Joshua 10:1 ¶ Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them; 2 That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty. 3 Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel. 5 Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it. 6 And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.
So the news has reached Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem how Gibeon,
considered a powerful city and here linked as a royal city, probably an outpost
of Egypt or at least linked to the Egyptian leadership, made peace with the
Israelites and were submitting to their rule. Many commentators I read didn’t
seem to have any solid ideas of what was meant by a royal city but if Canaan
was under Egyptian suzerainty what I said would seem likely. Some say that it
was called a royal city because it had a king and some others did not but that
seems wrong because every independent city’s leader would be considered a king
unless they were under another’s thumb, so to speak, and, as I pointed out in
Genesis, two kings were evident, one of a religious nature offering things to
the god and gods of the city, and one was a political leader who went to war. I
talked about this early in Genesis.
You have a confederacy of kings who want to punish Gibeon for
submitting. You then have Gibeon pleading for help from Joshua.
Joshua 10:7 ¶ So Joshua
ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the
mighty men of valour. 8 And the LORD
said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand;
there shall not a man of them stand before thee. 9 Joshua
therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal
all night. 10 And the LORD discomfited
them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased
them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and
unto Makkedah. 11 And it came to pass,
as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to
Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto
Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they
whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. 12 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when
the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said
in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in
the valley of Ajalon. 13 And the sun
stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon
their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun
stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole
day. 14 And there was no day like that
before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the
LORD fought for Israel.
Here are a couple of very important verses and one very
controversial verse for us to consider.
Verse 11 has God casting great stones down on the enemies of
Israel and calling them hailstones so these were huge hailstones. Hail is
mentioned as a weapon in other places. Notice the plague of hail in Egypt in
Exodus 9. Also see Psalms 18, 78, and 105.
Hail can do a lot of damage and individual hailstorms have cost
more than a billion dollars in damage with the costliest being reported on the
internet as one on April 10, 2001 down I-70 from Eastern Kansas to Western
Illinois that cost $2.5 billion in property damage. People have been killed by
hail in the U.S. although only a very few and the largest hailstone reported
was 8” in diameter and weighed 2lbs. God sent a special storm that could have
had stones much larger although a 2lb. stone falling from a great height would
kill a man for certain. I picture these as much larger as great seems to
signify.
The controversy comes in verses 12 through 14. This was a unique
day, a miracle of God’s intervention in His own work, the regularity of day and
night. The reference here is to the heavens moving and the earth standing
still. It does not say that the earth must be still but that the sun and the
moon must stand still.
Before we go into this miracle deeper let’s look at the history of
the beliefs that the solar system is geocentric, as in the earth is still and
everything revolves around it, or that the solar system is heliocentric, what
you were taught in public school, that the sun is the center of the solar
system.
First, let’s consider the established wisdom in science that our
galaxy is in the center of the known universe. Fred Hoyle, Nobel Prize winning
Astronomer, wrote an astronomy textbook in the early 1970s that contained some
interesting information. In it he writes;
However, [refers
to a diagram of the universe] would demand a special relation of our own galaxy
to the universe, since in this figure we have taken our galaxy to be located in
the center of a nonuniform distribution of galaxies. It hardly seems plausible
that our galaxy would be in any such privileged position. So we answer the
above question [would anywhere appear to be the center making the universe
acentric?] affirmatively on intellectual grounds rather than because such an
answer is determined by observation.[1]
The fact that,
according to the observations of many theoretical scientists, based on the data
they have collected based on their own theories and mathematical models, the
earth may be in a central position in the universe is interesting, to say the
least. Regarding the belief that was once widely held by both scientists and
Christians, that the earth was the center of the solar system (geocentric
theory) rather than the sun (heliocentric theory), as Copernicus theorized,
Hoyle had this interesting statement to make. “We now know that the difference
between a heliocentric theory and a geocentric theory is one of relative motion
only, and that such a difference has no physical significance.”[2]
Remember there are no walls, ceiling, or floors in space so determining
relative motion without those reference points can be very complicated and
often the evidence and mathematical calculations can point to one way and also
prove the reverse.
The earth might
be at the center of the universe as the Bible seems to suggest, an idea
partially backed up even by atheistic scientists. I just read you what Hoyle
had to say about the idea of geocentricity, or the earth being at the center of
at least the solar system. What a physicist will say, if they are honest, is
that yes it is possible but that the math is much simpler for a heliocentric
solar system.
In this
particular miracle, as astounding as the Red Sea being parted, the sun and the
moon stand still. What purpose do the sun and the moon serve besides the sun’s
life sustaining properties?
Genesis 1:14 ¶ And God
said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from
the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the
firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great
lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the
night: he made the stars also. 17 And
God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night,
and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the
fourth day.
Now there are, in Christian circles, those who have said that
someone from NASA proved the reality of this particular day when the sun and
the moon stood still. A 1970 newspaper article ran in many papers across the
country saying that NASA had found the long day in its computations but anyone
who tried to verify this with NASA has been told that the story was a total
lie, as in never happened. NASA is not in the business of trying to confirm
Bible history and we should view this like the Shroud of Turin and the
so-called discovery of the Ark in Turkey along with the bone of a saint in a
local Catholic church as simply people looking for a relic to validate their
faith.
What I am saying is that this miracle needs no confirmation from
secular science although it would be interesting if it did confirm the miracle.
I like to post outside references that support the Bible’s narrative but not as
proof merely as revealing how science stumbles upon eternal truth by accident
on occasion. If you find proof you can cite and give me to investigate from a
primary source, as the Bible is a primary source, I’ll be happy to do so. A
primary source is an eyewitness like the Holy Spirit and Joshua who were there
and is not based on some mathematical computation from a computer model. You
don’t need phony news stories or conjectures made by a preacher about some
great relic that “proves” the Bible. You need faith from God.
This was a unique day, a miracle, like the parting of the Red Sea
was unique, Jonah’s fish was unique, and other things that God has done that He
did not repeat.
Verse 13 references a book of Jasher. It is also referenced in
2Samuel 1:18.
2Samuel 1:18 (Also he bade
them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in
the book of Jasher.)
It is known in some sources as meaning the Book of the Upright or
the Book of the Just Man. Other sources say it is a reference to the first five
books of Moses, as put out there by Rashi, the medieval Jewish rabbi whose
commentary forms the basis for a popular Hebrew Bible today.
However, numerous forgeries have resulted from these beliefs in
its veracity and it is widely regarded as a non-canonical book. In other words,
it did not include enough that was given by inspiration of God to warrant the
Holy Spirit operating through the Jews or the church to have it for us to use.
What follows does not need comment as it is a record of conquests.
One note is that commentators point out that the Goshen in verse 41 is not the
Goshen in Egypt. It is possible as often happens that people from Goshen named
their city after their homeland.
Joshua 10:15 ¶ And Joshua
returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal. 16 But these five kings fled, and hid themselves
in a cave at Makkedah. 17 And it was
told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah.
18 And Joshua said, Roll great stones
upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them: 19 And stay ye not, but pursue after your
enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their
cities: for the LORD your God hath delivered them into your hand. 20 And it came to pass, when Joshua and the
children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter,
till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered
into fenced cities. 21 And all the
people returned to the camp to Joshua at
Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue against any of the
children of Israel. 22 Then said Joshua,
Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the
cave. 23 And they did so, and brought
forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the
king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king
of Eglon. 24 And it came to pass, when
they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of
Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come
near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put
their feet upon the necks of them. 25
And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of
good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye
fight. 26 And afterward Joshua smote
them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon
the trees until the evening. 27 And it
came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua
commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave
wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which
remain until this very day.
Joshua 10:28 ¶ And that day
Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king
thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein;
he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king
of Jericho. 29 Then Joshua passed from
Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah:
30 And the LORD delivered it also, and
the king thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the
sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it;
but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho. 31 And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel
with him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it: 32 And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand
of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the
sword, and all the souls that were therein, according to all that he had
done to Libnah. 33 Then Horam king of
Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he
had left him none remaining. 34 And from
Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped
against it, and fought against it: 35
And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword,
and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed that day,
according to all that he had done to Lachish. 36 And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel
with him, unto Hebron; and they fought against it: 37 And they took it, and smote it with the edge
of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the
souls that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that
he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were
therein. 38 And Joshua returned, and all
Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it: 39 And he took it, and the king thereof, and all
the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly
destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he
had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done
also to Libnah, and to her king. 40 So
Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale,
and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly
destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded. 41 And Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even
unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon. 42 And all these kings and their land did Joshua
take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him,
unto the camp to Gilgal.
This is the nature of wars of conquest throughout history,
genocide and total destruction. These cities were the enemies of Israel in
their alliance and of God in their bestiality, sexual religions, child
sacrifice, and worship of devils.
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