The Day the Sun Stood Still

One of the most interesting stories in the Bible is found in Joshua 10:1-15. Joshua was the leader of God's people (the Israelites). The people of a city called Gibeon became servants of the Israelites. One day, wicked kings decided to attack Gibeon. The Gibeonites asked Joshua to help them. So, the Israelite army came to their rescue. Joshua knew this was the right thing to do because God had told him, "Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands" (Joshua 10:8). God promised Joshua that He would help the Israelites win. He helped them by using two miracles.

First, at one point in the battle, the enemies of the Israelites tried to run away. But God sent a great hailstorm to stop them. The hail was so bad, and came down so hard, that it actually killed the enemy soldiers! More of the Israelites' enemies died in the hailstorm than in the actual battle (read Joshua 10:11).

Second, God did something else that had never been done before. The Bible says, "So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies" and "the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day" (Joshua 10:13). Maybe God did this so that the Israelites would have more daylight to fight the battle.

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