Joshua 10:12-15 – History of the missing day

It’s a great thought to know that we never have to fight any battle in life alone. That’s why we have no need to lose any war against the opposing forces of life. When we learn to tap into the power of God that He has made available to us, we need not be defeated in a single score. Joshua 10:10-11, described for us how the Lord sent a barrage of hailstones and killed many from the opposing forces. So great was the destruction that it was said that more from the enemy’s camp were killed by the hailstones than those the Israelites had slain. Now in Joshua 10:12-14, we see yet another supernatural act in which God fought for His people. In all the record of miracles that had happened in the physical world, this is probably the greatest. God literally stopped the sun in the sky, extended the number of hours of daylight, so that Joshua and his people could finish the battle.

To those who refuse to believe God, this miracle is the butt of their jokes. They consider us believers to be simpletons for daring to believe in such a silly myth. To them, it’s ridiculous to think that the Bible is the inspired Word of God because science has long shown that the sun has all along been stationary and does not move. It is the earth that rotates around it. The daylight that shines through a different part of the earth is due to the rotation of the earth around the sun. The fact is this: what is described here is deploying the use of the language of observation. For example, when we speak of the morning at sunrise and evening at sunset. The sun in reality does not rise nor set. It has always been stationary. Scientifically speaking, the earth just miraculously stopped rotating for a duration. This gave the Israelites enough sunlight to finish the task of destroying the enemies.     

We need to know that in life God has set in motion a series of law to ensure order. And He normally operates by that norm. However, once in a while we do see God disrupting that norm and those moments we term as a miracle. It is an act of God’s grace. This miracle of “the sun that stood still” describes here has certainly violated the law of nature. That’s why it is called a miracle. We need to know that God governs the universe. He has created it and according to Hebrews 1:3, He upholds the universe by the word of His power. Besides, it is God who has given us the laws of nature. Thus, it is not impossible for this same God, who has created the universe, to do a little thing like that. The fact is that God supernaturally intervened on His people’s behalf so that they could finish what they had begun.

What is the implication of a passage like this? Well, it tells us that our God is a supernatural God. It tells us that He controls everything physical and spiritual, visible and invisible. This assures us that He can supernaturally arbitrate in the circumstances of our lives and bring about our deliverance when it seems humanly impossible to do so. Testimonies of divine interventions exist. God can move in ways that seem humanly impossible. Know that God specializes in situations when our wit ends. Remember next time when we come to the end of the line, that’s when we are ready for God's miracle to begin. We are blessed indeed!