← ArchiveUNDEFEATEDThe Day the Sun Stood StillDateFebruary 22, 2021SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextJoshua 10Passages in this sermonJoshua 102:04Joshua 10:15:29Luke 23:4436:11TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00*music* *music*0:20*music* Me, that time. So for all of our tech guys who make me sound good, there's only so much they can do. So, don't look up there, look at me. Let me try it again. Okay, my name is Pastor Josh, lead pastor here at Bethel. And we have one purpose, which is to share the whole gospel with the whole person, with the whole world.0:46And simply put, in three-year-old language, what is the good news of Jesus? It is Jesus in our place. The Bible doesn't say, "Work really hard and one day you'll have your act together." The Bible is, "You are sinful and you need Christ and God sent His only Son to take your place on the cross, to forgive you of all of your sins and to give you abundant life."1:14Hey, that's worth shouting about, right? This is the gospel. And some of you are new here and maybe you've never heard this before. It's true. What the Bible says is true. So, for the new faces that we have here, for those watching online, and let me just remind our church that here, physically, we have people that have been watching online for 11 months. And they're not able to get back here physically, but they've been faithfully watching.1:42So, can we just thank them for being with us today? So, you guys know who you are. We're not going to call you out anymore. Just thank you for worshiping with us. So, we are again in the book of Joshua. As Randall, one of our deacons, shared earlier, a series called "Undefeated." So, if you have your Bibles, take them, turn them, click to Joshua chapter 10 today. Joshua chapter 10.2:10And today, what we're seeing is that the people of God are receiving a promise that is 400 years in the making. God said to Abraham, "I will give you descendants." But your descendants, a lot of people need a lot of land. And so, God is giving His people a promised land. And what's happening in Joshua is the fulfillment of 400 years of waiting.2:34And last week in chapter 9, we read about this interesting group of people called the Gibeonites. They were terrified, but they were tricky. And so, they made a treaty through deception with the people of God. And the Bible says very clearly that Israel did not seek the Lord's decision. And it's a reminder in our lives, anytime you think that you can make decisions on your power,3:03you're going to make the wrong decision. Just, that's my word of wisdom. That's free. That's not even part of the sermon. But if you're going to make a decision today and you think you don't need God's help, it's a poor decision. Take that to the bank. And this is what we see. So, in chapter 9, the Gibeonites enter into a treaty with Joshua and the people of God. And today, one chapter later, they cash in.3:30So, they entered a treaty and now they're crying, "God, help us." We need help. And amid this helping, amid this cry for mercy of the Gibeonites, something fascinating happens. And I believe that any time in Scripture when God performs a miracle, that God challenges our hearts and our minds to either say, "This is possible, and I'm going to explain it away." Or, "This would never happen, and I'm going to believe that God did it. I'm going to trust in the Lord."3:55So, today, we're going to look at the sun standing still. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're saying, "Well, I've never seen that before."4:24That's why it's called a miracle. Right? It doesn't happen. What we have to wrestle with, and I think this is the essence of the Christian worldview, there will be things with God that you are going to say, "This can't happen." And God is going to say, "Well, either Josh, you believe me, or you don't." And so, when miracles happen in Scripture, and when miracles happen in your life, are we going to explain them away?4:48Or are we going to say, "God, I believe you're undefeated, and you can do the impossible, and I'm going to believe that today." So, I don't know where you fall, but when we read this passage, just know that there are worldviews in collision in this text. So, let's go. Joshua chapter 10. I believe God can do the unbelievable, by the way. If you want to know where I stand, I believe God can do impossible things.5:18So, there you go. That's my sermon. Let's go home. Just kidding, just kidding. Joshua chapter 10, verse 1. Now, King Adonai Zedek of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and completely destroyed it. Treating Ai, or some of you might say Ai, and its king as he had Jericho and its king, and the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living among them.5:43So, Adonai Zedek and his people were greatly alarmed because Gideon was a large city, like one of the royal cities. So, a royal city means it's a city large enough to have a king. So, a royal city means it's a city large enough to have a king. It was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. Therefore, King Adonai Zedek of Jerusalem sent word to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmut, or Yarmut, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon.6:12And he said this, "Come up and help me. We will attack Gibeon because they have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites." Now, just circle that word peace, because we're going to come back to it. So, the five Amorite kings, the king of Jerusalem, Hebron, Yarmut, Lachish, and Eglon, joined forces and advanced with all their armies, besieged Gibeon, and they fought against it.6:41Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp of Gilgal. They said, "Don't give up on your servants. Come quickly and save us." Now, just incidentally, that's what the prayer of salvation sounds like.7:06Lord, don't give up on me. Save me. Help us, for all the Amorite kings living in the hill country have joined forces against us. So Joshua and all of his troops, including his best soldiers, came from Gilgal. The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will be able to stand against you."7:32So Joshua caught them by surprise. That's the coalition of five. After marching all night from Gilgal, the Lord threw them, that's the five Amorite kings, into confusion before Israel. He defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them through the ascent of Bet-Haron, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Maqedah, as they fled before Israel." Now, here's where the miracle starts, okay?8:01Some of you have said, "Well, we've been reading all this. There's no miracle." Here it is. "The Lord threw large hell stones on them, from the sky along the descent of Bet-Haron, all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of the Amorites died from the hell than were killed by the Israelites with the sword. And on the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of Israel."8:29And this is what he asked and said. He said, "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and moon over the valley of Aijalon. And the sun stood still. And the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on its enemies." Isn't this written in the book of Yashar? "So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky, and it delayed its setting almost a full day."8:54Now, if you're waiting for this to happen again, listen. "There has been no day like it before or since when the Lord listened to a man because the Lord fought for Israel. Then Joshua and all of Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal. The day the sun stood still." Let's pray and then we'll look at this.9:23Father, we confess to you right now there are things in the Word, Lord, we just believe are impossible. And Lord, when we are confronted with unbelievable miracles, Lord, I believe that you confront us that you would build our trust in you. And Lord, we would be remiss or foolish to think that everyone here is a Christ follower. Lord, for those who do not believe in you, for those who do not fear Jesus Christ as their personal Savior,9:52Lord, would today be the day where you confront them with the reality of their sin. Lord, bring conviction on their life. But at the same moment, show them that you have already made a way for salvation. They would trust in you. So, Lord Father, would we believe in you more today than we ever have. Lord, do a miracle in our lives, in our minds, in our hearts, that we would leave here changed by the Word of our Heavenly Father.10:19Lord, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. So, there's a lot to look at here in Joshua. So, let's go back to verse 1. And it's interesting. We have here a man, a king, named Adonai Zedek. Now, that's probably not his name.10:48That's his title. So, Adonai Zedek is the Amorite king. But his name, Adonai, is Lord. And Zedek is righteous. So, it's the king of Jerusalem and his name is the Lord is righteousness. Or, it could mean my Lord is legitimate. So, here's this little Adonai Zedek coming against the true Lord. And what's also fascinating for me is he is king of what city?11:13He's king of Jerusalem. Now, this is the same city that one day David would take and make the capital of Israel. This is the same city where the ark would be put. The presence of God. It's the same city, Jerusalem, where the temple would be built on the Temple Mount. It's the same city where Jesus would walk the Via Dolorosa and that he would be crucified outside the gates.11:37The old city gates of the city Jerusalem. Suffice to say, there's a lot going on in this city. But the city is, it means, ir. So, yaru shalem. So, shalom is peace. So, we have this Adonai Zedek who is king of the city of peace. Now, why is that interesting?12:06Because look at what this king says. He has a problem. Because he is not in peace. We find that the king of the city of peace is terrified. Now, there's irony right there. The king of the city of peace is scared. And he's scared because very clearly the Gibeonites.12:32And I don't know if you picked this up in verse one. But the king says this. He says, the Gibeonites have made peace with Israel. And to reinforce this, the king Adonai Zedek says it again in verse four. He says, help us to all these other kings. He says, we will attack Gibeon because they have made peace with Joshua. So, what brings Gibeon peace brings fear and terror to the king of the city of peace.13:01And the reminder I see here in the word of the Lord is this. You are either at peace with God or you're in conflict. You're either at peace and content with Christ and who he is or you are in conflict. And there's no middle grounds.13:29And this king is deathly afraid because he knows that the Gibeonites have peace and he wants that and he needs that. John Calvin said this about peace in our lives. He said that hell reigns wherever there is no peace with God. Hell reigns where there is no peace with God. And I think sometimes we use hell as a consequence at the end of your life, right?13:56Run to Christ because one day you will go to hell. But I think we see this biblically. If you are not at peace with Christ today, you are experiencing a glimpse of hell right now in your life. And one day hell, a very physical hell, the Bible teaches that hell is a very literal and physical place. But why is hell so eternal?14:25Why is it so terrifying? Because hell is a place where God is not. It's the place said in Joshua 10 language, right? Hell is a place where there is no shalom. Hell is a place where there is no peace. And right now, if you are not a Christ follower, whether you know it or not, you are not at peace with God. You are not at peace with God.14:53James says it this way, that friendship with the world is enmity towards God. And we see this played out right here in the Gibeonites, don't we? Gibeonites have peace with Joshua, which means the Lord is our salvation. And they have peace with Yahweh. And because they have peace with God, they do not have peace with the world. Let me just ask you right now. If you died right now, would you know that you would have peace with God and that you would be in heaven?15:20Can you say, well, I know that if I died right now, I would have perfect peace with God forever because Jesus has brought peace in my life right now. Listen, for the Christ follower, that is the assurance that you can have. That's the assurance that God wants you to have. And you might be thinking, well, pastor, that's a bold belief.15:47So you believe that you can have peace with God? Yes, I do. Because I don't believe I've done anything to earn my salvation. So I don't believe I can do anything to unearn my salvation. I believe that God has given me a perfect peace in Jesus Christ. That's why on the cross, Jesus did not say to be continued.16:13He says, it is finished. It's Jesus' way of saying, I will give you peace. That's why one of Jesus' nicknames in the Bible is the Prince of Peace. Church, do you know that peace? It is only found in the cross of Jesus Christ. It is only found.16:42And I'm just reminded, you could spend your whole life trying to make shalom. But even if you're the king of the city of Shalom, if you don't know God, you don't have peace. You do not have peace. So let's continue. Verse 6. So because the king has no peace, he goes and he fights. And the Gibeonites, in verse 6, send word to Joshua in the camp of Gogol. And they say this. They say, do not give up.17:11Do not give up on us. Now, we see again a battle going on here. The five kings of the Amorites trusted in themselves, right? They said, we're going to go fight. The Gibeonites had no hope in themselves. And the Gibeonites cried out. And I find this fascinating. They said, do not give up on your servants, in verse 6.17:36In verse 9, they make the treaty. And in verse 10, they cash in the check. They need help. And as I was reading this over and over this week, I couldn't help but wonder who in my life is crying out for help. I believe that God has put Gibeonites in all of our lives.18:05And there are people in your life and they're crying out. And they're saying, Josh, don't give up on me. I need your help. And I want to be sensitive to the Lord's work. Where I can hear those cries. And I have to ask myself, Lord, am I a good friend? God, am I a neighbor that someone can count on?18:32Am I a husband that when my wife is in need or when my kids need help or when my friends need help, will they call out to me? Or would they say, I know he's busy. I know he has his own life going on. As a Christ follower, I want to be someone that others can call and ask. And that they know that we're quick to help.19:00We're quick to extend the hand. And so I just ask you, as I've been praying this week, would you have the boldness to ask God right now, Lord, put someone on my heart that I can pray for. Put someone on my heart, Lord, that I can help in a time of need. Father, put a Gibeonite in my way that I can serve, that I can minister to. Listen, we have a Savior that never gives up on us.19:28There's a God who loves you that will never give up. And how many people in our lives just need to hear that? That they need you to look into their life and say, God is not going to give up on you. Don't give up. And may God use us this week as he used Joshua and the Israelites to save the Gibeonites. May the Lord use you to be that hand, to be that voice.19:57Who should you be praying for right now? When we have our time of response, who is God going to lay on your heart that you can intercede for? That needs Christ, that needs a hand, that needs you in their moment of need. Lord, fill our hearts with your glory and your majesty. Let's see.20:26Let's see. Verse 9. So Joshua, they hear the message, right? They hear the message, don't give up, come quickly. And so they come quickly. So Joshua and the people in verse 9, they march all night. Now, this is about an 18-mile trek, mostly uphill, coming from the Jordan Rift Valley. Now, they're marching at night, no night fishing goggles, no Siri, no Google Maps. I mean, this is about an 8 to 10-mile march in the day at a sprint.20:53So can you imagine the spiritual strength it took for them to march in the time of need? As I look at this, I'm just reminded, listen, God wants us to do something for him. I heard a pastor say this week, God doesn't move parked cars. Sometimes we pray and we say, God, I want a miracle in my life.21:20And I'm going to wait right here until you do something. And God's saying, well, Joshua, if you put yourself in neutral, just give me neutral, not even first gear. If you put yourself in neutral spiritually, then I'll push you. But I think there are times in our life where we are so rigid that we refuse to be moved for the glory of God. I want to march.21:49I want to march. And may God work in us and through us because we are living a life where we say, God, I want to do something. Listen, life is too short to waste it. God doesn't move parked cars. Okay, so as they are marching, something happens in verse 10. The Lord threw the Amorites into confusion before Israel.22:13And I think the reminder here for us spiritually is this. Listen, when we don't have peace with God, you are living a confusing life. If you feel like your life doesn't make sense, maybe that's a spiritual reminder to come back to faith. Because your life will never make sense. You will always live in panic. You will always be in confusion if Christ is not at the center.22:42And so God confuses the enemy. And they begin to flee. Let's look at verse 11. And as they are fleeing, they are defeated in a great slaughter. All the way to Azekah and Makedah. Now some of you are thinking, I know where that is. Good for you because I don't. But wherever it is, that's how far the battle raged, okay?23:10Verse 11, they fled before Israel. The Lord began to work a miracle. Now there are three miracles here. And we're going to talk about all three of them. The first are the very large hell stones. Now in two of these miracles, scholars have attempted to wrestle with and give naturalistic explanations to how this happened.23:34And we're going to go over some of those quickly. But more important than that, we see actually in ancient Near Eastern battle text where the belief that the people believe that the winning God would send hell and send fire and that God would win. But this is not the same sort.24:01This is a miracle. And when I say miracle, let me tell you what I'm saying. A miracle is either God, the creator of natural laws. So let's just put this in perspective. We're here, right? Natural laws like gravity. If you jump, you're going to fall, right? So you, natural laws, over us, creation. And then there's God. God made the natural laws that we observe.24:29Does that make sense? So God is not confined by natural laws. God made the law. So what I believe is happening here is either God suspends the natural laws or he works in a way that are above that. Because God is not beneath his creation. He is above his creation. So why is this a miracle? Why is this a suspension or it's radically greater than the natural laws that you see?24:58Well, I think there's three thoughts here. So first, look at the source. The hell stone is from where? It's from God. It's from the Lord. It's from the heavens. And you say, well, okay, pastor, all hell comes from the heavens. Okay, I'll give you that. The source come from the heavens. But look at its selectivity.25:24Where does the hell fall? On the Amorite kings. Not Joshua. Not the Gibeonites. So yes, all hell might come from the heavens. But this hell is specifically against these individuals. These Amorite kings. And you say, okay, now you're persuading me. I'm glad you're listening. Now think of the sum.25:53Who is killed? The hell kills more than the sword. So the judgment of God in their lives is greater than anything the Israels can do in this moment. And this is just how my mind works. But if you've ever seen Elf. With Colin Farrell. You remember when he jumps in the snowball fight? And he's throwing snowballs like the Gatlin gun.26:21Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Like, that's how, I believe that's how the hell is coming from heaven. It just, it makes sense, right? Like, I believe the Amorites are fleeing, thinking we're about to get away. And here comes God. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Like, this is a miracle. This is not a natural phenomenon. God is sending his wrath in a way that he's just reminding us.26:45God is a better fighter than you and I are. God is working a miracle, but that's not all. Something else happens here. So as the battle is raging, Joshua speaks to the Lord. And he asked God from a very unusual request. Joshua asked the Lord in verse 12. He says, "Lord, I desire the sun to stand still over Gibeon27:11and the moon over the valley of Ai Jalon." Now the Hebrew word here, stand still, can mean motionless. Like, to stop. It can mean to be silent. Or it can mean, I love this one. It's actually in the dictionary, to strike a pose. I don't think that's what Joshua was asking, by the way.27:38But it could mean that. And there's been so much written on what actually happened. So let me give you the scholars' naturalistic opinions and then I'm going to give you mine. Okay? So here's some options of what's going on. What actually happened. Some would say that the earth actually stopped rotating.28:03Like, God told the earth, "Stop." And you know what? I believe that could happen. I believe that could happen. Josephus even said it this way. He believed the early Roman historian. He claimed that this day was longer than any other day in the history of the world. So that view is that the sun actually stopped. I don't know if the earth started rotating.28:31I don't know what happened. But motion was suspended for that moment. Almost a full day. So 23 hours. 23 and a half hours. Well, some would say, "Well, I don't know about that." Okay. So some would even argue that it was a refraction of light. So the rest of the world was in a normal 24-hour day. But Gibeon in this valley had a refraction of light that gave it more daylight.28:54Maybe. Well, some would say, "Well, I don't know about that." Sociologists would affirm that a special sign was involved. So in the ancient world, when the sun and moon would align a certain way, they would look up to the heavens and they would feel like, "This God is for us or this God is against us." So your historians, your sociologists would say,29:22"Well, what's going on here is God did a miracle." And it was the Amorites looked up to the heavens and they said, "God is against us." Maybe. And your rhetoricians would say this, they would say, "Well, this is figurative." That Joshua was just poetically saying, "On this day, the sun stood still and the battle was won."29:47That's a possibility. Let me just tell you what I believe. I don't know the answer. I don't. But I do know that the sun stood still and that it was a miracle. I don't know which one of these it was, but I believe that Yahweh can do the impossible.30:11I just believe that. Why do I believe that? Because I'm saved. Like God can take a heart that was full of sin and dead in trespasses and he can make me alive in Christ. Listen, if God could change my heart, he can stop the sun. That's the Lord that we worship. So I walk away saying, God, I don't know if I have a naturalistic explanation.30:40And even if I did, God, I believe you do the impossible. So in this, I believe for all of us, miracles force us to make a call. Are you going to believe in the God who can do impossible things? Or are you only going to believe in a God who can do what you think he can? And if we have relegated our worship to only a God who can do what we can explain,31:11I don't think that's a God at all. I think that's atheism with a religious bent. A pastor that I listened to, Daniel Fusco, said it this way. He says, "If you cannot say that the God who creates and sustains can do anything he wants when he wants,31:34you are not a Christian." Think about that. Sometimes we read these miracles in the Bible and we think, well, that happened then, but God's still not working now. Listen, if your God can't do anything that he wants anytime he wants, that's not a God. Like, our God is completely sovereign.31:59And I believe in a God that if he wants to look at the Son and snap his fingers and say, "I told you to stop right there." That the Son is going to say, "Yes, Master, because I will glorify you when I move and I will glorify you when I stop. Blessed be the Lord." Blessed be the name of the Lord. Do you actually believe that Yahweh can do the impossible even when it's unbelievable?32:28Do you really believe that? And as we read this passage, what's remarkable to us is the earthly miracles. But I don't know if you caught it when we read the first time in verse 14. That's not the miracle that confounds the Bible, the narrator. Look at verse 14.32:58You know, we read it like this. There has been no day like it before or since. Hard stop. And we say, "Can you believe that the sun stopped? Can you believe that the hell came from heaven and it killed more people than the sword and it was selective only on the Amorites and its source was from God?" And the biblical writers say, "No, no, no, no, you missed the point." There has never been a day like it before or since when the Lord listened to a man.33:29The third miracle is that Joshua prays and Yahweh obeys. Sometimes we get caught up in the earthly miracles, but the biblical authors hung up on the heavenly perspective. The Bible is saying, "Can you believe God listened to man?" And the reminder here is, listen, Joshua receives a unique communication like Moses.33:55Now, Joshua did not manipulate God into acting. What has happened is that the heart of Joshua for the glory of the Lord spurred God to act. Does that make sense? Like Joshua having a desire for the name of the Lord and for the kingdom of God.34:21When he prays, the Lord was saying, "The Lord is saying, Joshua, you share my heart. Of course, I want to act." It's like you telling your son or your daughter or your neighbor, "Of course, I want to give you bread. Of course, I want to give you that because I love you. I care about you." I was reading a story this week about a voicemail. And the voicemail said this.34:50It said, "I am not available right now, but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave your number after the beep. If I do not call you back, you are one of the changes." And you better believe I am changing my voicemail this week. But as I was listening to that and hearing the heart of Joshua.35:19Listen, as a son and daughter of Jesus Christ, you never have to hear that voicemail. Because of Christ, you never have to hear from God, "I am too busy. I am making a change." This is the heart of our Father. Listen, God wants to hear your voice. He wants to hear you pray.35:47And as we read this text, on the day that the sun stood still, Yahweh showed out. But I am reminded of another day where the sun and the moon responded to the glory of the Lord. And it happened thousands of years later. So I want to read for you quickly Luke 23:44. This is what the Bible says.36:18"It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three." Listen to this. "Because the sun's light failed." You say, "What would cause this?" The curtain of the sanctuary was split down the middle. And Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit."36:48And saying this, "He breathed His last." See, there's something in creation that tells us that the sun and the moon respond to the glory of the Lord. They respond when God speaks. They respond when God speaks. When God says, "Stop." They listen. And when Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, breathed His last.37:18Even the sun said, "I am not worthy." The moon said, "I can't shine because there's too much darkness." And this happened. Jesus died on the cross for your sin. This day was dark.37:43The sun stopped shining. Because that was the day that Jesus traded in His life for my death. His life for your death. And the hope of the gospel is that if you would run to Jesus today, He would forgive you.38:11He would take your filthy rags and wash you clean. And I believe that the sun is telling us the glory of the Lord. I believe when the sun grew dark and when the sun stood still, the universe is telling us how much God loves us. And even the sun is saying, "Run to Jesus. You can trust Him."38:37"Obey Him. You can trust Him." The sun is saying, "He made me. He takes care of me. He'll take care of you." Would you turn to Jesus today? Because without Christ you will never have peace. But the way has already been prepared. Run to Christ.39:06Say what the Gibeonites said, "Don't give up on me. Save me." And because of Jesus, you know what God's response to you would be? I thought you'd never ask. And as quickly as Joshua came to their rescue, God will come even so much more quick for you. Run to Christ. Run to Christ. For those of you who are Jesus followers,39:34how do we live this out this week? What would your life look like today if you really believed God could do the unbelievable? Take away your little bad this box, right? What would my life look like? What would my life look like? I'm not preaching to you. I'm preaching to myself. Y'all can listen. What would my life look like if I really believed what the Bible said was true?40:00Like if God can tell the son to stop, what more can he do in my life? What would your life look like if you really believed that when you prayed, God listens? Think about that. Think about that. Think about that. The Bible is screaming at us. Can you believe it? Can you believe God listened to a man?40:30That is the eternal privilege that we have in Jesus Christ. What would my life look like if I really believed that when I prayed, God heard my prayers? Because he does. And lastly, who in your life today, maybe it's you, needs to hear, don't give up. God is not giving up on you.40:59Run to him. Find him faithful. The day that the sun stood still. What an unbelievable God we have. And may he continue to do the unbelievable. Let me pray. Father.← Previous in UNDEFEATEDFool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on meNext in UNDEFEATED →Faith That Makes a DifferenceMore sermons on Joshua →
