Joshua's long day. 



135 



afternoon had seemed to be double the ordinary length. " The 

 sun had hasted not to go down about a whole day." 



Was this a miracle ? It was certainly a wonderful feat of 

 human strength and endurance. But the Israehtes must have 

 been mightily refreshed by the sudden veiling of the sun's glare 

 and the assuaging of his heat ; still more by their Captain's 

 word of confident command and the manifold signs of the Divine 

 presence with them. Men can do great things when they know 

 that God is indeed helping them. 



This great occurrence appears to be referred to in one other 

 passage in Scripture — the Prayer of Habakkuk. Here again 

 the rendering of the English version is unfortunate, and the 

 passage should stand : — 



" The sun and moon ceased to shine in their habitation : 

 At the light of Thine arrows they vanished, 

 And at the shining of Thy glittering spear. 

 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, 

 Thou didst thresh the nations in anger." 



^ (Hab. iii, 11-12.) 

 There is one passage in the chapter to which I have made no 

 reference as yet. It is verse 14 : 



" 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." 

 What does that mean ? When you go home, take your con- 

 cordances and look out the words "hearken," "hearkened," 

 " hearkening," and the like, and you will find in the majority 

 of cases that they mean " obey." " To hearken unto the voice 

 of a man " is to obey that man's command. 



That is what is meant. Joshua did not pray to God that 

 God would order the sun and moon to obey him. He was there 

 as God's lieutenant-general, and he himself issued orders to the 

 sun and moon, and the Creator of sun and moon, Who guides 

 them in their paths in the heavens, by Whom alone they shine, 

 and by Whom alone they are darkened, obeyed the voice of a 

 man and " fought for Israel." 



There was no day like it before. Nor was there any day like 

 it after it, until there came another Joshua, Who did not call a 

 storm from the sea, but Who commanded the storm and it became 

 a great calm. And His disciples said : — 



" What manner of Man is this, that even the winds and 

 the sea obey Him ? " 



