So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
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.”
And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 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.
Probably everybody on the planet, whether they actually believe in God or not, have “prayed” that the weather would be good for their outdoor wedding, picnic or family event. The “prayer” is not always verbal but the hope is there that “fate” will make the sun shine for their graduation open house, or vacation at the beach. In the above passage we read something rather remarkable about Joshua’s battles and God’s intervention. In one place we read that God sends a “panic” into the hearts of Joshua’s enemies. Then we read that God sends giant hail stones from heaven to fight for Joshua. Lastly we read that God actually made the sun stand still so Joshua could fight longer into the day. That act of God is so amazing the author of the book even tells us there is source material to look into to confirm the fact that the sun stood still. It is doubtful that we even pray this way today. It is move doubtful to find someone who believes God even did this back then, much less could do so now. The lesson to learn here is that God intervenes in the affairs of mankind in miraculous ways. He does so every day, but we seldom notice or look for His moving. That should not limit us in our faith and belief in regard to God’s sovereign intervention to protect us. God is powerful and is constantly intervening in our lives to give us victory.
No comments:
Post a Comment