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Joshua Chapter 10 (ESV)

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.

REFLECTION:

Joshua is fighting a coalition of five city-state kings in the south and God led him to great victories. God intervened for Israel in two circumstances: hailstones killed many of the enemy, and the “sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day” so the slaughter of the Amorites could be completed.

Whether Joshua was asking for the sun to stop moving or to cease shining is hotly debated. Regardless of which answer is adopted, what we are sure of is that God intervened in the course of events at the precise moment help was needed.

Have you experienced God’s intervention in your life? Or do you sense it right now?

PRAYER:

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. （Ps 18:2, 3, 6）