What Really Happened?

#6

 

It would seem God froze the entire universe in place.

 

Rising, setting and even North, South, East and West are man made conventions relative to another object which appears to be stable. The scripture allows and even uses these man made conventions.

So what?

 

But of course the sun didn't really stand still.

It's phenomenological language, the language of observation.
Think of this, if the sun stood still it would have been the earth that did not move.

The Hebrews of this age told time by the sun and moon, they did not have time keeping instruments in that period of time.
And they didn't have a times-keeper in the army to insure that the sun continued moving as predicted.​

This is like the miracle of the resurrection of our Lord, it defies scientific explanation, there's just not enough information provided. It simply happened as it did.
God assigned each heavenly body its place and function (Genesis 1:6), on this day God controlled time which allowed Israel to defeat its enemies.

I personally imagine Joshua, after an exhausting day of fighting the enemy, looking down at his Casio, knocking it with his fingers a few times, then exclaiming, "I'm dog tired, I must have forgotten to wind my watch. This day seems like it will never end. [Big Yawn], that sun seems like it isn't even moving."

Rob

 

Is this this relative language and if so how do you know?

Mark 16:2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

London is west of Jerusalem but east of New York City,

Also "up" and "down" are relative to the x,y coordinates on the earth. "up" is relative to the equator
and/or the north or south poles.

That is the consequence of living on a globe circling the sun rotating on its axis.

 

You’re very critical Aaron!
But you didn’t read what I said with understanding.
If God controls time it doesn’t really matter.

Think: If your watch stopped and if you have nothing to reset it to, how could you tell how much time had passed?
Their watch had stopped.

Rob

 

Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

Based on my Biblical understanding:

Jesus was literally the Sun which did not set that Day. Scripture speaks of Jesus’ Glory.... as being brighter than the Sun that shield them until the people avenged themselves upon their enemies as spoken in the context of the text above.

Psa 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

IF the normal sun had stopped in Heaven, the Milky Way Galaxy would have been scattered all over this Universe.

I am saying that since Jesus acted as the Sun of that Day - whose' Glory is brighter than the noonday sun (Acts 26:13) that blinded Saul on the road to Damascus, He (Jesus) is the reason Joshua thought the Sun didn't set. Remember that Jesus' Glory is also the light of Heaven. Rev 21:23 literally speaking.

God bless

 

Exactly, but the old earthers don't believe your observation and want to use this as a weapon.

 

It was a miracle and it was accurately reported per Dr Henry Morris of the Institute for Creation Research in an article from 2003:

Some quibble about the language employed, suggesting that Joshua thought the sun "moves," instead of the earth. The fact is, the motion of any heavenly body must be given in terms of relative motion (since all objects in the universe are moving in some way). Scientists normally assume the fixed point of zero motion to be the one which makes their equations most convenient to use, and this usually is the earth's surface at the location of the observer. Joshua's language was . . . quite scientific!

Furthermore, many scholars have documented numerous traditions of a "long day" (or "long night," in the western hemisphere) about the time of Joshua. The Biblical story is well supported as a real fact of history. There was a long day!

Joshua's Long Day

 

In reality all our senses are relative.

e.g. We do not actually "see" anything, Light waves bounce off articles then the light enters through the lens of our eye and is translated into nerve impulses, sent via the optic nerve to the brain and translated again to travel/react to brain synapses giving us a distant relative "view" of what is really out there.

Don't fret, Father knows best.

 

Yes it is relative. Relative to the truth that only God can see of the physical universe.
We can trust Him for the sensory provision He has given though our nervous system by which He reveals Himself.

One day we will "see" in resurrected bodies without a translation through our nervous system of a flesh and blood body.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.