http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1139
Did the Sun Stand Still?
Q.
How can I believe the Bible is reliable when it says that the Sun “stood still” at the request of Joshua?
A.
This question relates to the history narrated in Joshua 10. After the
defeat of Ai, five kings of Canaan joined forces to attack the city of
Gibeon for making an alliance with Israel. Upon hearing of this move,
Joshua and his men marched through the night from Gilgal to Gibeon
where, with the Lord's help, Israel waged war. In the midst of battle,
Joshua prayed to God that the Sun would stand still until Israel could
vanquish her enemy. This request was granted, as the record states: “So
the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go
down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that, before
it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of man, for the Lord
fought for Israel” (Joshua 10:13-14).
Critics insist that such an event is impossible, and thereby impugn the
veracity of the Scriptures. Various solutions to this alleged problem
have been proposed. This article will consider four of them. First, some
suggest that the text should be understood in a figurative sense and
that the event did not involve a miracle. Hence, it is suggested that
the Lord helped Israel win the battle in such an incredibly short time
that she felt as though the day had been lengthened, when in fact it was
not (Keil, 1980, 2:110). Second, some scholars take the language
figuratively and attach a purely naturalistic explanation to the event.
Donald Patten and his colleagues believe that the planet Mars passed by
Earth in an unusually close orbit that caused the Earth to tilt on its
axis (1973, pp. 172-198). Viewed from the right geographical location,
the Sun actually would hang in the sky longer than normal. Third, others
suggest that a local miracle took place. Hence, the Sun’s rays may have
been refracted miraculously so that they gave every appearance of
daylight-illumination in Palestine, when in reality the Sun had slipped
below the horizon (Davis, 1980, p. 69). Fourth, still others take the
language literally and accept that the Sun was indeed halted
miraculously. Henry Morris explains that even more may have been
involved: “Since the account says that the moon also stood still (Joshua
10:13), it may be that the entire solar system stopped in its tracks
for a day, with all relative positions and motions simply suspended”
(1971, p. 73).
Each of these solutions has met with criticism. Against the first it
has been contended that a cardinal rule of interpretation is that a
passage is to be considered literal until proven figurative. Joshua 10
reads like simple, historical narration. The Lord could have made the
day “seem” long, but the text says that “the sun stood still, and the
moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies” (Joshua
10:13). The second has been challenged for lack of evidence. The notion
that the Earth shifted on its axis in response to a fly-by of Mars is
purely hypothetical. The third option is rejected out-of-hand by anyone
who refuses to accept the possibility of miraculous occurrences. Against
the literal reading, it is argued that since the Earth orbits the Sun,
it would have been the Earth that ceased to rotate, rather than the Sun
stopping, that lengthened the day. Also, if the Earth stopped it would
experience incalculable global catastrophes.
If each solution has difficulties, what is one to make of the event?
Primarily this: it was a miracle. Joshua prayed for divine assistance,
and he received it. An omnipotent God could have helped in any way He
chose. Before anyone can dismiss the Bible because it reports miracles
as though they really happened, he must do two things. First, he must
prove that there is no God Who has the ability to accomplish such tasks.
Now, if there
is a God Who is capable of
speaking the
entire Universe into existence (Psalm 33:9), then it must be admitted
that He has the power to do with it whatever He wishes. Who is measly
man to say that the God of the Universe does not have the power to stop
the Earth, Moon, and Sun, and still maintain every other semblance of
order? By definition, God is beyond the scope of such criticism.
Second, the critic must be able to prove that the Bible is of purely
human origin. However, the Bible itself is one the best-known examples
of a miracle. When all of the facts are considered, it is evident that
without God, the Bible cannot be explained. The burden of proof rests
with the skeptic; until he can prove there is no God, and that the Bible
is merely a human production, he has no basis upon which to deny the
biblical record of a miracle. To dismiss the Bible because it contains
accounts of “impossible” events is inane. With God nothing is impossible
except, of course, those things which are at odds with His nature
(e.g., He cannot lie—Titus 1:2). As with all miracles, no explanation is
given as to how the feat in Joshua 10 was performed. How did the axe
head float (2 Kings 6)? How did five loaves and two fish feed over five
thousand (Matthew 14)? How did Jesus give sight to the blind (John 9)?
That these things happened is sufficient for the man who accepts the
omnipotence of God.
Accordingly, two of the above solutions seem to fit the data. First,
God may have caused the solar rays to linger over Palestine for the
specified time. If God thus made the Sun to appear—from Joshua's
perspective—to hang in the sky above Gibeon, it would be correct to
report the event in such terms. Or second, it may be that the Sun (and
indeed the entire solar system) was suspended miraculously for a day.
Whether the miracle was local or universal is not specifically stated in
the text. Either way, “there has been no day like that, before it or
after it” (Joshua 10:14)!
A final thought on this subject needs to be addressed. The story occasionally circulates that “
NASA
scientists were checking the position of the sun, moon, and planets 100
years from now and 1,000 years from now in order to plot space craft
trajectories. As they ran their computers up and down the centuries,
their machines came to a grinding halt because they showed a day missing
about the time Joshua lived.” This story is purely fictional. Computers
do not have the ability to make such a discovery, and every effort to
contact the scientists allegedly involved has resulted in either failure
or denial. The July 1989
Bible-Science Newsletter carries an excellent article that debunks this farce (Bartz, 1989, p. 12).
REFERENCES
Bartz, Paul A. (1989), “Questions and Answers,”
Bible-Science Newsletter, 27[7]:12, July.
Davis, J.J., and J.C. Whitcomb (1980),
A History of Israel (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House).
Keil C.F., and Franz Delitzsch (1980),
Biblical Commentaries on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, reprint).
Morris, Henry M. (1971),
The Bible Has the Answer (Nutley, NJ: Craig Press).
Patten D.W., R.R. Hatch, and L.C. Steinhauer (1973),
The Long Day of Joshua and Six Other Catastrophes (Seattle, WA: Pacific Meridian).
