Reflecting on How the Sun Stood Still to Facilitate the Victory of Joshua’s Third Battle Against the Amorites – a lecture presentation in the online bible study zoom meeting of the CRL Men & Friends, Session.
By Ptr Nene Rubrico – OBSM – CRLM&F Facilitator
23 November 2021
Text: BOOK OF JOSHUA, chapter 10
—————————————–
A Lecture on our OBSM CRL MEN & Friends Session 14 last 20 Nov. 2021 via Zoom.: Gentlemen: We are still on JOSHUA, Part 5. As exciting was the battles of Jericho and Ai, nothing compares with the Battle versus the 5 Amorite Kings to save the Gibeonites, in Joshua 10, and the miraculous INCIDENT OF SUN and Moon STANDING STILL (VV 12-13). Here’s a Scientists’s article on this which we will discuss. I will augment the arguments pro and con in later postings. BTW, gentlemen, our FB PAGE “CRL MEN & FRIENDS” IS ALREADY UP AND RUNNING, SO YOU MAY VISIT THIS AT THIS LINK:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/153154208656004
And now, for the lecture-presentation…
1. NASA allegedly Found Joshua’s Missing Day
by Dr. Tommy Mitchell on August 24, 2010
https://answersingenesis.org/creationism/arguments-to-avoid/nasa-found-joshuas-missing-day/
Many Christians mistakenly claim that NASA scientists have confirmed the Bible by finding Joshua’s missing day. Dr. Tommy Mitchell explains why this is another argument Christians should not use.
One of the most persistent “urban legends” in Christianity is the tale that NASA computers have confirmed the Biblical account of the long day of Joshua. This tale has become so widespread that once, while being interviewed on television, an Answers in Genesis–U.S. speaker was asked to comment on how wonderful it was that science had proved the Bible in this fashion. Again, this argument is well meaning but misguided.
The most common version of the story is that some years ago, NASA scientists were doing some advanced computer computations to determine the positions of the sun, planets, and stars. In the course of completing these calculations, the computers ground to a halt. As scientists investigated the problem, they found that the computers had discovered a day was missing. The team was totally frustrated and unable to solve the problem. Then a member of the team, who was a Christian, recalled that the Bible tells of a missing day. He got out his Bible and read:
So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. (Joshua 10:13)
Then, after taking this into account, the NASA team was able to account for 23 hours and 20 minutes of the missing time. But what about the remaining 40 minutes? Well, it was further pointed out that 2 Kings states:
Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”
And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”
So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz. (2 Kings 20:9–11)
This 10-degree movement would precisely account for that missing 40 minutes! NASA has proven the Bible!
Well, not really.
Further investigation reveals that this type of tale dates back to the late 1800s. The story picked up more steam after the 1936 book The Harmony of Science and Scripture promoted it. As time passed, the story was updated to include the advancement of technology, thus the addition of NASA scientists and computer calculations, etc.
So what is the truth? The truth is that this entire scenario is impossible. We can calculate the past or future positions of heavenly objects with great precision. However, in order to detect any “missing time,” we would need an accurate earth-based clock with which to compare our astronomical observations. Otherwise, how could you know anything was missing at all? However, accurate earth-based clocks do not go back to the time of Joshua. Nor do we have precisely-timed astronomical observations from that time. The illusion of astronomical precision for dating past events has in fact led many people to dogmatically hold unsupportable positions without realizing the multiplicity of variables that form a sandy foundation for their contentions. We know the accounts in Joshua and 2 Kings are real events in history. In no way do we disteitself) xtpute the historical accuracy of the Bible.
However, the tale of the scientific discovery of Joshua’s lost day and Hezekiah’s extra minutes is a fable—another argument a Christian should not use.
—————————
2. Article#2; WHAT IS THE EXPLANATION OF THE PROLONGED DAY IN JOSHUA 1012-14?
By Dr Gleason R. Archer- Author, “Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties,” (Zondervan Press: Grand Rapids:Mich,1982), pp 101-2.
What is the explanation of the Prolonged Day in Joshua (10:12-14)
The Book of Joshua records severalmiracles, but none perhaps noteworthy or as widely discussed as that rtaii g to the 24 -hour prolongation of the day in which the battle of gibeon was fought (10:12-14). Ty has beenobjected that if in fact the earth was stopped in its rotation for a period of 42 hours, inconceivable ccatastrophe would have befallen on the entire planet and everything on its surface. While those who believe in the omnipotence of God would hardly concede that Yahweh could havwprevented such catastrophe ans held in abeyance those physical laws that might have broughtit to passs, it does NOT seem to be absolutely necessary (on the basis of the Hebrew utself ) to hold that the planet was suddenly halted in its rotation. VERSE 13 STATES THAT “THE SUN DID NOT HASTEN TO GO DOWN FOR ABOUT A WHOLE DAY (ref: NASB). THE WORDS “DID NOT HASTEN” SEEM TO POINT TO A RETARDATION OF THE MOVEMENT SO THAT THE ROTATION REQUIRED 48 HOURS RATHER THAN THE USUAL 24 HOURS.
A Long Day. In support of this interpretation, research has brough to light reports from Egyptian, Chinese, and Hindu sources of a long day. TheologiaN HarryRimmer reports that SOME ASTRONOMERS HAVE COME TO THE CONCUSION THAT ONE FULL DAY IS MISSING IN OUR ASTRONOMICAL CALCULATION . RIMMER STATES THAT Astronomer and Physicist Edward Pickering states this missing day back to the time of Joshua; likewise has Prof Adiel Totten of Yale University (qcording to British writer and theologian Bernard Ramm inhis book The Christian View of Science ans Scripture (Grad Rapids, Eerdmans, 1954) Dr Ramms reports , however, that he was unable to document this report , possibly because these universities preferred noy to keep records of this sort in their archives.
The Sun Standing Still? Another possibility has been deduced from a sightly different interpretation of the word “DOM” (Translated in the KJV as “stand thou still.”) This verb usually signifies “TO BE SILENT, TO CEASE, OR LEAVE OFF.” Prof E.W. Maunders of the London Royal Observatory and Dr Robert Dick Wilson (American linguist, theologian, OT Scholaz of Humobold Berlin and Princeton universities) therefore interpreted Joshua’s prayer to be a PETTION THAT THE SUN CEASE POURING DOWN ITS HEAT ON ITS STRUGGLING TROOPS SO THAT THEY MIGHT BE PERMITTED TO PRESS THE BATTLE UNDER MORE FAVORABLE CONDTIONS. [Note that} the tremendously destructive HAILSTRORM THAT ACCOMPANIED THE BATTLE LENDS SOE CREDENCE TO THIS VIEW, AND IT HAS BEEN ADVOCATED BY MEN OF UNQUESTIONED REPUTATIONS AND BACGROUND. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that verse 13 APPEARS TO FAVOR A PROLONGATION OF JOSHUA’S DAY: “And the sun stopped in the middle of the SKY, AND DID NOT HASTEN TO GO DOWN FOR ABOUT A WHOLE DAy” (NASB – new AMERICAN Standard Bible 1995-pn).
Carl Keil and German theologian Franz Delisch, (authors of “Joshua, Judges, Ruth”. 1806 Page 110) suggest that a miraculous PROLONGATION of the day WOULD HAVE TAKEN PLACE IF IT SEEMED TO JOSHUA AND ALL ISRAEL TO BE SUPERNATURALLY [Read: miraculous – pn] PROLONGED , BECAUSE THEY WERE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH IT IN THE WORK OF 2 DAYS. It woud have been very difficult for them whether the earth was rotating at a normal rate if the earth’s rotation furnished their only criterion for measuring time. [IOW, Joshua and his fighting soldiers couldn’t care less if the clock stopped and/or the sun stopped at the MIDDLE OF THE sky -NASB – IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE! All they cared about was that they had a day that kept on shining, so they could see the enemy and not hiding in the darkness was fighting under comfortable/cool conditions , and witnessed the hailstorm raining from heaven killing their enemies ! [That, gentlemen, was what JOshu cared about, in the same way that God made the impregnable walls of Jericho to “come tumbling down” (AS THE FAMOUS SONG GOES) and exposed the people to the attack of the Israelites, thank ypu LORD!! -pn]. To continue…
Optical Refraction of tbe Sun’s Rays. Tey add another possibilit: that God may have produced an OPTICAL ;PRLOLONGATION OF THE SUNSHINE, CONTINUING ITS VISIBILITY AFTER NORMAL SETTING TIME (I.E, DUSK) BY MEANS OF SPECIAL REFRACTIOIN OF THE RAYS [I,E, normal setting time of the sun was delayed supernaturally. Note: pn noted that in Singapore and Malaysia, around late September, the sun sets at around 7p.m., so there is still light beyond what we call “dusk.” In Scandanaviancountries,Iceland for example, there is always sunshine 6 months of the year, and darkness/night in another 6 months. The sqme is trje for the Artic and Antartica zones of the globe. Is this normal or not?-pn].
Long Day or Long Night? Prof Hugh J Blair, Scottish theologian and University professor (author of book, Gutrie, “New Bible Commentary, p 244) suggests that Joshua’s PRAYER WAS MADE EARLY IN THE MORNING, SINCE THE MOON WAS IN THE WEST AND THE SUN WAS IN THE EAST/RISING. THE ANSWER TO JOSHUA CAME IN THE FORM OF A HAILSTORM [FREEZING RAINDROPS INTO SOLID ICE IN THE CLOUDS – pn] that POLONGED THE DARKNESS AND THUS FACILITATED THE ATTACK OF THE ISRAELTES.
Conclusion. Hence, the defeat of the enemy was completed, and we should speak of Joshua’s “long night” rather than “long day”, This is essentially the view of Maunders and Wilson above. Such an interpretation necessitates NO STOPPING OF THE EARTH ON ITS AXIS, but it hardly fits with the statement of Joshua 10:13, and is therefore contradictory to the NASB verse 13. NO, THE EARTH HAD A PROLONGED DAY AS PRAYED FOR BY JOSHUA, AND THAT’S THE MIRACLE OF Gods intervention in human affairs, even Joshua’s battle!!God bless. – pn