The Day the Sun Stood Still

March 23, 2014
Joshua:  Turning Obedience Into Blessing
Joshua 10:1-14                                             NOTES NOT EDITED

SIS – Nothing is more fantastic than realizing the Sovereign God of Creation answers our prayers.

When I was a child I loved science fiction movies, especially movies about invading aliens from outer space.  Outer space has always fascinated me.  I remember watching Lost In Space, clued to the T.V., half in fear and half in anticipation, as the Robot squelched out the warning, “Danger, Will Robinson,” with arms flailing.  Wow!  I loved that feeling of anticipation mixed with fear.

Many of the great science fiction movies have been remade such as, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”  Many of the aspects of such movies as this and “Lost In Space,” have actually leaped from the celluloid fiction to scientific fact. 

The Bible does not contain science fiction, but it contains something that still generates a feeling of awe, or anticipation mixed with fear.  The exploits of Yahweh throughout the O.T., and especially Joshua, still inspire that same feeling of awe and amazement I felt watching science fiction as a kid.  Joshua, chapter 10, plays out bigger and more fantastic than any blockbuster movie like, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”  Joshua, chapter 10, could be titled, “The Day the Sun Stood Still,” and Yahweh, the Sovereign God of Creation, plays the starring role.

Do your prayers have the power to "stop the sun?" One man's prayer did just that. This is what the Bible says about the prayer of Joshua: "There has never been a day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man" (Jos. 10:14). Israel prevailed over seemingly impossible odds because of one man's prayer. Israel has been defying such odds even to this very day. Israel (and those who are Jewish by adoption, the Church) have one weapon that the other side does not have: "The Lord [fights] for Israel" (v. 14). Joshua is an exciting book because it reads as an "Instruction Manual for Victory." Or, more correctly, "A Field Manual for Spiritual Victory." Joshua gives us a step-by-step guide for overcoming the challenges we will certainly face in this life. Many Christians are uncomfortable with God, the Warrior, but that is a significant aspect of His Sovereign nature. Rather than lay down our weapons, God directs us to pick them up and to do battle.

Nothing is more fantastic and faith-building than to realize that the Sovereign God of Creation answers our prayers.

LET’S READ ABOUT THAT TODAY:  Joshua 10:1-14

The prayer of Joshua and the resulting response of God teach us three fundamental truths about God, the Creator, and winning the battle of life.

1.  This is God’s World—So miracles are possible (9-11)

⁹ So Joshua caught them by surprise, after marching all night[1] from Gilgal. ¹⁰ The Lord threw them into confusion  before Israel. He defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them through the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ As they fled before Israel, the Lord threw large hailstones on them  from the sky along the descent of Beth-horon all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of them died from the hail than the Israelites killed with the sword.

Add to that miracle, the miracle in verses 12-13:

¹² On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun,  stand still over Gibeon,and moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” ¹³ And the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on its enemies.

Clearly two miracles are outlined in this passage:  miraculous hail and the miraculous suspension of the normal course of the sun and moon.

Volumes of books have been written to explain away miracles such as these, but in this passage the Bible clearly teaches these two miracles of God.  You cannot twist the Bible into a meaningful interpretation that explains away these two miracles.

The degree of success, or Christian effectiveness, any person or church experiences is fundamentally linked to how one looks at the events and teachings in the Bible—especially in regard to the miraculous.  Origen, considered one of the most influential Bible interpreters in the Early Church (and I would argue one of the most damaging) looked at the text of the Bible and noticed many seeming contradictions and unresolvable paradoxes.  These are the same “Bible difficulties” that present day scholars see, as well as present day skeptics.

Consider the phrase, “the Sun stood still.”  Well, that clearly on the surface creates a great difficulty for Christians.  It completely contradicts what any middle-schooler knows:  the sun does not move, but the earth does.  Skeptics quickly charge:  “See, the Bible is a bunch of pre-scientific myths.  Bible scholars, such as Origen, respond by falling all over themselves to explain away such an obvious misstatement. 

Origen (3^rd century A.D.) came up with a clever way around any such problem with any “miracle” (and every miracle being a problem with skeptics).  He developed three levels of interpretation:  1) the literal; 2) the moral; and 3) the spiritual.  The second and third level easily dispenses with any problem created by the literal level.  This allegorical approach had great appeal for a while, but it leaves the Bible as nothing more than a collection of ancient myths. 

I too understand that how one looks at the text of the Bible fundamentally impacts how one applies the text.  I agree that the most basic way of looking at a text is a “literal” interpretation.  As someone wiser than I said, “When the plain sense makes perfect sense, look for no other sense.”  I follow that dictum to a great degree.  I also realize that much of the Bible can be viewed in a “literary” sense.  By literary I mean, literal in an other than prose sort of way.  The Bible certainly contains many types of writing, and employs many types of genres.  Poetry, narrative, prophecy, and even romance to name just a few.

One of the unique literary devices employed throughout the Bible, and much literature even today, is a phenomenological viewpoint. Another way of saying the same thing is, “language of appearance.”   In other words, many narratives in the Bible contain observations about the world from the perspective of a person on this planet.  We speak even today of sunrise and sunset, though as I said even a middle-schooler knows the sun does not move up and down. The Bible talks about the “four corners of the world” (Rev. 7:1).  The world, from a phenomenological point of view as an inhabitant of this planet, looks like it is flat.  The Bible does not teach a flat-earth, however, but gives a scientifically accurate description of a “circle” or a “ball.”  (Isa. 40:22).  So, understanding that often descriptions of phenomena in the Bible are not “literal,” but “literary.”  The language can employ some literary device such as metaphor or simile, or it may give a description in regard to how things appear from a human standpoint.

So, employing a literal point of view along with a literary point of view helps us resolve many problems—but, one problem the literal point of view creates that the literary point of view cannot solve is what scholars might call, “the problem of miracles.”  I do not want to go through all the interpretive gyrations some Bible scholars have employed to explain away this miracle before us:  “the sun and moon standing still in the sky.”  The text clearly teaches this “scientifically impossible” occurrence at the request of Joshua.  The Hebrew is clear.  The context is clear.  The event is clear:  something supernatural happened that cannot be explained by literary devices or scientific maneuvering.  We need another level.  We have a literal point of view, a literary point of view, and a “sovereign” point of view.

Yahweh has the Lead Role in the Drama of History as it has played out since the dawn of time until the drama ends at the dawn of eternity.  The Bible is “His Story.”  Every event is scripted by a Sovereign God Who has His own agenda.

Miracles happen because God is absolutely Sovereign and “this is God’s World.”  He created everything there is, including the sun and the moon, and all the matter, principles, and laws science likes to claim sole ownership over.  This is God’s World!  If God wants to stop the sun, moon, stars or rush hour traffic, He is perfectly capable of doing so.  I’ve taken a bit more time with this point of my sermon because it is fundamental to winning the victory in life.  How one views the Scripture determines everything about how one lives one’s life.

Miracles may present a problem for skeptics and scholars, but not for God.  This is God’s World—and so, Miracles are possible.

2.  Second, this is God’s Plan—So miracles are probable (v8)

⁸ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you.  Not one of them will be able to stand against you.”

Verses 1-5 outline a very formidable foe being amassed against God’s people.  Israel on her own, even with Gibeon’s assistance, would be no match for the “Five Amorite Kings” and their armies.  Israel was without a good plan.  But, God always has a plan.

Matthew Henry, the great English Bible scholar (d. 1714), points to an important aspect of the text.  He states: Joshua waited for the Canaanites to be the aggressors; let them first make an onset upon Israel, or the allies of Israel, and then their destruction will be, or at least will appear to be, the more just and more justifiable.

There is a lot of war in the O.T.  God directs much of it as part of His Divine plan for the redemption of the elect.  The violence and war of the O.T. troubles the modern sensibilities of many people living within the politically correct culture we find in America, today.  Years ago mainline Protestant denominations jettisoned hymns with militaristic themes like, “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”  For many Christians today, any idea of faith as a “battle” has been erased.  But, you cannot dismiss the obvious from the O.T., especially Joshua.

When we consider God as the Sovereign General, we must keep two foundational truths at the forefront of our thought.  First, only God can justify the use of force.  Man acting independently of God’s direction does not have God’s sanction.  Second, we are never to be the aggressors in any conflict, especially war.  Unless God clearly makes His will know otherwise, Christians must only use force as a matter of defense—either of oneself, or of those who might be innocent victims of aggression.  The Israelites showed restraint.

Yet, the Israelites found themselves under attack, as they had a solemn obligation to protect Gibeon as we learned last week.  So, Israel was in a very bad situation militarily.  But, God was not taken by surprise.  God always has a plan.

The Israelites were where they were, at the time they were there, facing the challenges they were facing because that was God’s Plan.  God is sovereign, and His plan is the only one that really matters.  Let me give you a rough illustration of how God’s Plan and man’s proposals seem to interact in life—that is, how can we resolve God’s sovereign will with man’s free will.  This illustration is not perfect, but it is helpful.

Take a large cruise ship setting out for a cruise from America to England.  It is a long journey, but there were huge discounts on the tickets.  Sovereign God, Yahweh, owns the ship.  He set the intinerary determining the time of departure, the general course, and the time and place of arrival.  The ship itself represents God’s sovereignty.  Now, you are a passenger on God’s cruise ship of life.  You can make many meaningful and varied decisions.  You can decide to play shuffleboard, or you can decide to go swimming.  You can decide to walk up to the third deck to enjoy Bill Clinton playing the saxophone, or you can continue to the fourth deck and lounge on the sun deck.  You can even decide to jump overboard, though that is not advisable.  Even though none of your actions affect the course or ultimate destination (we’ll leave mutiny out of the equation for simplicity), your free-will choices are in fact quite meaningful and quite varied.

This is how the Sovereignty of God plays out in our lives, and how it played out in our text.  Israel was where God wanted to be, when God wanted them to be there, facing the challenges God wanted them to face.  Life proceeds according to God’s Plan—so, miracles are not only possible, but highly probable and should not surprise us when they happen.  Miracles are God’s way of redirecting the lives of His children so that challenges, or challengers, cannot derail God’s plan for our lives.

3.  This is God’s Fight—So miraculous victory is certain.

¹⁴ There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, because the Lord fought for Israel.

So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed its setting almost a full day. Follow my line of thinking for a minute:  If this is God’s world that He created miraculously out of nothing, then any miracle is possible.  If God has a plan He is carrying out in this world, meaning He is the active, driving force behind human history, then miracles are not only possible, but highly probable as that plan unfolds among men.  Finally, if the fight we face, either individually or as God’s people, is really God’s fight, then miraculous victory is certain. 

If we trust God we cannot ultimately “lose the battle (or battles)” we face because they are not our battles to fight.  The text clearly teaches that the fight is God’s fight—and He never loses.

The Holman Christian Study Bible gives this note for our text:  “Had [God] not fought, Israel would not have won.  Because He fought, Israel could not lose.”

Whatever fight you are currently facing, if you obediently surrender your all to God, you will not lose—miraculous victory is certain!  God will move heaven and earth to bring you victory.  You must simply and obediently trust Him.  Just what you need, just when you need it in the fight, blessing will come riding to your rescue on the back of obedience!

The key that unlocks the door to miraculous victory is prayer.  Look again at verse 14:

¹⁴ There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, because the Lord fought for Israel.

I don’t think there are more encouraging words in all the Bible than the words, “the Lord listened to the voice of a man!”

Nothing is more fantastic than realizing the Sovereign God of Creation answers our prayers.  The idea that God miraculously answers prayer sends a shiver up my spine that stiffens my back against adversity. It took me too many years to realize how important prayer is as the chief weapon in the battle of life.

If you do not learn to pray and expect miracles from God, your faith in Jesus Christ will do little more than interrupt your life for an occasional “church snack.”  You will never experience what our text teaches about miracles, and especially a “miraculous victory.”  Prayer is not “a” thing—prayer is “the” thing.

This week I came across a story that both warmed my heart and broke my heart.  It caused me to remember the early days of my faith some nearly forty years ago, now.  My mind sped back to a time when at the end of each church service people would line the altar to pray.  Many would be weeping, broken-hearted over some trouble or challenge in life.  At one such service recently, a heart-broken little girl began to kneel and pour out her heart to God at the altar at her local church. She did not know what to say. She simply wept speechless. She began to remember something her Father had told her, "God knows your needs even before you pray, and he can answer when you don’t even know for what to ask." So she began to say her alphabet. A concerned adult from that church knelt beside her and heard her sobbing and saying her ABC’s and inquired what exactly she was trying to do. The little girl told this caring adult, "I’m praying to God from my heart." But the adult answered, "It sounds to me more like your are saying the alphabet!"
"Yes," she said, "But God knows more about what I need than I do, and he can take all these letters and arrange them in just the right way to hear and answer my prayers!"

This warmed my heart because it displays the awesomeness of prayer wrapped in simplicity.  It broke my heart because I don’t come to God nearly enough with weeping and brokenness.  As a consequence of my prayerlessness I miss many miraculous victories I could have otherwise enjoyed.  That breaks my heart.

Joshua teaches us, from beginning to end, that “Obedience brings blessing!”  and the most fundamental act of obedience is prayer.

Nothing is more fantastic than realizing the Sovereign God of Creation answers our prayers.  In response to the prayer of Joshua, Israel overcame insurmountable odds because God intervened miraculously.  Miracles may be a problem for scholars and skeptics, but they certainly are no problem for God!  It’s God’s World, so miracles are certainly possible.  Life proceeds according to God’s Plan, so miracles are certainly probable.  The battle raging around us is God’s fight, so a miraculous victory is certain.

Don’t talk about the size of the enemy you face—talk to the Sovereign God that you worship!

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[1] I may not have time to develop this idea but it is worthy of mention.  God acts with miraculous power on behalf of His people, but that does not eliminate the need for man to do his part as an act of obedience.