Joshua’s prayer

Joshua, while pursuing the Amorites, requested the Lord to keep the sun still in order to solidify the victory. “O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.” The request was heard and accepted by the Lord as it is said in Verse 13, “So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.” Also, in Verse 14, it is said, “There was no day like that before it or after it, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man.” First time in human history, such a great miracle had occurred. As a result, Joshua was able to completely annihilate the southern five-king coalition.

The details of the miracle

Now, how did the miracle occur specifically? Following are three popular explanations of the miracle: (1) the word rendered as “stood still” (v. 13) is a Hebrew word, “damam” and it means “to be silent” and or “to be still.” From this, it can be said that the miracle was that something had blocked the sunlight. The hailstones blocked the sunlight, so the large stones from heaven were the answer to Joshua’s prayer. (2) The rotation of the earth had slowed down. While the normal rotation of a day took 24 hours, on this day it took 48 hours. (3) This was not a miracle involving the entire solar system, rather it was regional. Sunlight lit up the world for twice as long as usual. The first explanation is an outcome of attempting to explain the miracle with logic, and it is in line with the actual intent of the text. The second and third explanations are both favored by those who are more serious in understanding the Bible. This kind of miracle is impossible to comprehend with human minds. We should accept this miracle, based on the conviction that nothing is impossible with the Lord, and we should look forward to the day when ultimately all things will be revealed to us. In addition, the Amorites worshipped the sun and the moon as gods, which means that through this miracle, the God of Joshua proclaimed His sovereignty over the gods of Amorites. Let us worship the Almighty God.