The Lord Fought for Israel

“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. 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.” Joshua 10:13-14

Five kings of the Amorites joined together to make war against the Israelites. This was a mighty force, but God spoke to Joshua and told him not to be afraid. Joshua and the Israelite army marched through the night and launched a surprise attack against this vast army. Caught off guard, the enemy soldiers began to retreat. As the Amorites ran from the Israelites, God rained down giant hailstones on the Amorite host. More Amorites were killed by the hailstones than by the Israelite soldiers. The battle lasted all day, and as the sun began to go down, Joshua perceived that the opportunity to completely defeat the entire Amorite army was slipping away. The Israelites were winning, but they needed more time. Joshua prayed that the sun would stand still in the sky, and God answered his prayer. The Lord gave Joshua an additional day’s worth of sunlight to pursue the Amorites. “The Lord fought for Israel.” God had promised that He would give the land of Canaan to the Israelites, and He was doing exactly as He said. The Bible is filled with promises for believers. It is encouraging to see that God always keeps His Word.