Joshua 10:12–13: “Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.’ So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.”
March 31st, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotionalAs Israel was becoming victorious over the Amorites, night was approaching and Joshua did not want their enemy to escape. In the darkness they could successfully scatter and find hiding places. Joshua did an unheard of thing and called on God to stop the progress of time. He prayed for the sun to stand still over Gibeon as at high noon. Joshua was in effect praying that the earth would stop spinning on it axis, at least as perceived from the point of view of the battlefield. This account says this continued for a whole day, so, in other words, one day lasted two day’s time.
From a scientific standpoint, what are we to do with such a concept? Surely in the natural, if the earth suddenly stopped spinning, the effects would be catastrophic. Such a thing is impossible by the known laws of physics, yet it happened by the supernatural power of God. This seems to have been some kind of a local miracle where God provided additional light for the battle. Perhaps God created unusual atmospheric conditions that resulted in the refraction of sunlight long after the sun had set or simply provided a light that looked like the sun but was from a different source, like the Shekinah light during the Exodus. Whatever the source, the result was a victory for God’s children. This whole story begs the question of just what lengths might God go to for the furtherance of His kingdom through His children. What do you need from God today? Is anything too hard for Him?
“LORD, please be God in our lives today, doing whatever is necessary, making use of all Your resources, so that we might successfully win souls for You.”