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Joshua 10:14 and Prayer

Deacon

Deacon

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I'm working my way through the book of Joshua.

Joshua 10:12–14 (ESV 2025)
At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

14Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.

~~~~~~

Joshua 10:12- 14 teaches that:
  • Prayer can be powerful and consequential.
  • God listens and responds to prayer.
  • Effective prayer aligns with God’s purpose.
  • God allows human petition to play a real role in his actions.
  • Miraculous prayers are possible.
~~~~~~~~

How does Joshua 10:14 interact with the attribute of God's omniscience (all-knowing) and his impassability? (God cannot be persuaded to act)?

Why was Joshua's prayer unique? ("no day like it before or since")

Rob
 
Ascetic X

Ascetic X

Active Member
Deacon said:
I'm working my way through the book of Joshua.

Joshua 10:12–14 (ESV 2025)
At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

14Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.

~~~~~~

Joshua 10:12- 14 teaches that:
  • Prayer can be powerful and consequential.
  • God listens and responds to prayer.
  • Effective prayer aligns with God’s purpose.
  • God allows human petition to play a real role in his actions.
  • Miraculous prayers are possible.
~~~~~~~~

How does Joshua 10:14 interact with the attribute of God's omniscience (all-knowing) and his impassability? (God cannot be persuaded to act)?

Why was Joshua's prayer unique? ("no day like it before or since")

Rob
Click to expand...
God’s impossibility is a concept based on the “unmoved mover” of Greek philosophy.

The term comes from the Latin passio (suffering), meaning God is incapable of being "passive" or acted upon by creation in a way that changes his divine nature.

Many contemporary theologians reject impassibility, believing it portrays a distant God, and that the incarnation of Jesus and His death on the cross reveal a God who truly suffers with his creatures.

It’s impossible to read much of Scripture without realizing that God feels compassion for His people (Isaiah 14:1); that He feels wrath against sin (Psalm 38:3); and that He is pained by the rejection of His love and grace (Luke 19:41–42). Jesus, who is “the exact representation” of God’s being (Hebrews 1:3), wept at Lazarus’s tomb (John 11:35).

Jesus, who showed us the Father (John 14:8–10), often showed that He was passible. We see passibility in the description of Him as our Great High Priest who is able to “empathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15). The prophets predicted Jesus to be “a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (Isaiah 53:3).
 
Deacon

Deacon

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
In Numbers 14:19–20 — Israel rebelled after hearing the negative report of the spies.
Moses intercedes: “Please pardon the iniquity of this people…” (v. 19 ESV)
The Lord responds: “I have pardoned, according to your word.” (v. 20)
God appears to be changing his mind as a response to Moses’ prayer.

In Joshua 10:14 — Joshua commands the sun to stand still during battle, and the text says: “There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man…”
  • God responds to prayer
  • God acts in response to prayer
  • Prayers matter
Yet in both cases, neither omniscience, sovereignty, or impassability is compromised.
The miracle is not God being overruled—it is GOD choosing to act in accordance with his foreordained redemptive purpose.
The event happened with purpose and foresight by an all-knowing GOD.

Prayer Does Not Override God
If God were passible (that is, being emotionally alterable or manipulated), prayer would function like a leverage.
But Scripture never presents prayer as coercion.
We obviously can't make God do something by praying; why even our expectations of how God may act in a given situation are suspect.

Omniscience -> God is all-knowing -> Prayer does not reveal anything to God
Impassibility -> God is not manipulated -> Prayer does not alter God’s nature
Sovereignty -> God’s will cannot fail -> Prayer is part of his ordained plan

God is unchanging in his nature, sovereign in his will, and yet freely responsive in his covenant relationship with his chosen people.
The mystery—God is unchanging yet relationally responsive—lies at the heart of biblical theology of prayer.

Rob
 
C

Charlie24

Well-Known Member
Deacon said:
I'm working my way through the book of Joshua.

Joshua 10:12–14 (ESV 2025)
At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

14Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.

~~~~~~

Joshua 10:12- 14 teaches that:
  • Prayer can be powerful and consequential.
  • God listens and responds to prayer.
  • Effective prayer aligns with God’s purpose.
  • God allows human petition to play a real role in his actions.
  • Miraculous prayers are possible.
~~~~~~~~

How does Joshua 10:14 interact with the attribute of God's omniscience (all-knowing) and his impassability? (God cannot be persuaded to act)?

Why was Joshua's prayer unique? ("no day like it before or since")

Rob
Click to expand...

Deacon said:
I'm working my way through the book of Joshua.

Joshua 10:12–14 (ESV 2025)
At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

14Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.

~~~~~~

Joshua 10:12- 14 teaches that:
  • Prayer can be powerful and consequential.
  • God listens and responds to prayer.
  • Effective prayer aligns with God’s purpose.
  • God allows human petition to play a real role in his actions.
  • Miraculous prayers are possible.
~~~~~~~~

How does Joshua 10:14 interact with the attribute of God's omniscience (all-knowing) and his impassability? (God cannot be persuaded to act)?

Why was Joshua's prayer unique? ("no day like it before or since")

Rob
Click to expand...

Yes, I certainly believe that when heart felt prayer meets with the perfect will of God the sun will stop on a dime for all of us.

Sometimes we have to look back to see where the sun stopped for us.
 
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