Till the Sun Goes Down – Joshua 10:13

Joshua 10:13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.

I don’t like back tracking, but here I go.  I am well into reading the Book of Joshua, but the above verse kept gnawing at me for a couple of reasons.  I ended up getting sidetracked on this for some time.  I’d like to briefly discuss one of the points of this verse.

It says that the sun stood still and the moon stopped.  Some argue that this is impossible and would have catastrophic effects on the Earth.  I read that some point to this verse and say that’s why the Bible is unbelievable. That says more about the person than the Bible.  If that would be impossible to God, that would kind of mean that gravity is the God and not God.  Man’s understanding doesn’t confine God.  Man’s understanding begins (and ends) with God.

My question here is not whether this event happened, but rather what was it that did occur? Was the sky lit up so that it appeared the Sun was still high in the sky?  Did the Earth stand still? If there was some sort of celestial alteration, shouldn’t there be more of a record of it somewhere?

Some years ago, it was circulated that NASA scientists “discovered” that there was a missing day. You might have heard that story. It was a hoax. God does not need man to lie for Him.  However, many cultures have an extended day or night as part of their folklore.  Could it be because there was some basis for that?

Perhaps what I should be asking is a different question. Why was this verse in the Bible?  I believe that this verse exemplifies what perhaps the Bible (or at least, up to this point) is all about.  Read this carefully: The point is that God is bigger than gravity. God is bigger than any situation, any circumstance, any sickness or any sin that we may have found ourselves.  That sheds a whole new light on our lives.

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