RUSSELL SANDERS

10-28-2025

THE LIFE OF JOSHUA – LESSON 11

THE DAY THE SUN STOOD STILL

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After the conquest of Jericho and Ai, Joshua and Israel returned to their base camp at Gilgal. The news of their victories spread rapidly through Canaan. It caused great fear. The Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites formed an alliance to pool their armies to fight together against Israel.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Gibeon adopted a different strategy. They seemed to understand that nobody could survive by fighting Israel and their God, Jehovah. They made a deceitful plan. They went to Gilgal and pretended to be from a faraway country. They proposed to make a league with Israel as servants to them. It would include their surrounding neighbors.

In Joshua 9:14-15 we see that Joshua and his princes did not inquire of God about this. They simply followed their own reasoning. They made that alliance with Gibeon. They “bought the lie.” Three days later Joshua found out about the deceit. It was too late to change anything because they were already bound to an oath of allegiance. However, the Gibeonites and their allies would become servants to Israel.

Upon hearing of Gibeon’s alliance with Israel, the kings who had allied themselves to fight against Israel set out to destroy Gibeon. The Gibeonites appealed to Joshua to come defend them. Joshua and Israel came to their aid. Joshua fought successfully against those five kings killing many of their soldiers. God also sent large hailstones which killed many of them.

Joshua wanted complete victory that day, but the day was getting late, and they were still fully engaged in battle. This is the day that Joshua spoke to Jehovah and commanded the sun and the moon to stand still.

God granted Joshua that miracle and time stood still. The day was prolonged to give Israel complete victory. The five kings, knowing that they were beaten, hid in a cave. When the battle was finished Joshua found them and had them executed.

The story of Gibeon shows that Joshua was not perfect. He failed to ask the LORD about these Gibeonites. By trusting his own judgment, he made a mistake. Consequently, he could never rid the country of the inhabitants of Gibeon or their allies in Cheph’irah, Bee’roth, and Kir’jathjearim (Joshua 9:17). This mistake meant he could never purge Canaan of the pagans as he had been commanded. It was a failure.

Despite Joshua’s failure, God granted the miracle that Joshua spoke by causing time to stand still so that the battle could be completely won. That was a miraculous victory. It shows you and me that even when we foolishly make a serious mistake, God will still answer and bless us when we call upon Him as Joshua did.

HELEN SANDERS

10-28-2025

DON’T STOP SOWING

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In Matthew chapter 13 Jesus talks about a sower. Now a sower is one that plants seeds. In bible days a person would walk along their farm and throw the seed onto the ground with the hopes that it would fall on good ground.

This parable tells us that there were four kinds of grounds that received the seeds. The first seeds fell on the wayside. The wayside was a place where seeds could not grow, so the birds came and ate the seed. It never went into the ground.

The second seeds were sown upon stony ground. Now we all know that a stone cannot receive seed, so the seed could not grow there either. It may have tried to sprout, but the sun scorched the sprout, and it withered away.

The third seeds were sown on ground that was full of prickers that choked the seed so it could not produce.

The fourth seeds were sown on good ground where they sprouted and brought forth fruit. Some a hundredfold which means it produced a hundred times as much as the seed that was sown. Some produced sixty-fold and some thirty-fold.

Notice there were four types of ground. Good seeds were sown in all four, but only one of the four produced. That would be twenty-five percent in results. Then, only one third of that twenty-five percent gained a hundredfold. That means only seven- and one-half percent gained a hundredfold out of the entire seeds that were sown.

The point in this is that if there were no seeds sown there would be no increase. There will always be wayside, stony, and thorny ground, but there is always good ground too. We must focus on sowing, and pray that where it is sown is good ground.

The ground represents a person’s heart. The seed represents the word of God sown into a heart. Some never receive it. Some wither away, and some have briars in their lives that prevent them from any spiritual growth. Yet, there is always that one that receives the word and produces.

Never stop sowing. God prepares the heart to receive. Just keep sowing the word into people’s lives expecting to see fruit.