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God who stopped the sun and moon

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Bible scripture : Joshua 10:12-13 (NIV)

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 story that the Israelites, along with their leader Joshua, destroyed the cities of Jericho and Ai, quickly spread to neighboring countries.

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Among those who feared going to war with Israel were the Gibeonites.

They knew that the Israelites did not make peace with any nation in Canaan.
So they pretended to be people from a very far country and came to Joshua.

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Joshua and the elders of Israel did not even ask God, but only looked at their appearance and assumed that they must have come from a far country.

The Israelites were tricked by them and promised in the name of God that Israel would go and help them if they fell into trouble instead of going to war with them.

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The Israelis learned the facts of this incident three days later.

The Israelis couldn't attack them.

Even though they were tricked into making a promise, they couldn't wage war against them because they made a promise to them in the name of God.

Because to break a promise made in God's name is to make God a liar.

The Israelites complained about their leaders' incompetence, but they couldn't help it.

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Upon learning that Gibeon had made peace with Israel and had betrayed them, Adonisedek, king of Jerusalem, sent men to the neighboring countries.

“Come to me and help me. Let us attack Gibeon. Gibeon has made a treaty of peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”

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The kings of the neighboring countries who received Adonisedek's letter decided to punish Gibeon for their betrayal.

So the kings of the five kingdoms led their armies and gathered at Gibeon.

Their armies laid siege to Gibeon and began to attack it.

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The king of Gibeon, in desperation, hurriedly sent a message to Joshua to inform them of this fact. “Quickly rescue us, your servants.
The kings of the Amorites are gathering an army to attack us.”

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Joshua led the army and went out to keep the promise with Gibeon.

God appeared to Joshua and spoke to him.

“Do not be afraid of the enemy. I'll let you defeat them. None of them can beat you.” Hearing the word of God, Joshua gained great courage.

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Joshua and his troops marched all night.

As soon as they got there, they started attacking the enemy camp.

God was with Joshua's army.

God helped the enemy to fall into confusion.

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The allied forces attacking Gibeon were greatly defeated by the Israeli soldiers and began to flee.
God sent down hailstones on the fleeing enemies and killed them.

With God's help, Israel defeated their enemies all day long.

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Feeling that more time was needed to finish the war, Joshua cried out in a very loud voice.

“Sun! Stop over Gibeon. Moon, stop in the Valley of Ayalon.”

Joshua ordered the sun and moon to stop.

He prayed this way because it was dark when the sun went down and he could not defeat his enemies.

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God heard Joshua's words.

A miracle happened that the sun stopped and no longer went down.

They were able to defeat all enemies while the sun and moon stood still.

God, who created the whole world, heard Joshua's words and made the sun stop.

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The Israelites were able to defeat all their enemies against God.

All five kings who attacked Gibeon were captured.

They all got killed.

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God kept all of his promises to be with Joshua.

In order for Joshua to completely win the war, God stopped the sun and the moon, defeating the allied forces of the five nations and allowing Joshua to win the war.

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“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.”

(Proverbs 21:30~31)

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God, who created the heavens and the earth, is still the Almighty One who can move the whole world according to His will.

God gives great miracles to those who believe in His power and seek it.

Like Joshua, when we want to do what pleases God, God will be with us with amazing power. God will make us victorious just as Joshua's army was victorious.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)