Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise. – Ezekiel 27:12

Today's Scripture Reading (August 10, 2023): Ezekiel 27

In the opening of the story of Jonah, the reader is told that God called Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh. Instead, the prophet boards a ship heading for Tarshish. It doesn't matter, but I have frequently thought it was a weird place to go if you were running from God. Tarshish was located on the south coast of Spain. Maybe in Jonah's day, it was at the edge of the world, but throughout most of human history, the South of Spain has been a vacation spot for the rich and famous. And I don't see the logic of Jonah thinking that God wouldn't look for him in a popular vacation spot.

Many years ago, I had a similar reaction when some friends admitted to me that they felt they were being called into missionary work. Many places come to mind when I think of missionary work, so as the conversation progressed, I asked my friends if God had laid a region of the world on their hearts. My friends smiled and said yes, and then hesitantly confessed that they had been called to be missionaries in Hawaii. I responded, "Well, I guess someone has to go." What went unsaid was that I know a fundamentalist Baptist Church on the Island of Maui that could use missionary help, reteaching them about what God has called his people to do, but that would have been mean. But the truth is that Hawaii has already been reached, and the islands have many very successful ministries working hard to provide the Islands a Christian Witness in the American State. What they don't need is a bunch of white people from the American continent to help them. They are doing great.

Tarshish, on the Southern Coast of Spain, was a place that needed all the luxury goods that they could get their hands on to sell to the people who frequented its shores. They had an abundance of metals, which Tyre needed. There was a perfectly valid reason for trade between the two cities, enriching both of them, even if they were at opposite ends of the Mediterranean Sea, about as far away as two cities could be and still claim to be Mediterranean coastal cities.    

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 28