Israel. In Scripture the Ships of Tarshish are often connected to the trading city-state of Tyre. (History books refer to Phoenicia, traders in purple dye. This is Tyre and Sidon as found in Scripture.) Some define Tarshish as Tartessus, a colony of Tyre. Strabo, a Greek geographer living at the time of Jesus, states that Tartessus was a city on the Iberian Peninsula, located by the Baetis River, which is now the Guadalquivir River in Spain.

The Bible scholar Henry Morris says that Tarshish means “smelting place.” It is known that the Ships of Tarshish brought tin to the Middle East.

Some state that the Ships of Tarshish were a classification of ocean-going vessel, much like the Panamax ships of today. A Panamax ship is built to the maximum width which can traverse the Panama Canal.

One interesting theory is based on the statement that the ships of Solomon went to Tarshish and returned once every three years. (II Chronicles 9:21) This would indicate a very long trip. This theory is that these ships came to what is now the Americas to obtain their precious cargo.

The Ships of Tarshish are usually associated with the gathering of wealth in Scripture. The Apostle James is very critical of the wealthy people in the last days. (James 5:1-3) However, the Prophet Isaiah tells us that the Ship of Tarshish will bring the Children of Israel back to the Holy Land in the Last Days. (Isaiah 60:9)

The Lord, Whose will is perfect, will use the commercial ships used for gathering wealth to bring His Chosen People back home. How I long for the Day!