Sun and Moon, Stand Still
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April 19, 2015 |
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 "Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, 'O sun, stand still at Gibeon, and O moon in the valley of Aijalon'" (Joshua 10:12-14).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
In order to achieve the work of God, it is important to practice the will of God. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 reads, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification."
If you put aside your sanctification and just get involved only in the work of God, it cannot be perfect joy to God; it is like an empty vessel. But if you cleanse your heart and obey the will of God, you can bear abundant fruit and glorify God greatly.
Let's look into how to discern the will of God through the incident with Gibeon people and what works can happen when we obey His will.
1. Lies of Gibeon to Have Peace Treaty
In the ninth chapter of Joshua, the Israelites conquered the city Ai, read the law of God before Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, and camped at Gilgal. They were there preparing for the next battle.
One day some strangers came to the camp of Israel and wanted to establish a covenant of peace with them. The Israelites were cautious of them and asked them a question. They said they were from a distant country and they came to establish a peace treaty upon hearing about the fame of the LORD God, what He had done in Egypt and how He let the Israelites conquer some of the people in Canaan.
Actually, God had commanded the people of Israel not to make any covenants with people in Canaan because of the fear that the Israelites might become stained by the sins that prevailed in Canaan (Exodus 34:15). But if people well distanced from Canaan wanted to have peace with Israel and serve, God said it was OK to have peace with them.
These people who had come to see Joshua said that they had come from a far-off land, the bread they had brought was now dry and crumbling and their clothes, shoes, and wineskins were worn out. So, Joshua made the peace treaty with them without asking God or carefully examining the case (Joshua 9:14-15).
But, it was a huge mistake; they did not come from a distant place but they were Hivites, one of the seven tribes in Canaan. They were dwelling in Gibeon. Gibeon was not far from Israel's camp at Gilgal. The dry bread and worn-out clothes were all false testimony. The Israel's leaders were not able to discern their lies.
Three days later the Israelites came to know the truth that these people were the Hivites dwelling in Gibeon. The consequence was that they had to give the Hivites the lands of Gibeon, which they were supposed to have conquered. Although they were cheated by those people, since they made an oath before God, they couldn't reverse it.
Because Israel had already made an oath before God, they let them live. Joshua made them common laborers, 'hewers of wood' and 'drawers of water,' for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD (Joshua 9:23).
2. Lessons to be learned from the incident with Gibeon
1) We should ask His will of God all the time
Though it was not intentional, as a consequence of making the peace treaty with people of Gibeon, Israel violated the command of God telling them 'not to make any covenants with the people in Canaan'. If they had only asked the counsel of God, they wouldn't have made this kind of mistake.
In our lives, in our businesses or in contract arrangements, some people may try to cheat us. However, in cases like this there are some people who let evil people cheat them and they believe them.
Therefore, the important thing is to discern the will of God by asking for His counsel through fervent prayers. If we have only goodness in our hearts and no greed, then we can receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This way we gain the wisdom of God and even when another person is trying to cheat us, the Holy Spirit will let us realize it and teach us the way to avoid it.
2) We have to understand how important words that come from our lips are
Because of the incident with Gibeon, several hundred years after they had made the covenant with them, Israel had to go through a disaster. There was a famine that lasted for three years, and David prayed about it.
God said it was because the Israel violated the covenant they had made with the people of Gibeon. Namely, Saul, the first king of Israel, tried to destroy all people of Gibeon thus violating the covenant that Joshua had made with them. As a result there was a famine throughout Israel.
Finally, the famine stopped only after they killed seven descendants of Saul as requested by the people of Gibeon (2 Samuel 21:1-14). It is this way we know that one must take responsibility for the words from their lips or vows to God.
In Judges chapter 11, there is another person who caused himself such a great agony with the words from his lips. It was Jephthah. When he was about to fight against the sons of Ammon, he made a vow that if God would give him victory, he would offer as a burnt offering the first person who came out to receive him when he got back home.
When he came back home after the victory, his only daughter was first to come to receive him. She came out to meet her father with tambourines and with dancing. Jephthah made a careless vow to sacrifice a human life just to get what he wanted. But because of it he had to give his only daughter as a burnt offering. Had he broken his vow by not giving his daughter as a burnt offering, he would have been put into greater hardships and more difficult situations than losing his daughter, through the accusations of Satan.
The power of the word is that great; even death and life are in the power of the tongue. By understanding this, we should keep our words from our lips and say only things belonging to truth and goodness.
3. The miracle of the sun and moon standing still
Gibeon was a big city, and all its men were mighty. It was this city of Gibeon that entered into a peace treaty with Israel just to survive. This news shocked the other people in Canaan and made them tremble. Also, since there was no opposition in the Gibeon area, the army of Israel could march on more quickly. So, because Gibeon was like a traitor in their sight, the five kings of the Amorites that dwelled around Gibeon formed an alliance and attacked Gibeon. Since the people of Gibeon couldn't overcome the allied forces, they asked Israel for help.
When Gibeon asked for help, God said He was with Israel. So, they moved quickly overnight and launched a surprise attack against the Amorite kings. The allied armies of the Amorites were unable to retaliate and were defeated. They began to run away and Israel chased after them.
As the Amorites were running away from Gibeon and while they were on the descent of Beth-horon, large hail stones began to fall on them from heaven. Joshua 10:11 says, "…there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword."
This of itself was something truly amazing, but they couldn't just stand by in amazement. They had to chase after the remaining enemy force. If the night came, it would be easy for them to hide, so they had to quickly finish the battle while the sun was up. It was almost dusk, and they could see the moon in the eastern sky. At that moment, Joshua showed great faith to fulfill God's command. He said, "O sun, stand still at Gibeon, and O moon in the valley of Aijalon."
By relying on God who controls everything, Joshua commanded the sun and the moon in the sky to stand still, and God guaranteed his word (Joshua 10:13). With common human knowledge it is impossible for the sun and the moon to stand still but there is nothing impossible by the power of God the Almighty.
While the sun stood still, Joshua and Israel very quickly defeated the five kings of the Amorites and conquered the southern part of Canaan (Joshua 10:41-42).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when Joshua used his own thoughts and put his own theory into practice, he was deceived and he made mistakes. But, when he sought the counsel of God and obeyed His will, he could even manifest the awesome work of stopping the sun and the moon. I pray in the name of the Lord you will see only the almighty God, discern His will, do everything with faith, and thereby be guided to prosperous ways all the time.
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