Joshua had won a great victory in Ai thanks to God (Josh. 8), yet perhaps in the excitement he then forgot to seek God’s mind when the Gibeonites came to him (Josh. 9). He made a promise he should not have, but despite this, God does not abandon him. In His gracious sovereignty, He uses the failure to Israel’s advantage. When the Amorites heard about the defeat of Ai and subsequent treaty with Gibeon, “a great city” (10:2), five kings banded together and advanced against it. The Gibeonites cried out to Joshua on the basis of their agreement, so Joshua and his army traveled through the night and mounted a surprise attack.

The Lord tells Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you” (10:8). God honored His promise and fought for Israel, and as the day was waning the Amorites were still fleeing. Joshua decided to boldly order the sun and moon to stand still so that God’s purposes would not be put on hold purely due to lack of sunlight.

How this was scientifically possible is something we can ask the Lord when we see Him in glory, but it was certainly an act that could only be performed by the Creator Himself. We may be baffled by it and stand in awe of this, but do we realize that this is nothing compared to the power displayed on the cross of Calvary? The sun—and earth—coming to a stop is an astounding miracle of gigantic proportion, but the washing away of my sins is infinitely more so. We too were a crooked people who did not deserve to be saved, but Christ defeated the enemy and delivered us. This is truly worthy of our awe, and He deserves our worship!