A wonder before the Gospels
The Sun Stood Still
In the heat of battle Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and the day was lengthened while God fought for Israel. It is a famous and much debated passage, and the honest thing is to let the text say what it says.
“And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.”Joshua 10:13
What happened
What happened. In Joshua 10 five Amorite kings joined forces against Gibeon, which had made peace with Israel, and Joshua marched all night to relieve the city. The LORD threw the enemy into confusion, and Israel slew them with a great slaughter, while the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them, and more died from the hailstones than Israel killed with the sword. Then, in the sight of Israel, Joshua spoke to the LORD, and said, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. The text continues, So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel. Scripture even notes that it is written in the book of Jasher. What is described is a day unlike any other, when the light held and the victory was completed.
What it revealed
What it revealed. The long day revealed that the LORD fights for His people, that the very heavens serve His purposes, and that He answers the bold prayer of faith. The most striking phrase in the account is that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man, that God so honored Joshua's petition that He bent the ordinary course of the day to it. It revealed that no enemy alliance can stand when God has decided the outcome, and that Israel's role was to fight in step with a battle already being won from heaven by hailstones and by held light. It is an honest thing to admit that the passage has been long discussed, that faithful readers have understood the how in different ways, and that the text itself offers no scientific explanation. What it plainly asserts is not a theory of astronomy but a claim about God: there was no day like it, because on that day the Maker of sun and moon fought for His covenant people.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. The New Testament does not cite this miracle, so any connection to Christ is a matter of theological reflection rather than an explicit apostolic statement, and it is right to say so plainly. Yet the pattern is deeply Christ shaped. Joshua, whose name is the Hebrew form of Jesus, leads God's people to victory while the LORD Himself wins the battle, a picture of the greater Joshua who defeats our true enemies. The day that would not end, held open until the victory was complete, has drawn many to think of the finished triumph of Christ, who at the cross could say, It is finished, and whose victory over sin and death is total. Scripture looks forward to a day with no more night, when the Lamb is the light and there is no need of the sun (Revelation 21:23-25). These are reflections drawn by analogy, offered as devotion rather than as claims the New Testament makes, and they are best held with that honesty.
Questions people ask
Did the sun literally stop?
The text says the sun stood still and hasted not to go down about a whole day, and that there was no day like it (Joshua 10:13-14). Faithful readers have understood the how in different ways, and Scripture offers no scientific mechanism. The honest course is to receive the claim the text makes, that God gave an extraordinary day of victory, without inventing an explanation it does not give.
Does this miracle point to Christ?
Not by any explicit New Testament citation. Any connection is a devotional reflection: Joshua shares Jesus' name and leads God's people to a God given victory, and the finished triumph anticipates Christ's completed work and the day of no more night in Revelation 21. These are analogies, offered honestly as such.
What is the book of Jasher?
Joshua 10:13 references it as an outside source that also recorded the event; it appears again in 2 Samuel 1:18. It seems to have been a collection of Israelite poetry or record of notable deeds. It is not part of Scripture, and the surviving book by that name today is a much later composition.