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The Sun and Moon Stopped

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[Joshua 10:12-13]

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.

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The Israelites, and their leader Joshua, had destroyed Jericho and Ai.
This news rapidly spread to the neighboring countries.

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The people of Gibeon were among the people who feared having a war with the Israelites. They knew that the Israelites never make treaties of peace with any countries in Canaan so they pretended as if they came from a very far country when they came to Joshua.

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Joshua and the elders of the Israelites examined only their appearances and thought that they had come from a far away country. Then, they promised in the name of the LORD that they would not have a war with them. They also promised that Israel would go and help when they met difficulties.

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After three days, they were able to know the truth but they were not able to attack them. They had made a promise because they were deceived but since they had promised in the name of the LORD, breaking it would be something that God would not be glad with. The Israelites complained about this weakness of the leaders but there was nothing they could do.

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Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem, knew that Gibeon had betrayed them and made a treaty of peace with Israel so he sent servants to their neighboring countries.

"Come up and help me attack Gibeon. Gibeon made a peace treaty with Joshua and the Israelites."

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The kings of the neighboring countries that got the letter of Adoni-Zedek decided to revenge the betrayal of Gibeon. The five kings moved up with all of their armies to surround Gibeon and then they started to attack the city.

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The king of Gibeon urgently sent a messenger to Joshua and told about this event. "Come up to us quickly and save us your servants. The Amorite kings have joined forces and are attacking us."

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Joshua marched up with his entire army and went to Gibeon.
God appeared to Joshua and said, "Do not be afraid of the enemies. I will make you defeat them. Not one of them will be able to withstand you." Upon hearing the words of God, Joshua got great courage.

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Joshua and his army marched all night and started to attack their enemies.
God was with the army of Joshua. God helped them by throwing the enemies into chaos.

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The allied army that came to destroy Gibeon greatly lost to the army of Israel and fled away. God hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky and killed them. Through the help of God, the Israelites defeated their enemies all day long.

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Joshua thought that they needed more time to finish the war so Joshua shouted in a very loud voice. "O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon." Joshua ordered the sun and moon to stop. He prayed like this because they couldn't fight with their enemies when it became dark.

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God listened to the prayer of Joshua. The sun stopped and did not go down so the army of Israel was able to defeat all of the enemies that God hated. God who had created the whole world heard the prayer of Joshua and stopped the sun.

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The Israelites were able to defeat all of the enemies that did not believe God and stood against God. The five kings that attacked Gibeon were also captured. Then, all of them were killed.

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God kept all the promises of being together with Joshua. God even stopped the sun and the moon in order for Joshua to completely win the battle. God made Israel win from the allied forces of five countries.

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[Proverbs 21:30-31]
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.

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God is almighty. Today, we too should rely on God and follow His Will.
If we do so, God will be with us with His amazing power.
God will make us win just like the army of Joshua.

(You can change the conclusion of this sermon best suiting to your listeners of this sermon. We want to make it clear that the provided conclusion is only a sample conclusion provided by CTM.)