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The Sun, The Moon, The Hail and Probably Seventy Two Hours


            After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great victory 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 from the sky, and more of them died from the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.
            On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
            So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till 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. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel! Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal. (Joshua 10:9-15)
 
            When you read this passage, you're probably impressed with the sun and the moon staying in place for a day. It's impressive. You might be wowed by the fact that more Canaanites were killed by hail than by Israelite soldiers. That definitely has  a wow factor to it. Have you considered the third miracle, the one that isn't actually mentioned? Put yourself in their sandals. You've been up all day, doing whatever you do. Word comes from your boss. You put on your armor and start out at dusk, not for a stroll but with a stride that says you have somewhere to go and you're already late. Your goal is to get to a city inhabited by conmen with whom your boss unwisely negotiated a contract. Around breakfast time, you arrive and start fighting for your life. Keep that up for thirty-six hours. After all of that, march back to camp, probably getting there after dark, or maybe the next morning because there's so much stuff to carry back.
            I suppose it's possible that they had food and water. Perhaps they rotated companies so that some of the army could rest and eat while others fought but that just doesn't  sound realistic. "Excuse me, my shift just ended...." and the person who was about to put a spear through your guts says, "OK, Night, Sam" and lets go punch the time clock? I might be wrong, but I think it was a miracle.
            This brings to mind an important question. How often do we miss miracles? How often do we not notice them because they come disguised as something else, or because they aren't spectacular, or perhaps because they include our working, which means it can't be a miracle?

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