Bible Verse: “On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:
‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.’
So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,
as it is written in the Book of Jashar.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!” Joshua 10:12-14
Scripture Reading: Joshua 10:1–12:24
Reading today’s passage, it’s hard to believe that Joshua isn’t one of the names listed in the “Faith Hall of Fame” (Hebrews 11:1-40).
In the middle of a battle, Joshua not only commanded the sun and the moon to stand still, but God listened and did, not what Joshua asked of Him, but what Joshua commanded to the sun and moon! No wonder the text says there has never been a day like it “before or since!”
In the heat of the moment, we can be pulled into saying a wide variety of things. Sometimes they are great things. Many times, for me anyway, they are words I’d rather not remember. But battle has a way of circumventing some of our more rational processes. Whether that was true of Joshua or not, we don’t know. But it’s not difficult to imagine that the fever of battle raised his own temperature to a point of near delusion where he gave commands to the celestial bodies.
It’s fascinating to imagine the repercussions of this event. The sun and the moon are not geocentric. They aren’t just for a certain part of the world. Their “standing still” would have global implications. People far from the battlefield would experience the longer day or night. God’s action on that day for His people would have touched everyone on the planet.
And God’s actions are the point. Though the text makes it clear that Joshua commanded the sun and moon to stand still, it was God who made it happen. Joshua may have been the voice; God was the amplifier. The text is clear about that, too.
If Joshua did indeed write the book that bears his name, it was his own reminder that though he was leading the battle and calling for the heavenly standstill, it was God who made it happen. This is Joshua’s own reminder of humility and of the source of the power that allowed him to do this.
We all need reminders like that. We need to tell our own stories and recognize where God has moved, even though we may have been the ones calling for action. God is behind all that we accomplish.
Prayer: God, there are days I wish the sun would stand still at my command. But I know that You are the one who has that power. Help me remember who and where I am in Your plan and family. Amen.
Reflection: What might it mean for you to recognize God’s role in your life, as Joshua did in this story?
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