Jos. 10: The Longest Day

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."

Israel basically goes on a tear in chapter ten. They kick so much...hiney in this chapter, its amazing. And probably the most terrifying vision of God I have ever encountered is here. Also, the sun stands still in the sky. Is that amazing? Can you believe that?

Lots of great Bible action in this chapter.

Anyway, the king of Jerusalem heard of Gibeon's strategic alliance with Israel. He was not ok with this whole deal. Israel was strong. And not only that, the men of Gibeon apparently had the reputation of being bulldogs on the battlefield as well. So he forms his own alliance with some other kings to take down Gibeon.

Gibeon, under attack, calls on Joshua to come and "save his servants." So, we see a couple of sides to the Gibeon alliance. On one hand, Gibeon had good fighters, and would fight alongside Israel in the battle. On the other hand, without this alliance, Joshua wouldn't have to drag all his men out to fight this ridiculous battle and save the people that deceived him, and would probably do it again, dagnabbit.

But God tells Joshua that He has delivered the enemy into his hands. So he takes his army on an all-night march from Gilgal to Gibeon, which is like...however long, but it took all night. And I'd be tired, but the men handled it, and God was on their side, and filled them with courage, so, what the heck, right?

And get this, as the enemy is fleeing, it says God hurled hailstones down on them. And these hailstones killed more than Israel's swords did. Wow, that would just about wreck any hope that would have remained. You have Israel bearing down on you, and then these giant ice rocks start raining down all around you, smashing your comrades...yikes. Just a scary thought.

Well, by this time, Joshua notices maybe its starting to get a little late in the evening, and they haven't killed enough Amorites yet. Joshua, brilliant strategic mind that he is, asks God to stop the sun in the sky, to give him more time to slaughter Amorites. And God does it. At least according to the book of Jashar, whatever that may be. So, did it really happen? I guess. If I believe all this about God so far, what's to stop him from slowing the earth's rotation, or moving the sun, or whatever happened? The point here, is that somehow Joshua got another day of daylight. Secondly, is it so weird that God would listen to a man, and do what a man requests? This is just about the most outstanding act of faith I've ever read about. God, stop the moon and sun, please. Good idea, comin' right up.

Then for some reason, the five kings are found hiding in a cave like some pansies. Joshua finds them, and has his men step on their necks while he kills them. Then he hangs them. Then Israel basically moves on from city to city leaving a path of destruction everywhere they go. Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, Debir. Joshua wipes 'em all out, destroying all people and cities in one campaign. That's some kind of display of power.

This is unimaginable. What an amazing story. What would have kept Joshua going...Powerade? Just an amazing story of God's might, and what can be accomplished when God tells someone to do someone, and God and man are both locked in on one another.