The Day The Sun Stood Still Series

A woman died and went to heaven, and when she passed thru the pearly gates, she noted that there were boxes over in the corner that had her name on them. That made her curious so she asked an angel about them. The angel replied: “It is God’s command that whenever we receive a prayer request, an angel is immediately sent forth with an answer. But if they find that the one praying doesn’t expect an answer, they return here and put the answer in a box and put the person’s name on the box.”

One of the most intriguing parts of the story we read today is not that God made the sun stand still. NO… the most intriguing part of this story is this comment by God: “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.” Joshua 10:14

Joshua called out to God… and made an audacious request. Joshua 10:12 says “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.’”

Frankly that doesn’t sound like a request… it almost seemed a command. Now why would Joshua make such a loud and public statement? Because he had a promise from God: The LORD had told Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you." Joshua 10:8

So Joshua had a PROMISE… but he also had a problem. The battle wasn’t finished yet, the enemy had not yet been conquered, and he was running out of daylight. So Joshua called on God to do the unthinkable: Make the sun stand till until we’ve whipped the enemy.

ILLUS: In December of 1944, Adolf Hitler had launched a surprise attack known as

the Battle of the Bulge… and 1000s of Nazi troops and tanks advanced through Allied lines, creating havoc and confusion. To make matters worse snow had been falling for days and a heavy fog blanketed the area, effectively shielding the Nazis from Allied air attack. General George Patton had wheeled his entire army to strike the southern shoulder of the enemy - but he realized that without air support, the Allies would be in trouble. So, on December 22, Patton called his Chaplain and said: “Do you have any prayers for fair weather? Our men are having a rough time without air cover in the Ardennes, and the ceiling is too low for flying.”

And so the chaplain prayed: “Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech thee to restrain these immoderate rains with which we’ve had to contend. Grant us fair weather for battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon thee - that armed with thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish thy justice among men and nations.”

The next day, December 23, soldiers awoke to bright clear day and looked up to see the air filled with Allied planes attacking the Nazi forces below... and the war ended 19 weeks later. (Guideposts 12/94 p.36,37)

A good general knows when to call on God for help.

But now here’s the deal. If God DIDN’T make the sun stand still (as the Bible says) this story in Joshua 10 is just a story. If the sun didn’t stand still the Bible lied and verse 14 has no meaning for us.

As you might imagine, skeptics & atheists mercilessly mock this supposed miracle because it defies every known law of nature. Here’s the problem: The surface of the earth - at the equator – and it revolves at a speed of roughly 1,000 mph. And the Earth orbits the Sun at an average speed of 67,000 mph. For the sun to stand still in the sky the earth would have to stop revolving, or at least slow down dramatically. Gravity would be suspended, and (in theory) the world would collapse.

Just to get a small idea of how that would work, imagine going down the road at 80 mph with your car loaded with all kind of boxes and loose materials. And suddenly you have to stop to avoid a deer in the road. If you can visualize the chaos… of items flying all over the place inside your car as it stops at that speed - well, you can have a vague idea of what would happen if the earth stopped and stood still in the heavens.

ILLUS: Back in 1960 there was a movie called “Inherit the Wind” and the script had a lawyer mocking a man on the stand who had said he believed that the sun stood still for Joshua. The lawyer dramatically destroyed this witness with these words: “Now, if what you say actually happened – if Joshua stopped the sun in the sky – the earth stopped spinning on its axis, continents toppled over one another, mountains flew into space, and the earth, shriveled to a cinder, and crashed into the sun. Now, how come they missed that little tidbit of news?”