Now we are told: "After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites." (Joshua 10:9-11) The Lord took down more enemy soldiers than the Israelites did.
Why does the Bible say the appearance of the Israelites surprised the Amorite armies? It was not common for armies to march at night. It's estimated it took eight to ten hours for Joshua and his men to make the uphill journey from Gilgal to Gibeon in the dark. If the Amorites thought they would show up at all, they were expecting them to start out from Gilgal at daybreak and end up at Gibeon by early afternoon. No doubt the Amorites believed the battle would be over before then. Gibeon was an important city with brave fighting men but it was no match for the armies of five great kings.
Instead the appearance of the Israelites catches them off guard and the Bible says the Lord "threw them into confusion". This is not the only place in the Bible where we'll find the Lord throwing Israel's enemies into confusion. He has the ability to make wicked enemy armies turn on each other or flee in fear, even when they outnumber Israel's soldiers. The author of Psalm 33, who is generally accepted to be King David, said of the Lord's ability to make the plans of Israel's enemies come to nothing: "The Lord foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples." (Psalm 33:10) In the book of Job we find his friend Eliphaz crediting the Lord with being able to bring confusion on the wicked. "He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night." (Job 5:12-14) This is what we find the Lord doing in our passage today: thwarting the schemes of the crafty, foiling the plans of the heathen nations of Canaan, and causing them to grope in daylight as if they are stumbling about in the dark. In contrast, what does the Bible say about those who love and serve the Lord? "Even in darkness light dawns for the upright." (Psalm 112:4a) The Lord is just as able to light the path of the one who follows Him as He is to bring darkness upon the path of the enemy.
The Lord is going to light the path of the Israelites in our chapter today. There aren't enough daylight hours in a natural day for the soldiers of Israel to defeat all the soldiers of these five enemy armies. If the battle is not decisively won on this day, those who escape the swords of the Israelites will gather somewhere to regroup and come back tomorrow. The Lord is going to win the battle today and He uses the forces of nature---forces He created---for Israel's benefit.
"On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: ''Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.' So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, til 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." (Joshua 10:12-13) Some scholars, theologians, and skeptics have proposed that the words of verses 12-13 are merely a poetic way of describing this legendary victory. I disagree. I believe that when the Bible says "the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day" it means either that the sun literally stopped or that it appeared to stop.
To further emphasize that this was a real occurrence, the author of the book of Joshua says, "There has never been a day like it before or since." (Joshua 10:14a) So what actually happened on this day? Did the earth stop turning, causing the sun to appear to hang motionless in the heavens? Did the earth wobble on its axis? Did the Lord cause some type of refraction of the light so that the land did not grow dark until Israel had beaten the armies of the five kings? Did the Lord arrange for the battle to take place on the same day as an unusual eclipse was set to take place? We don't know exactly how the Lord accomplished this miracle but what we do know is that the One who spoke everything out of nothing, who created all that exists, who parted the Red Sea, and who sent manna from heaven is more than able to make a day last longer than normal. The Lord created the laws of the universe and they are subject to Him.
The Lord gave extra sunlight to enable Israel to defeat her enemies. Does this mean the long day was a local event only for the benefit of Israel? Or was this a worldwide event? Several other ancient historical writings appear to back up the Bible's account of an extra long day. The Egyptians, the Chinese, the Incas, the Aztecs, the Native Americans, the Babylonians, and the Persians are some examples of cultures who have a legend of an extra long day (or in some cases, an extra long night).
The Bible says there has never been a day like it before or since, but the primary reason the Bible says it was different than any other day is because it was "a day when the Lord listened to a human being". (Joshua 10:14b) Of course the Lord hears the prayers of human beings every day. But He does not generally alter the laws of the universe in response to the prayers of humans. If the earth actually stopped turning, the Lord would have to hold everyone and everything in place. It's quite possible that's really what He did and in that case it's no wonder the Bible calls special attention to the fact that the Lord did it in response to man's prayer! In the Bible we'll find the Lord working all sorts of miracles in response to the prayers of human beings but the miracle we find in Joshua 10 is in a league of its own. This causes the author to exclaim, "Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!" (Joshua 10:14b)
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