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?”
Now, what was that lawyer saying? He was saying that science doesn’t allow for things like that to happen. (With Distain) things like the sun standing still in the sky! It would have been a bizarre miracle that defied all known laws of physics. And they’d be right… except for one small detail.
You see, we believe that our God who is capable of walking and chewing gum all at the same time. We believe that the God Who created the world in 6 days, Who designed everything that exists, and Who holds everything in the palm of His hand, can do anything He wants anytime He wants to without asking our permission.
Hebrews 1:3 tells us Jesus “upholds the universe by the word of his power.”
The problem for skeptics is that they can’t imagine a God who could defy the laws of physics. But, in fact, every miracle in Scripture defies the Laws of Physics: The Creation; Noah’s Flood; the parting of the Red Sea; the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in fiery furnace, the feeding of the 5000, raising people from the dead; and (ultimately) the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
THEY ALL DEFY the Laws of Physics. That’s why they’re called miracles.
You see, the laws of physics aren’t really Laws. It’s not like some legislative body had gathered and passed laws that governed the universe that we need to obey or we get fined or pay a ticket. The laws of physics are essentially observations of what normally happens in nature. You can count on these things happening time after time. But such laws aren’t always ironclad.
ILLUS: For example, (I gave a tennis ball to an audience member and asked them to throw it up in the air). What happened? He threw the ball into the air, and it came back down. What goes up must come down. It happens every time we do that. In physics, it’s called the Law of Gravity.
But does the law of gravity always apply? Well, consider this scenario: if I go to the International Space Station, put on a space suit and take a walk outside the station with some kind of ball in my hand - what would happen if I threw that ball “up”? It wouldn’t come back “down” would it? Why not? I mean I’ve just “defied” the Law of Gravity. How could I do that? Well, something changed. What is that something that changed? Space. In space, there is little if any gravity exerting a pull on that ball to bring it back “down.” Something changed.
Now, when it comes to BIBLICAL miracles, the laws of physics were violated over and over again because something “changed.” And what had changed was this: God showed up. God created the laws of physics, and so He CHANGED them as He desired.
That said, is there any PROOF of the Biblical statement that Sun stood still? Do you remember that snide comment by the lawyer in “Inherit the Wind”? “How come they missed that little tidbit of news?” Well, there a few tidbits from history that lawyer didn’t know about.
• The Greek historian Herodotus (more than 400 years before Christ) wrote that when he visited Egypt, the priests there showed him an ancient manuscript which told the story of a day which lasted about twice as long as a normal day.
• French intellectual, Fernand Crombette translated many of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and found that among those hieroglyphics is the story of Joshua’s long day.
• There was a Chinese account from an ancient manuscript (now lost) that recounted a period of time during the reign of Emperor Yau (coincides with the days of Joshua), when the sun stood still.
• And, on the other side of the world, the Aztecs tell and other ancient Indian cultures (in Southern, Middle and Northern America) that ALL TELL OF A TIME when there was a “Long Night” where the sun refused to rise in the sky. (http://www.geocentricity.com/astronomy_of_bible/jld/)
Do those stories PROVE that the Bible was right about the day the earth stood still? No, but they provide reasonable confirmation that those folks might have observed that miracle in their day. My main point is this – I believe the Bible. If the Bible says the sun stood still… that’s what happened. Why would I believe that? Because I believe Jesus, and Jesus said: “If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20
Now, why would God include this story in Scripture? What can we learn from what happened that day? Well, it can be summed up in that one scripture: “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
God heeded the voice of a man, AND GOD FOUGHT FOR HIS PEOPLE.
We live in a harsh world. People are gonna hurt us, insult us, persecute us, rob us. You name it, if an evil person can think of something evil to do they’ do it. Evil exists and we won’t entirely escape it. And Jesus was very honest about this: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
This story of Sun standing still is important to us because we need to realize that God stepped up and did a mighty thing all because Joshua asked Him to. So, what’s God trying to tell us? He’s telling us He’s powerful enough to do anything that needs to be done.
I read a man’s sermon on the internet, and it’s good stuff. He said “God will stop nature for you, and He will help you to cause your enemies to become your footstool! How do I know that? Because on a hill called Calvary there stood an old rugged cross – the emblem of suffering and shame. It was on a Friday when they crucified My Savior. They had beaten Him, and insulted Him, and mistreated Him, and then they nailed him to a Cross. Around the 9th hour Jesus cried with a Loud voice saying – “Eloi, Eloi, Lama-Sabach-Thani,” which means “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Then he cried with a loud voice and gave up the Ghost. He hung his head and there he Died. And Bible says from the 6th until the 9th hour there was darkness in the land. From Noon until 3:00 pm…. the Sun REFUSED to Shine. In Joshua’s day – in answer to prayer - God made the SUN to Stand Still, and that miracle gave His people victory over their enemy. And on that dreadful Friday when Jesus died on the cross, the Sun was in its place… but it refused to shine. It was on that day - God gave YOU the victory! What a Mighty God We Serve!” (adapted from a sermon by Wayne Lawson-sermoncentral.com)
God can do anything, from parting the crossing of the Jordan, to the destruction of Jericho, and even causing the Sun to stand still in the sky. But the most powerful miracle God ever did was when Jesus rose from the dead to give us hope for an eternal life with Him.
“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:31-32
God can do anything… but He’s ALREADY done the most power thing He could possibly do for us. He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him (that’s you) shall have everlasting life.
INVITATION
