Did the SUN Really Stand Still?

The Holy Nope

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Does the Bible teach a flat earth? So far in this series we have seen that Isaiah 40 .22 does not teach cosmology but the governing power of God to deliver his people from exile in a foreign nation.

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We then saw how Proverbs 8 .27 does not teach cosmology but highlights the primacy of wisdom in God's creation of the universe imploring us to fear the

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Lord. These two passages are using figurative language to communicate truth about the Lord and are misinterpreted by flat earthers who want nothing to do with the literary, historical, and theological contexts of these passages yet who, and I'm going off what

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I have seen in the comments, I'm not saying everyone does this, but who like to assume some moral high ground in the discussion because they are just believing what the

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Bible says. Today we are going to look at a different kind of biblical passage. Rather than being poetry like we find in Isaiah 40 .22

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or a proverb, Joshua 10 .12 -14 takes place within historical narrative.

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In Joshua 10 the sun stands still. The flat earther concludes that the sun literally stopped which of course must mean that the earth is stationary and the sun is literally moving across the sky.

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What I have not seen from any flat earther who invokes this passage is an attempt to cite it within its context.

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They say the sun stood still as if that's the point of the narrative. If you don't know the point of the narrative and you don't know the wider context in which it exists, it's wildly irresponsible to go ahead and make claims about what scripture teaches.

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So before we get to the context and the theological significance of what happens in Joshua 10, let's use some common sense.

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First, the Bible was written by the Holy Spirit through inspired men. They're human authors. You are watching this video and you are probably a human being.

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And when you look up and observe the sun, it clearly appears to travel across the sky. The Holy Spirit's inspiration of the authors of scripture does not cancel their human perspective or personality.

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Secondly, why are we trying to find a scientific explanation for a miracle? Why do you need to know how this happened?

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You don't know how someone is raised from the dead. You don't know how Jesus walked on water. It's a miracle.

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By definition, a miracle suspends natural law for the special intervention of God.

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It cannot be explained by natural laws. So while my point is not to argue for heliocentrism from this text, because that's not the point of this text, there is no reason from this text not to believe that if God began spinning the earth one day, that he could press pause for a day, that he could suspend natural law.

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The flat earthers use of this text indicates a fundamentally flawed approach to the Bible.

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So let's hit three points today. The nature of scripture, the language of scripture, and the purpose of scripture. The Bible is a theological book.

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This is not to say that it does not accurately record historical events, but that is to say that God's purpose in giving us the scriptures is redemptive, not scientific.

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This is Bible 101. It is never asserted in the history of the church that the Bible is the sufficient revelation of cosmological mechanisms.

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That is not the nature of the text. What is historically affirmed instead is that the whole counsel of God concerning everything essential for his own glory and man's salvation, faith, and life is either expressly stated or by necessary inference contained in the holy scriptures.

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It isn't given to teach us about whether or not we live on a spinning or stationary earth.

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The church father Augustine affirms that the Holy Spirit who produced these writings did not wish to teach men things that would be of no use to them for their salvation.

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So seeing some flat earthers actually make this a salvation issue is quite disturbing.

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We need to remember the nature of scripture as a theological book when we approach biblical passages, lest we completely miss the point like what happens with Joshua 10.

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Now let's consider the language. The description of the sun and moon in this passage reflects phenomenological language.

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That is, the authors are describing events from their perspectives. They are humans using language that aligns with everyday human experience.

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The author is writing what was observed. Just like if you look up, you would observe the sun traveling across the sky because that's what it looks like from your perspective, which theoretically works with geocentric and heliocentric models of the universe.

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Now maybe your response to that is to say, well then you don't believe the Bible because that's what it says. You're saying that God is a liar.

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But even if the earth did stop spinning and it wasn't the sun that stood still but the earth, it wouldn't undermine the

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Holy Spirit's inspiration of the text because that is totally not the point of the text.

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John Calvin writes, I think one other man said it may have been

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Calvin himself who said that the scriptures are God's lispings to us, that he's coming down to our level.

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He is graciously condescending to deliver to us revelation by which we may be saved.

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Finally, let's consider the purpose of scripture and specifically Joshua 10. Why did the author record these redemptive historical events?

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Well, the Gibeonites, after deceiving Israel who had made a covenant with them, came under attack.

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Joshua was bound by oath to defend these people because of the covenant he made with them.

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This naturally caused unrest among Israel as some began to murmur against Joshua. Meanwhile, five Amorite kings united to attack the

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Gibeonites in retaliation for aligning with Israel. So as Joshua leads a reluctant murmuring people into battle against the

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Amorites, the miracle that takes place is an astounding vindication of Joshua, the successor of Moses.

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So by this miracle, God vindicates Joshua. This suspension of natural law for the special intervention of God also specifically marks out this battle to demonstrate that an outnumbered

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Israel is not outnumbered when they are on the side of the Lord. This victory is given to display

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God's faithfulness to fulfill his promise to give this land to the people of Israel.

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Another purpose for this miracle is to highlight God's protection of those who seek mercy and peace with his people.

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Another purpose is to demonstrate the absolute sovereignty of God over the false gods of the nations.

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Just as Yahweh demonstrated supremacy over the gods of Egypt, so he does here over the gods of the

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Canaanites who were sun worshippers. They worship the creation rather than the creator and by this miracle they behold the power of Yahweh to exercise control over that which they wrongly worship.

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In fact, God stops the sun to give Israel more time to slaughter them. Ultimately, this passage points us to Christ, not to conclusions about the shape of the earth.

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Joshua, whose name means the Lord is salvation, serves as a type of Christ in redemptive history.

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Just as Joshua leads Israel into the promised land and secures victory over their enemies,

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Christ leads his people into the ultimate promised land, eternal life, and triumphs over the greater enemies of sin,

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Satan, and death. The miraculous victory in Joshua 10 foreshadows Christ's ultimate victory at the cross and in his resurrection.

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As Paul writes, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now there are many more connections to the

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New Testament that can be traced out from this passage, such as the the long day being a foreshadowing of the day of the

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Lord in which he will bring his enemies into judgment. But suffice it to say that this is an amazing passage of scripture and there are so many things to glean from it.