On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”


“Sun. stand still!”



Joshua 10:9 14

New International Version (NIV)


9 After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. 10 The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

12 On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,

and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

13 So the sun stood still,

and the moon stopped,

till the nation avenged itself on[a] 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. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!



When Moses was about to die, he told Israelites what to do when they enter the promised land. He assured Israelites that the Lord will go ahead of Israelites to the promised land and He will fight for you. What Moses said was not an empty promise. When they entered the promised land, Joshua could see that a great warrior of God was already there. As God promised through Moses, God fought for Israelites and with Israelites. The conquest of the promised land was clearly combined efforts of Israelites and God. Today’s passage shows it very clearly. Israelites are now facing the joined force of the five kings of Amorites. Joshua and Israelites did their parts. They marched all night from Gilgal and took them by surprise. That was a very daring attack. But Joshua and Israelites could be so daring because God was fighting with them and for them. God threw the Amorites into confusion so that the surprise attack could be effective. God also hurled hailstones down on them. Although the five kings of Amorites joined their forces to build a great army, they were no contest to the joined force of God and His people. In fact, no army would be able to withstand the joined force of God and His people. Joshua, greatly encouraged by the presence of God, even did something unthinkable. He commanded the sun to stand still and the moon to stop. Joshua knew that no human can do it. Only God can do it. So it was as if he told God to do it. And God did it! The sun stood still. The moon stopped. What a marvelous sight it must have been! Awesome! Don’t you wish that you were there? Remarkable and amazing as it was, this wasn’t just a one time show of force. I believe God still does the same. Jesus said that He will be with us until the end of the world. He is not just there. He is still fighting for us and with us. People with genuine faith experience similar miracles to the sun standing still even now if you dare to say it to God. I love the sun and moon rising up and falling down. But I wish I could see the hand of God holding it for once. How can we do it? I believe we should invite God to fight with us and for us every day like Joshua did. Then we will see the unthinkable with our naked eyes too. Amen!