Joshua 10:1-15 English Standard Version The Sun Stands Still 10 As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 2 he feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors. 3 So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” 5 Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it. 6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.” 7 So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. 8 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.” 9 So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. 10 And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword. 12 At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel. 15 So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal. There is no natural phenomenon to try to figure out in this passage. This is a supernatural, miraculous event that happened in that place, at that time for these people and for a specific purpose. We should not expect God to do this thing in all places at all times for all people, but He could do this again if He so desired and it helped to accomplish His purposes. Miracles are not something we command of God, but like Joshua in this passage we pray by faith and ask God for what may seem impossible according to the laws of nature, and God responds in accordance with His will and good pleasure, doing what brings Him the most glory and works together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
With that said, we see that the king of Jerusalem is in fear of his life after hearing of what happened at Jericho and Ai, and the peace treaty that the Gibeonites made with the Israelites. The text tells us that Gibeon was a great city like one of the royal cities (a city-state), greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors. So, the southern Canaanite kings sought an alliance that will be called "the five kings of the Amorites by the text. These kings were: Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon. Together, the five kings of the Amorites were intent on attacking Gibeon, for they had made a peace treaty with Joshua and the Israelites, and they gathered their forces with all their armies and forces and went up to Gibeon and encamped against it to make war with it. Immediately the Gibeonites cried out to Joshua for help because all the kings of the Amorites from the hill country were gathered together against them. So Joshua went from Gilgal, which Israel had used as a home base, and where they would return after each campaign, he and all the armies of Israel with him including all the mighty men and men of valor. This time the LORD spoke to Joshua to tell him not to fear this army that outnumbered them, for the LORD had given them into the hand of Joshua and the Israelites. The kings of the Amorites imagined gathering themselves together would somehow make them harder to defeat, but it actually just made it easier for God to help Israel destroy them all in a single battle. The LORD had promised Joshua that not a single man in the army of the five Amorite kings would be able to stand before Joshua and Israel, and the LORD threw the armies of the five Amorite kings into a panic when they saw Joshua and the Israelites arrive on scene after having marched all night from Gilgal. Israel dealt them a great blow at Gibeon and gave chase as they fled by way of the ascent of Beth-horon and Isreal struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the LORD showed that He was fighting for Israel and Gibeon as He hurled large hailstones from heaven against the fleeing armies as far as Azekah, and they died so that more men were killed by the hailstones than by the sword of the Israelites (God would get the glory for the victory in this battle). And the book of Joshua records that the LORD made the sun stand still over Gibeon and the moon to stand in the Valley of Aijalon until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. The text even records for us that these events are written in the Book of Jashar. We do not have that text today, but the people who read this history most certainly did as the LORD wanted them to be able to verify the facts of this miracle through multiple independent sources. Then the text clearly says what I was saying at the beginning. Nothing like this has happened before this day and no day like it has happened since then. It was not because of natural phenomenon that would repeat themselves, nor is it something that we should expect God to be doing all the time, but instead this is something specific to this event in history for these people when the kings of the Amorites were putting God to the test to see if He would not only stand with Israel, but also with Gibeon. The takeaway is given in the last sentence of this passage--the LORD fought for Israel and He made the sun and moon, and the hailstones all obey His command and join the battle to help His people achieve the victory where victory seemed impossible. It was clear that the LORD fought for Israel (and for Gibeon who was allied with Israel). Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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