Joshua 10:8-15 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Under the Sun Summer Worship Series Sunday, July 5, 2020 “The Sun Stands Still”
It was a day unlike any other. We could probably think of days that seem to fit that description. Many of us recall September 11, 2001. We saw something, some of it live on television, that we had never seen before. It was a day unlike any other when hijacked airliners crashed into skyscrapers in the United States’ largest city, ultimately causing them to completely collapse. For our country in particular, we could go further back in time and consider a day that was at its own time expected to be a day that would live in infamy, December 7, 1941. The American forces at Pearl Harbor were surprised and then devastated by an attacking enemy, bringing the United States into the World War. We could understand how attacks like that and days like that could be considered days unlike any other. I don’t have an exact date to give you for the next event that I mention as a day unlike any other, and it certainly did not take place in the United States of America. It did involve an attack. It did involve military aggression. We can narrow down the date a little bit. It was likely around 1400 BC. What makes this event unique is that it’s not only people who have labeled it a day unlike any other, God’s Word does the same. It tells us about a military campaign undertaken by Joshua and his forces during which God caused the sun to stand still and not to go down, extending the time that his people had to wage the battle and complete the victory. It was a day unlike any other. Let’s consider the background of this battle. Joshua was God’s chosen leader who succeeded Moses as the one in charge of the Israelites. Moses had basically brought them right up to the border of the Promised Land. He was able to look into that land from a mountaintop, but God did not allow Moses to lead the people into the land. Instead, he was taken to heaven, and the man he had been training to take his place took over. Joshua became the leader of the people, which included being the head of their army. An army was necessary for the Israelites because they were entering into a land that was inhabited by other nations. The Canaanite peoples had settled there, and it was God’s plan for Israel to gradually drive the Canaanites out while taking their place living in the Promised Land. In fact, it was God’s command that the Israelites completely rid the land of Canaanites and their influence. During this process, Joshua made a treaty with the Gibeonites. We don’t need to go into all the details, which you can read in the book of Joshua, but the Gibeonites had actually deceived Israel into making this treaty. But the treaty still promised that these nations would support and help each other. Well, Gibeon got into a battle with five other kings and cities who did not like their alliance with Israel at all. And Gibeon sent word to Israel that they were under attack and needed help. Our verses from Joshua 10 record how that help came. As Joshua marched toward battle, God assured him that he would bless the Israelites in that battle. That night, the Israelite army arrived and entered into the fight. To call it an unfair fight, however, would be an understatement. First, the Lord threw the enemies into panic as Israel fought. As they tried to escape, God hurled large and deadly hailstones on them. There was no mistaking it that God was fighting for his people. What they could have done on their own we don’t know for certain, but with God fighting on their side, the battle was absolutely certain. And then the Bible shares that incredibly unique detail, Joshua, apparently concerned that the Israelites would not have the time in one day to complete their battle, prays to God and asks the sun to stand still, and God answers his prayer. Joshua and the Israelites have about a two-day period with the sun shining in which to complete their victory. It was, as God himself testifies, a day unlike any other. It was further evidence that God was fighting for his people, even answering the bold request of Joshua. But it also raises lots of questions for us, and for many who have explored the Bible’s description of this event. Did the earth stop rotating around its axis? Did the earth shift so that the sunlight was extended in this particular area? Did God alter the path or the behavior of the sun’s rays to accomplish this? Was it only a local event limited to this area of the world, or was it universal throughout the earth? And unfortunately, we just can’t answer these questions. God doesn’t explain his miracle in scientific terms or tell us about what was