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The Sun-Stopping God

Clark Beck | Joshua 10 | March 15, 2026

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We are continuing our study of Joshua. Last week, we read about how the Gibeonites deceived Israel into a covenant with them — Joshua and the elders failed to seek God before making a decision. And these great new friends of theirs immediately needed their help with something.

In Joshua 10, we are confronted with a miracle-working God. If you struggle with the idea of miracles, you might find your heart struggling here to believe what you are reading.

This was not just a miracle — this was a miracle of universal proportions. Outside of the miracle of creation itself, this might be the greatest natural miracle ever performed by God on behalf of his people. So before we go any further, we need to come to terms with miracles in general. Our God is a miracle-working God. Even though miracles are unusual to us, there is nothing unusual about God’s ability to perform them.

We tend to think of this fallen world as an unstoppable machine — it’s in motion and nothing can stop the forces of time and nature. But what we see here is that God can stop the entire universe. Our God is the Creator of everything, and he actively rules everything. There is not one thing in all creation that is not under his authority, from the smallest atom to the largest galaxy.

Also, our entire faith is based on the miracles of the virgin birth, incarnation, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We don’t just believe in a philosophy — we believe in the fact of a historical event that happened about 2,000 years ago when the real man, Jesus Christ, was raised from the dead in power. As Christians, we are those who believe in miracles, and we believe in a God who works miracles. And he is a God who never changes. He is still working miracles today. The Sun-Stopping God fights for you and will crush Satan underneath your feet so that you can enter your inheritance.

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The Lord Fights for His People

As Joshua went to honor Israel’s covenant with Gibeon, the Lord encouraged him: “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.” Joshua and his men marched all night and came upon the Amorite kings and their armies.

At this point, we see the Lord fighting for his people. It says the Lord threw them into a panic. Then, as they fled, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them. Then, most significantly, the Lord listened to Joshua’s prayer and made the sun and moon stop while Israel took vengeance on their enemies. There has never been a day before or since like this. Then we see the key phrase: “The Lord fought for Israel.”

The Lord fights for his people. The Lord fights for you. We are not alone in our battle with sin, not alone in our battle with Satan, and not alone as we walk through this world. Whatever spiritual battle you find yourself in today, know that the same God who could cause the sun and moon to stop is with you and is fighting for you. As Paul said, he is working all things for your good — all things. What seems totally out of reach is within his reach. The situation in your life that seems unchangeable is changeable by the power of God.

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Christ Crushes Our Enemies

The crushing of these five kings can be taken as a type of how Jesus came to crush Satan for us on the cross. In Genesis 3, right after the first sin, the first promise of the gospel appeared — God told the serpent that the offspring of Eve would crush his head. This promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews writes that through death, Jesus came to “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” Just as was prophesied in Genesis, the serpent bruised his heel, but he bruised his head.

And he is still doing this work. Paul writes: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” God is at work in us, and he is crushing Satan underneath our feet. So let’s not lose heart. Let’s continue in obedience, knowing God is the one fighting for us and giving us grace for whatever is in front of us.

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Walking Into Our Inheritance

At this point in the story, Joshua and all Israel go on to take southern Canaan. And then we are told: “Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel.” From beginning to end, that is the key to victory — God is with us and is fighting for us. There is no other way we can take our inheritance of salvation than through the work of God’s Spirit in us. Just like the Israelites still had to go to battle, we still must exert effort — but it’s God working in us that gives us the power and the victory.

This should be a huge encouragement to you. You are not alone today in the struggle of your current battles, whatever those are. Some of you are in an intense battle with sin — God is fighting for you. Some of you are facing a crisis in your marriage — the Lord is fighting for you. Some of you just gave in to anger, lust, or greed again, and you are wondering if you will ever change. The answer is yes, you will change, because the Lord is fighting for you.

Remember what happened over the last three chapters? God had to deal with sin in the camp. They lost to Ai. They were deceived by the Gibeonites into a terrible mistake. They acted without praying. This probably felt like a major failure to Joshua — yet God used that alliance to strike down the most powerful kings in the area all at once. That moment of defeat was part of how God was working in their lives. What feels like the end to you right now is not the end. God can redeem any situation.

He is the God who can stop the sun and the moon. Jeremiah said, “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” Then God asks this rhetorical question: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” The answer is a resounding “no.”

This is the miracle of our inheritance in Christ: that even though we deserved judgment and death, Christ came to give us life. When God became man in Jesus Christ, that was an even greater miracle than the sun and moon stopping. He didn’t just make something in the heavens stop — he brought heaven to earth. His light is still shining. He is still fighting for us. He is still working in us to bring us into that inheritance.

So here’s the question: if God can do all of this, what else in your life is too hard for him to handle?