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Joshua 10:12–15
“So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies” (Josh. 10:13a).
In yesterday’s study we saw God literally fighting for Israel in the battle of Gibeon. Today’s passage relates an additional detail about the battle that gives breathtaking clarity to the degree of divine assistance Israel receives on this unforgettable day.
At some point during the battle, Joshua puts to God an audacious request: “ ‘sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.’ ” Joshua essentially asks the God of heaven and earth to alter the normal patterns by which He exercises His sustaining power over creation. Why does he ask this? Many believe the day of battle is drawing to a close and that Joshua, seeing Israel’s victory as incomplete, asks for more daylight so that the remainder of the Canaanite armies cannot slip away under cover of darkness. However, if Joshua is actually seeing the sun over Gibeon and the moon over Aijalon, he is standing between the cities with Gibeon to the east, meaning he is speaking in the morning of the day of the battle. If this is the case, it may be that he is simply excited to see so many Canaanites drawn together at one spot and, realizing the opportunity he has for a big victory, asks God not to let the day end before Israel can rout the enemy.
Matthew Henry characterizes this prayer as “an instance of [Joshua’s] great faith in the almighty power of God, as above the power of nature, and able to control and alter the course of it.… He believed in the sovereignty of God … else he could not have expected that the established law and course of nature should be changed and interrupted.” But he also speculates that God led Joshua to ask such an unheard-of thing. In any case, God graciously grants Joshua’s request. The author of Joshua tells us that the Book of Jasher, which Henry calls a “collection of state-poems,” records that the sun does not set “for about a whole day,” probably meaning that it remains in the sky about twice as long as usual. The day does not draw to a close “till the people had revenge upon their enemies.”
By this extraordinary manifestation of divine power, just as in His hurling of hailstones and other battle tactics, “the LORD fought for Israel.” And so Joshua is able to win a complete victory over the Canaanite kings God has providentially brought together. In one stroke, Israel takes a major step toward domination of Canaan.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Such is the extent of God’s control and power over His creation that He can halt the earth’s rotation (cause the sun to “stand still”) with no harmful effects. He created and controls everything. Reflect today on the incredible truth that this mighty Being imagined you, formed you, and ordains each breath you take, for He loves you.
For Further Study
- Job 10:8–9
- Psalm 139:13–16
- Isaiah 42:5
- Daniel 5:23
- Acts 17:25