The men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua camped at Gilgal, “Don’t let us down now! Come up here quickly! Save us! Help us! All the Amorite kings who live up in the hills have ganged up on us.”

So Joshua set out from Gilgal, his whole army with him—all those tough soldiers! God told him, “Don’t give them a second thought. I’ve put them under your thumb—not one of them will stand up to you.”

Joshua marched all night from Gilgal and took them by total surprise. God threw them into total confusion before Israel, a major victory at Gibeon. Israel chased them along the ridge to Beth Horon and fought them all the way down to Azekah and Makkedah. As they ran from the People of Israel, down from the Beth Horon ridge and all the way to Azekah, God pitched huge stones on them out of the sky and many died. More died from the hailstones than the People of Israel killed with the sword.

The day God gave the Amorites up to Israel, Joshua spoke to God, with all Israel listening:

“Stop, Sun, over Gibeon;
Halt, Moon, over Aijalon Valley.”
And Sun stopped,
Moon stood stock still
Until he defeated his enemies. (Joshua 10:1-12)

God takes care of those on his side even if they aren’t exactly nice people. The people of Gibeon had tricked the Israelites into forming an alliance with them. When the other Canaanites in the land learned that Gibeon had gone over to the Israelite invaders, they were furious and attacked them. Because of the treaty the Israelites had with the Gibeonites, Israel had no choice but to come to their aid.

God told Joshua not to worry. God promised that he would take care of things for them. God threw rocks from out of the sky, slaughtering the Canaanite armies arrayed against Gibea and the Israelites. Then God spoke, stopping the moon and sun in the sky. Since it was not possible to fight in the dark, it gave the Israelites extra time to wage war against their enemies. Joshua achieved a great victory.

Just as God had spoken to create the sun and moon, so his power over the universe was undiminished. Joshua—and Israel’s—confidence in God’s power grew enormously after this, a miracle that trumped the parting of the Red Sea in Moses’ day.

Just because we don’t see how to fix a problem doesn’t mean that God is similarly blind.

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