Tarshish: The Geography of a Backslider

Jude Watchman Oguta

One of the most sobering truths in Scripture is that not every backslider starts as a weak believer. Some begin as mighty men and women of God.

Jonah was not a novice prophet. He was a recognized prophet of Israel and a contemporary of Prophet Elisha. His prophetic ministry was credible enough that his prophecies came to pass.

The Bible records:

"He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah..." (2 Kings 14:25)

Jonah had a proven prophetic track record. Yet when God called him to Nineveh, we encounter a shocking reality: a successful prophet whose heart had drifted away from God.

Backsliding rarely begins with a dramatic rebellion. It often begins with subtle shifts in affection, priorities, and focus.

The story of Jonah is not merely about a prophet swallowed by a fish. It is a divine case study on the anatomy of backsliding.

God's Call and Jonah's Response

God's instruction was clear:

"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me." (Jonah 1:2)

Yet Jonah responded differently:

"But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD..." (Jonah 1:3)

Notice that Jonah obeyed the first word but rejected the second.

God said, "Arise."

Jonah arose.

God said, "Go to Nineveh."

Jonah went to Tarshish.

Outward movement does not always equal obedience.

A believer can be active, busy, productive, and still be moving in the opposite direction of God's will.

Backsliding rarely happens overnight. It is a calculated journey marked by specific coordinates, subtle compromises, and spiritual decline. By tracing Jonah’s path from Israel to Joppa, and ultimately toward Tarshish, we uncover the spiritual geography of a heart turning away from God.

Tracing the Coordinates of Tarshish

1. The Economically Viable Destination

In the ancient world, Tarshish was a major commercial hub famous for its fleet of trading vessels and immense wealth. Ships from Tarshish were synonymous with global trade, precious metals, and worldly enterprise.

When a believer heads toward Tarshish, they are often drawn by the allure of the temporary and the mundane. Tarshish is a destination that subtlely swaps your spiritual values, encouraging you to invest your energy into gaining the whole world at the expense of your soul.

Tarshish represented commerce, opportunity, prosperity, and worldly success.

To Jonah, Tarshish offered something attractive.

Nineveh represented assignment.

Tarshish represented opportunity.

Nineveh represented purpose.

Tarshish represented profit.

The danger for many believers is not necessarily sin but success outside God's will.

Tarshish symbolizes every pursuit that causes us to exchange eternal values for temporary rewards.

Jesus asked:

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)

Many believers begin their journey to Tarshish when financial ambition becomes greater than spiritual devotion.

Paul warned Timothy:

"But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare..." (1 Timothy 6:9)

Notice he did not say money is evil. He said the love of money causes people to err from the faith. Many modern Jonahs are not abandoning church because of persecution. They are abandoning purpose because of prosperity. Their careers have become their Nineveh replacement. Their businesses have become their altars. Their ambitions have become their gods.

Tarshish is any destination that causes you to gain the world while losing your passion for God.

2. Anything That Takes You Away from God's Presence

The Bible repeatedly emphasizes Jonah's true problem:

"...to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD." (Jonah 1:3)

The destination mattered less than the direction. Tarshish was wrong because it led away from God's presence. 

A simple definition of Tarshish is this:

Tarshish is any pursuit, activity, relationship, ambition, or lifestyle that gradually distances you from the presence of God.

Tarshish may offer financial advancement or personal comfort, but its defining atmosphere is an absence of divine intimacy. It may not be sinful in itself. It may even appear productive. Yet it weakens prayer. It reduces worship. It minimizes Scripture. It makes church attendance optional. It turns spiritual disciplines into inconveniences.

At first, God's presence becomes secondary.

Then it becomes tertiary.

Eventually, it becomes absent altogether.

The tragedy of backsliding is not merely that a person leaves church.

The tragedy is that they become comfortable living without God's presence.

Samson did not know when the Spirit departed from him.

Many believers do not realize they are drifting until the storm arrives.

Anything pulling you away from intimacy with God is your Tarshish.

3. A Departure from Divine Purpose

God told Jonah to go northeast to Nineveh; Jonah headed southwest toward Tarshish.

Tarshish is any pursuit that draws you away from fulfilling your divinely ordained assignment. It may look economically attractive, culturally accepted, and strategically sound, but if it is outside God's specific will for your life, it is a location of rebellion. 

God's assignment for Jonah was in Nineveh. Jonah's destination was Tarshish. These locations were in opposite directions. That is the essence of backsliding.

Backsliding is not merely moving away from sin. It is moving away from God's purpose. Every believer has a divine assignment. Every believer has a God-ordained purpose. Every believer has a Nineveh. Tarshish represents every alternative path that seems more attractive than obedience.

The path may offer comfort. It may offer recognition. It may offer financial gain. Yet it is outside God's will. A believer can be successful in Tarshish and still be a failure in God's assignment. The greatest tragedy in life is not failing at your own plans. It is succeeding at plans God never gave you.

Locating Joppa: The Port of Compromise

Before reaching Tarshish, every fleeing believer must first pass through Joppa. Joppa is the transit point where a believer has not yet fully arrived at backsliding, but has stopped taking heed to their spiritual walk.

1. The Continuous Downward Motion

Before Jonah arrived at Tarshish, he first arrived at Joppa.

"...and went down to Joppa..." (Jonah 1:3)

Scripture highlights a striking pattern in Jonah’s movement: he went down.

• He went down to Joppa (Jonah 1:3).

• He went down into the ship (Jonah 1:3).

• He went down into the innermost parts of the ship to sleep (Jonah 1:5).

The first characteristic of Joppa is decline. This "He went down" phrase is significant. The Holy Spirit is careful with language. Jonah's movement looked like progress. He was traveling. He was advancing. He was making plans. But heaven described it as "going down."

 Backsliding is never an upward climb. It may look like career progress, geographical movement, or social expansion, but in the eyes of Heaven, any path away from God is a downward spiral.

Joppa is the first destination of every backslider. At Joppa, the believer has not completely departed from God. But he has stopped taking heed.

The Bible warns:

"Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12)

2. Finding a "Ship Going to Tarshish" in Joppa

A major feature of Joppa is that when you decide to run from God, the world will always provide transport. You will always find a ship ready to take you toward Tarshish

"...he found a ship going to Tarshish..." (Jonah 1:3)

This is one of the most dangerous lessons in Scripture.

Whenever someone decides to flee from God's will, there is usually a ship available.

There are relationships heading to Tarshish.

There are partnerships heading to Tarshish in form of business opportunities and social circles

There are friendships heading to Tarshish.

The existence of an opportunity does not mean God approved it. Many believers mistakenly assume that because a door opened, God must have opened it. Jonah found a ship easily. The devil often finances disobedience more quickly than God finances obedience.

3. The Company of Tarshish

Jonah did not travel alone.

The Bible says:

"...to go with them unto Tarshish..." (Jonah 1:3)

Look at the passengers on that ship: they were merchants and sailors headed away from the God of Israel. Jonah boarded and went “with them unto Tarshish.” 

That is how spiritual compromise works. People moving toward Tarshish naturally gather together. The believer who once loved God's presence begins to prefer the company of people who have no interest in it.

This is where unequal yokes begin.

This is where worldly affections grow.

This is where spiritual sensitivity dies.

The company you keep often reveals the direction you are heading.

4. The Price of Going to Tarshish

The Bible says:

"...so he paid the fare thereof..." (Jonah 1:3)

Every journey to Tarshish has a cost. Jonah paid money. Many believers pay with something far more valuable. They pay with their convictions. They pay with their purity. They pay with their integrity. They pay with their peace. They pay with their reputation. They pay with their relationship with God.

The price of belonging to Tarshish is always greater than advertised.

Many discover too late that they have exchanged eternal treasures for temporary pleasures.

The Genesis of Backsliding: Lying Vanities 

After Jonah repented in the belly of the fish, he finally exposed the true source of his problem.

He prayed:

"They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy." (Jonah 2:8)

The NIV renders it:

"Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them."

This is one of the most profound statements in the book of Jonah.

Backsliding begins when believers become fascinated with "lying vanities."

Things that promise fulfillment but deliver emptiness.

Things that appear valuable but are ultimately worthless.

Things that glitter today and disappear tomorrow.

The tragedy is not merely that they pursue these things.

The tragedy is that in pursuing them they forsake their own mercy.

They turn away from the grace that once sustained them.

They neglect the love that once transformed them.

This was Jonah's diagnosis of his own condition.

He had become captivated by temporary things and had lost sight of eternal realities.

Paul's Warning to the Jonahs of Our Generation

Paul's words to Timothy sound remarkably relevant today:

"But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." (1 Timothy 6:9-11)

Notice the phrase: "they have erred from the faith."

That is Tarshish.

That is backsliding.

That is the journey away from God's presence.

Conclusion: Choose Nineveh Over Tarshish

Every believer faces the choice Jonah faced.

Nineveh or Tarshish.

Purpose or pleasure.

Assignment or ambition.

Presence or prosperity.

Eternal reward or temporary gain.

The mercy of God is that even when we head toward Tarshish, He still pursues us.

The storm was mercy.

The fish was mercy.

The rescue was mercy.

God loved Jonah too much to allow him to successfully backslide.

And God loves us too much to leave us in Tarshish.

The call of the Spirit today is the same as it was in Jonah's day:

Leave Tarshish.

Return to God's presence.

Embrace your Nineveh.

Fulfill your assignment.

For no destination on earth is worth losing the presence of God.