Presented by Ralph Woodrow
NO DAY LIKE THAT
Once a person has been taught the other view - that the day
was extended for many additional hours - a verse like Joshua
10:14 tends to support that idea: "There was no day like that
before it or after it." But expressions like this were
proverbial; simply a way of stating that what happened was out of
the ordinary, unusual. Similar expressions may be found in verses
such as Exodus 9:18; 10:14; 1 Kings 3:12; 2 Kings 18:5; 23:22,
25; 2 Chron.1:12; Ezekiel 5:8,9; Joel 2:2; etc. What made this
day unusual is explained as we continue reading: "There was no
day like that before it or after it, THAT the Lord HARKENED unto
the voice of a MAN"!
We should not read into this verse the idea that the day was
unusual because the sun stopped moving and the hours of that day
extended. Even if this had been the case, this was clearly not
the point here. The point being made, as Maunder says, is that:
"Joshua had spoken, not in prayer or supplication, but in
command, as if all NATURE was at his DISPOSAL; and the Lord
had HARKENED and had, as it were, OBEYED a HUMAN voice: an
anticipation of the time when a greater Joshua would command
even the winds and the sea, and they would obey him"
(ISBE,P.448).
After reading that there was no day like this before, and
that the Lord harkened to the voice of a man, we read:
"FOR the Lord fought for Israel."
What did the Lord do? Comparing scripture with scripture,
what the Lord did in fighting for Israel was this:
"The Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them...
more died with hailstones than they whom the children of
Israel slew with the sword" (Joshua 10:11).
This explains why that day was unusual and unique. But had
the whole solar system stopped moving - this being so much more
dynamic - surely the verse would have read: "And there was no day
like that before it or after it, for the Lord stopped the whole
solar system!" But instead, the POINT of the passage is that the
Lord obeyed the voice of a MAN and fought for Israel. And the way
he fought for Israel, specifically, is that he sent a storm which
dropped huge hailstones upon the enemy.
A. Lincoln Shute has described the defeat of the Amorites in
these words:
For nearly two miles they ran and stumbled from Upper to
Lower Beth-horon. Just before passing Lower Beth-horon, they
turned to the south and swept through the wider valley just
below Lower Beth-horon to the east, now filled with many
olive trees. Just after passing Lower Beth-horon, this
valley turns westward along the south side of the hill on
which the city stands, and a little farther on it turns
southward again towards the valley of Ajalon. Here, out of
the mountain passes, they poured into this broad valley, and
continued their disorderly retreat southward under the
pelting hail till they reached the vicinity of Azekah...
Here, apparently, the hail-storm ceased (Joshua 10:11), the
clouds broke, and, later in the afternoon, past the heat of
that July day, the sun appeared once more.
(A.Lincoln Shute, "The Battle of Beth-Horon," in
"Bibliotheca Sacra," 1927, p. 422).
MIRACLES WORLD-WIDE?
The earth completes one rotation on its axis in 23 hours, 56
minutes, and 4 seconds. This means that the surface of the earth
at the equator is travelling over 1,000 miles an hour. If the
earth suddenly stopped - causing the sun to appear to stand
still, as some explain it - the chain reaction of events
world-wide would have been tremendous. In 1960 an earthquake in
Chile triggered seismic sea waves that caused damage from Alaska
to New Zealand and wrecked coastal villages in Japan - a third of
the way around the world. If an earthquake could have such
far-reaching effects, imagine what would happen if the whole
earth suddenly stopped! All human beings, animals, and loose
objects would be thrown forward. Oceans would be flung onto land,
coastal towns would be devastated, ships at sea would be
swallowed by vast waves, and buildings would crumble. There would
be literally millions of disasters world-wide! Why would
thousands of people living in Italy need to be killed with waves,
or the population of Japan terrified with a night twice as long,
just so Joshua could defeat a comparatively few Amorites at
Gibeon?
Make no mistake about it, God is all-mighty and could
provide invisible "seat belts" for all people, hold back the
ocean from the coastlines, protect the ships at sea, keep
buildings from toppling over and millions of other miracles as he
stopped this planet from turning! But why such complex and
overwhelming measures in order to accomplish one simple purpose?
To complicate the whole thing to this extent reminds us of a
Rube Goldberg drawing about a machine for washing dishes. When
spoiled tomcat (A) discovers he is alone, he lets out a yell
which scares mouse (B) into jumping into basket (C), causing
lever end (D) to rise and pull string (E) which snaps automatic
cigar-lighter (F). Flame (G) starts fire sprinkler (H). Water
runs on dishes (I) and drips into sink (J). Turtle (K), thinking
he hears babbling brook babbling, and having no sense of
direction, starts wrong way and pulls string (L), which turns on
switch (M) that starts electric glow heater (N). Heat ray (O)
dries the dishes!
If God suddenly stopped the earth from turning - and
performed multiplied millions of protection miracles worldwide -
because of Joshua's words, the events that took place at Gibeon
would fade into insignificance in comparison! The Bible account
of what really happened would be pitifully incomplete. We do not
believe this is the case.
The New Testament mentions many phenomenal events in Old
Testament history -a leper dipping in Jordan for healing, Gideon
defeating an army, Lot escaping Sodom, manna falling from heaven,
Aaron's staff budding, the Exodus from Egypt, crossing the Red
Sea on dry ground, the fall of Jericho, etc. But the New
Testament never says anything about what would have been a
miracle of much greater magnitude: the sun (or earth) standing
still. It does not mention the world-wide disasters this would
have caused or the miracles that would have been required to
prevent such disasters. Does this not seem like a strange
omission if indeed Joshua's words set off a chain of complicated
and complex events world-wide? How much more feasible logically
and scripturally - to simply recognize that the sun stopped
shining and not that it stopped moving!
ORDER OF EVENTS
Taking the information given in Joshua 10, we are able to
reconstruct the order of events for this day. Again, the map on
page 84 will clarify the locations (I do not reproduce the map -
Keith Hunt).
1. Joshua and his men march all night from their camp at Gilgal
(verse 9).
2. Arriving at Gibeon, their attack on the Amorites meets with
great success (verse 10).
3. The Amorites flee for Azeka and Makkedah (verse 10).
4. Along the road huge hailstones fall on them, killing more than
are killed by the sword of Israel (verse 11).
5. "That day" Makkedah is taken, smitten with the sword, and camp
is set up there (verses 28,21).
6. The five kings who escaped and hid in a cave at Makkedah are
captured, killed, and hung on trees (verses 16, 26).
7. "And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun,
that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and
cast them into the cave" (verse 27).
There is not the slightest hint from verse 27 that the sun
went down almost 12 (or 24) hours later than usual. There is
every reason to believe from this wording that "the time of the
going down of the sun" was the normal time.
If indeed the sun went down 12 hours later than usual (not
to mention 24 hours later, as some suppose!), this would mean
that Joshua and his men would have been up the day before their
march to Gibeon, marched all night, fought all day until evening,
and then continued fighting for another 12 hours during an
extended day; that is, a day of 12 hours, a night of 12 hours,
fighting all day for 12 hours, and then 12 hours more ! This
would be a total of 48 hours without sleep. The Amorites, on the
other hand, being the ones who planned the attack, had time to
rest before and would have been many hours fresher than the
Israelites. An extended day would have given them an advantage -
not the Israelites!
When the sun went down at Makkedah - "at the time of the
going down of the sun," the normal time - this was a long enough
day without extending it longer!
UNINTERRUPTED TIME
Another point that weighs heavily is the fact that the Bible
implies the cycle of day and night has never been interrupted.
Clear back in Genesis we read: "While the earth remaineth..
day and night shall not cease (Genesis 8:22). Significantly, the
word translated "cease" is "sabbath," the word from which Sabbath
is derived, expressing the idea of intermission, to rest, to
cease (Strong's Concordance, 7673, 7676). In other words, as long
as the earth remained, day and night were not to cease, were not
to take a sabbath. But if - at the time of Joshua - night did not
come at its normal time, then the cycle of day and night did
indeed take a rest!
Day and night have never ceased to function right on time.
"Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the
day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not
be day and night IN THEIR SEASON" - right on time! - "then
may also my covenant be broken..." (Jeremiah 33:20).
The very integrity of God is linked to an uninterrupted
cycle of day and night.
Jeremiah, who spoke these words, lived after the time of
Joshua. If he had believed the cycle of day and night was
interrupted at the time of Joshua, his analogy would not be
valid. There is the strong implication that he did not believe
the sequence of day and night "in their season" had ever been
interrupted.
Those who believe the sun stopped and the day was lengthened
12 or 24 hours, face serious problems of interpretation. Suppose
Joshua's command was given on a Tuesday (the third day of the
week) - and this day was extended to include what normally would
have been Wednesday then Thursday (the next day, figuring by the
sun marking off day and night) would be the fourth day of the
week, Friday the fifth, Saturday the sixth, and Sunday the
seventh day of the week. The whole sequence of days would be off
a day from what it had been before! No such thing occurred, in
our opinion. The Bible uses the term "DAY" in describing this
period - not days.
If the time marked by the sun and moon was delayed for 24
hours, then holy days such as the Passover would from then on
fall on a different day than at the time of Moses. This is
unthinkable, for the Israelites were to keep the passover "in the
fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in its
appointed season" (Numbers 9:2, 3). If the moon had been delayed
for about a complete day, those who kept the Passover on the
fourteenth day after the new moon, would not be keeping the same
24 hour segment of time as that commanded by Moses! All Sabbaths,
feast days, and new moon festivals would have fallen within a
different 24 hour period than before - each being one day off!
This hardly seems to have been the case and so, again, a
reason to believe the sun stopped shining - not stopped moving! -
at the command of Joshua.
(Those who expound and believe this day of Joshua was extended by
12 to 24 hours just tell you that it did not effect the days of
the week per se. only that one of those days was an extra long
day. But as Woodrow has pointed out God said, long before Joshua
that day and night would not be interrupted. Miracles have taken
place on certain days, but none of the writers of the Bible give
any evidence that the earth stopped rotating for 12 to 24 hours,
and so interrupting the normal day and night function of the
earth - such an event as Woodrow points out, would have been so
huge a miracle, it could have hardly escaped being mentioned by
more than one writer of the books of the Bible - Keith Hunt).
AN EXTENDED DAY?
We have stated that Joshua wanted relief from the heat of
the sun - not more hours of sunlight. There is the direct
scriptural statement about a storm that moved in which would have
caused the sun to stop shining on Gibeon. And there is, of
course, the basic fact that stopping the sun would not make an
extended day. For these reasons, we have taken the position
presented here.
But, coming to verse 13, we read that the sun "hasted
not to go down about a whole day" which, in our English version,
does indeed seem to teach that the day was extended. Our
translators lived at a time when it was assumed that if the sun
stopped it would make the day longer. It is evident they
translated the Hebrew words here to fit within that concept. But
these words "cannot be proved to have this meaning," says the
highly esteemed "Pulpit Commentary." "In fact, it is difficult to
fix any precise meaning on them" (Pulpit Commentary, Vol.7,
p.166).
Many years ago, A. Lincoln Shute actually visited the area
of Gibeon at the specific season when the sun and moon were in
the same positions as recorded in Joshua 10, the sun overhead at
noon and the moon in the valley of Ajalon to the west. He wrote
an article for "Bibliotheca Sacra" in which he stated his belief
that the storm caused the sun to stop shining (not moving) and
that all the reasonable evidence for this viewpoint "goes far to
indicate that [verse 13] probably has some sense that harmonizes
with all the rest, if we only knew all the facts and all of the
various shades of meaning in that far away time" (Shute, op.cit.,
p. 430). We agree with this statement and will give several
possibilities concerning verse 13.
The Wycliffe Bible Commentary gives the following
translation:
"For the sun ceased [shining] in the midst of the sky, and
[i.e., although] it did not hasten to set about a whole day"
(The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 218).
Another possibility is this: We are told that the sun
"hasted not to go down." If we are correct that the way the sun
stopped was that it stopped shining, then the word "go" would be
a reversal of that action; that is, the sun stopped shining and
did not hasten to "go" (shine) again until the day was about
completed (whole). The word translated "whole" is also translated
"full" or "complete" in the Bible. In other words, then, what was
said poetically would mean, literally, that Joshua commanded the
sun to stop shining at noon, the clouds intervened, and when the
day was almost completed, the sun shined again. In the meantime,
it "hasted not" - it was not in any hurry, was not pressed - to
shine down upon them.
M'Clintock and Strong suggest that verse 13 - the sun
"halted not to go down a whole day" - is equivalent to withheld
its full light (M'Clintock and Strong, op. cit., Vol.4. pp. 1026,
1027).
Again, bear in mind that the word translated "whole" can be
correctly translated "full." The word "day" can be Biblically
linked with light, as when "God called the light Day" (Genesis
1:5). By omitting "about" (which is not translated from any
Hebrew word anyway), the wording "withheld its full light" does
present a meaning in harmony with the evidence we have seen.
Another thought: Often when the Bible uses the word "sun,"
it means more precisely the light of the sun, as when we read
that the fruits of the earth are "brought forth by the sun"
(Deut.33:14). If it is the light of the sun that is primarily
meant in verse 13 - and not the sun itself - it could be said
that the light of the sun did not go down - did not shine - until
the day was almost completed.
This raises the question, however, as to why the expression,
"the sun did not GO down" (which sounds more like the setting of
the sun itself) would be used. Why would it not be said, if
speaking of the light or rays of the sun, "the sun did not COME
down"? Realizing that the Hebrew word translated "go" has a wide
variety of applications, I wondered if it could just as correctly
be translated "come" down. My hunch was easily and quickly
confirmed as I checked Strong's Concordance (Number 935).
Interestingly enough, this word can be translated either way
- "go" or "come"! And, in fact, it is translated more times
"come" (670 times) than "go" (150 times)!
With this possibility, verse 13 would be saying that the
light of the sun (and its excessive heat being implied) did not
come down on them until the day was almost complete.
Another shade of meaning may be possible in the word
translated "day." The word is common enough, but its specific
definition is: "to be hot; a day (as the warm hours)" (Strong's
Concordance, 3117). By applying this precise meaning to verse 13,
and realizing that Joshua wanted relief from the heat of the sun,
it is possible that "day" could be understood as the heat of the
day. If so, then "about a whole day" would mean that the sun
stopped shining for "about" the whole period when the sun's heat
would be oppressive - the hot hours of the day.
Taking this information, then, and including it in brackets,
the following gives an over-all view of our text:
"Sun, stop [shining] upon Gibeon... and the sun stopped
[shining] ... until the people had avenged themselves upon
their enemies... So the sun in the midst of the sky stopped
[shining], and [the light of the sun] hasted not to go [come
or shine] down for about a whole [an entire] day
[specifically the hot hours of the day]."
POETIC PASSAGE
Finally, it should be pointed out that the wording about the
sun stopping is in a portion of Joshua 10 that is unmistakably
poetic in nature. As the "Pulpit Commentary" says:
"The poetic form of this passage is clear to everyone who
has the smallest acquaintance with the laws of Hebrew
poetry" and that these words "belong rather to the domain of
poetry than history, and their language is that of hyperbole
rather than of exact narration of facts."" Poetic passages
such as this do not require a literal meaning for each word
or expression used.
....................
TO BE CONTINUED
Long Day and Hezekiah's sun-dialThe facts are revealing JOSHUA'S LONG DAY
Concluded
and
HEZEKIAH'S SUNDIAL AND MISSING TIME
Presented by Ralph Woodrow
POETIC PASSAGE
Finally, it should be pointed out that the wording about the
sun stopping is in a portion of Joshua 10 that is unmistakably
poetic in nature. As the "Pulpit Commentary" says:
"The poetic form of this passage is clear to everyone who
has the smallest acquaintance with the laws of Hebrew
poetry" and that these words "belong rather to the domain of
poetry than history, and their language is that of hyperbole
rather than of exact narration of facts."" Poetic passages
such as this do not require a literal meaning for each word
or expression used.
It was not uncommon for songs or poetic sketches about
Israelite victories to be written using non-literal expressions.
After the defeat of the Egyptians at the Red Sea: "Then sang
Moses ... unto the Lord... he hath dashed in pieces the enemy...
the earth swallowed them" (Exodus 15). "When Israel went out of
Egypt ... the sea saw it and fled ... the mountains skipped like
rams" (Psalm 114). The defeat of Sisera and his armies inspired
the poetic portion of Judges 5: "Then sang Deborah... the earth
trembled... the mountains melted ... the stars in their courses
fought against Sisera." When David escaped from Saul, he "spake
unto the Lord the words of this song... The earth shook and
trembled, there went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out
of his mouth ... he did fly upon the wings of the wind... he drew
me out of many waters" (Psalm 18).
In all of these examples, the Bible records the actual
historical account of what happened. These same events are then
told poetically - stars fighting, mountains skipping, the
frightened sea fleeing, the earth trembling, etc. All understand
these expressions as figures of speech - all recognize the poetic
liberty - even though written about literal, historical battles
that occurred.
So it is in Joshua 10. We have a historical account of what
happened (in verses 1-11 and continuing in verses 16-43) and a
poetic account (verses 12-15). Each account - the poetic and the
historical - ends with the words: "And Joshua returned, and all
Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal" (verses 15,43). If we
did not distinguish between the historical account and the
poetic, these two verses would be in conflict, implying that
Joshua returned twice to Gilgal. This cannot be, for the night
following the day of Joshua's command, the camp was established
at Makkedah (verse 21). We know the historical account
continues in verse 16 (from what had led up to the poetic
account) because of the words: "But these five kings fled..."
What five kings? This must tie back in and continue the
historical account from verses 1-11.
Because the wording about Joshua's command to the sun is
contained within the poetic portion of Joshua 10, some have
understood this simply as a poetic way of saying that "God and
all nature fought on the side of Joshua," so that the work of two
days was accomplished in one. Rabbi Levi ben Gersom, a well-known
name in Judaism, put it this way: "The wish of Joshua aims only
at this, that one day and night might be long enough for the
overthrow of the so numerous forces of the enemy. It was the same
as if he had said: Grant, Almighty Father, that before the sun
goes down, thy people may take vengeance on this multitude of thy
foes. The miracle of the day was, that, at the prayer of a man,
God effected so great a defeat in so short a time" (Quoted in
"Lange's Commentary, Vol.4, p.100).
While such conclusions are certainly possible when dealing
with poetry, the fact that the historical portion of Joshua 10
mentions a massive hailstorm provides strong reason to believe
that the literal sun was involved, its light being stopped by
that storm. Yet, being poetic, we are not required to understand
each expression or phrase in a strictly literal sense. Bible
scholars of all persuasions recognize that when we have a
historical account and a poetic account of the same event, we
always take the historical account to explain or clarify the
poetic - not the other way around. If we apply this rule of
interpretation in Joshua 10, a good harmony and sense can be
given to this passage which has, otherwise, baffled and
embarrassed Bible teachers who have sought to uphold the
traditional view.
..............
HEZEKIAH AND MISSING TIME?
Presented by Ralph Woodrow
In 1470, an Indiana newspaper carried a story about
scientists in the space program who discovered 24 hours of
"missing time." Soon other papers and religious periodicals
picked up this thrilling and sensational story. It was printed in
tract form. Millions of copies were circulated. But when
inquiries were made, the source material could not be located,
the part about the scientists could not be verified, and a number
of magazines that had carried the story printed retractions.
Others felt that any who doubted the story were yielding to
Satan! We now reproduce the tract, word for word, as it was
circulated and continues to be circulated by some.
Quote:
"THE MISSING DAY"
I think one of the most interesting things that God has for
us today happened recently to our astronauts and space
scientists at Greenbelt, Maryland. They were checking the
position of the sun, moon, and planets out in space, where
they would be 100 years and 1,000 years from now. We have to
know this so we don't send a satellite up and have it bump
into something later on in its orbits. We have to lay out
the orbit in terms of the life of the satellite, and where
the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down.
They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the,
centuries and it came to a halt. The computer stopped and
picked up a red signal, which meant there was something
wrong either with the information fed into it or with the
results as compared to the standards. They called in the
service department to check it out and they said, "It's
perfect." The IBM head of operations said, "What's wrong?"
"Well, we have found there is a day missing in space in
elapsed time. "They scratched their heads. There was no
answer.
One religious fellow on the team said, "You know, one time I
was in Sunday school and they talked about the sun standing
still." They didn't believe him, but they didn't have any
other answer so they said, "Show us."
So he got a Bible and went back to the book of Joshua where
they found the Lord saying to Joshua, "Fear them not, I have
delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them
stand before thee." Joshua was concerned because he was
surrounded by the enemy and if darkness fell, they would
overpower them.
So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That's
right!" The sun stood still and the moon stayed... and
hasted not to go down about a whole day."
The space men said, "There is the missing day!" Well, they
checked the computers going back into the time it was
written and found it was close, but not close enough! The
elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua's day was 23
hours and 20 minutes... not a whole day. They read the Bible
and there it said, "about (approximately) a day." Joshua
10:12, 13.
These little words in the Bible are important. But still
they were in trouble because if you cannot account for 40
minutes you'll be in trouble 1,000 years from now. Forty
minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many
times over in orbit.
Well, this religious fellow also remembered somewhere in the
Bible it said the sun went backwards. The space men told him
he was out of his mind. But they got out the Book and read
these words: Hezekiah on his death bed was visited by the
prophet Isaiah who told him he was not going to die.
Hezekiah did not believe him and asked for a sign as proof.
Isaiah said, "Do you want the sun to go ahead ten degrees?"
Hezekiah said, "It is a light thing for the sun to go down
ten degrees; nay, but let the shadow return backward ten
degrees." Isaiah spoke to the Lord and the Lord brought the
shadow ten degrees backward. 2 Kings 20:1-11.
Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes, Twenty-three hours and
twenty minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in 2 Kings, make
the missing 24 hours the space travellers had to log in the
log book as being the missing day in the universe! Isn't
that amazing? Our God is rubbing their noses in His truth!
That's right!
End quote
There is no need to question the good intentions and
sincerity of any who promoted this story. But, as with the
Roskovitsky story (p.63), it is largely fiction. Not only does
the story fail to represent what the Bible actually says, it is
inconsistent with itself.
First, even if time was literally extended almost a whole
day for Joshua, it seems more likely this would have been about
12 hours, not 23 hours and 20 minutes. For Joshua's men to
continue running and fighting all this time, plus a regular day,
after having marched all the night before, seems very improbable.
One gets the feeling that 23 hours and 20 minutes are
introduced in the story so that when the 40 minutes at the time
of Hezekiah are mentioned, it all fits together in a perfect and
astounding manner, making the total exactly 24 hours - a missing
day!
Having already shown, we feel, that the miracle at the time
of Joshua was not one of extended time, but the darkening of the
sun by a vast hailstorm, we now turn to the other Biblical
reference quoted in the tract about missing time. King Hezekiah
had been sick. The Prophet Isaiah told him he would not only be
healed, but fifteen years would be added to his life. Hezekiah
asked for a sign.
And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that
the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the
shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And
Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go
down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward
ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and
he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had
gone down in the dial of Ahaz. (2 Kings 20:9-11).
What has been commonly assumed is that in order for the
shadow to move back on the dial, the Lord had to make the sun go
backwards. I believe this is reading more into the text than is
required. Actually all this passage says is that the shadow on
the sundial went back ten degrees. The parallel account in Isaiah
38:8 says that "the sun returned ten degrees" on the dial,
meaning, obviously, the sunlight. It was not the sun itself that
came down out of the sky and rolled around on the king's sundial!
It was a miracle of sunlight and shadow on the dial.
REFRACTION
Just exactly how God moved the shadow back on the dial is
difficult to say. The Bible does not tell us, but I believe the
explanation given by Adam Clarke (c.1760-1832), whom no one would
accuse of being a "modernist" in any sense of the word, is as
good as any. He states that "by using dense clouds or vapors, the
rays of light in that place might be refracted from their direct
course ten, or any other number of degrees... rather than by
disturbing the course of the earth, or any other of the celestial
bodies." (Clarke, op.cit., Vol.2, p. 551).
The following simple experiment demonstrates the effect of
refraction:
Place a vessel on the floor, and put a coin on the bottom,
close to that part of the vessel which is farthest off from
yourself; then move back till you find that the edge of the
vessel next to yourself fairly covers the coin, and that it
is now entirely out of sight. Stand exactly in that
position, and let a person pour water gently into the
vessel, and you will soon find the coin to reappear, and to
be entirely in sight when the vessel is full, though neither
it nor you have changed your positions in the least.
Next, Clarke asks and answers a question about refraction:
"Could not God as easily have caused the sun, or rather
earth, to turn back, as to have produced this extraordinary
and miraculous refraction?" I answer, Yes. But it is much
more consistent with the wisdom and perfections of God to
accomplish an end by simple means, than by those that are
complex; and had it been done in the other way, it would
have required a miracle to invert and a miracle to restore;
and a strong convulsion on the earth's surface to bring it
ten degrees suddenly back, and to take the same suddenly
forward. The miracle, according to my supposition, was
performed... without suspending or interrupting the laws of
the solar systems" (Ibid.)
The sun is approximately 93 million miles from the earth. If
the sun travelled around the earth every day, the circumference
of its journey would be about 584 million miles. If in 40 minutes
it went back 10 degrees (a circle being 360 degrees), this would
mean it had to move backwards sixteen MILLION miles in order to
move a shadow a tiny distance on a sundial! This seems quite out
of proportion to the actual purpose that was accomplished - a
Rube Goldberg arrangement (see drawing on page 89). Of course
time is not measured by the sun going around the earth anyway.
On the other hand, it solves nothing to say it was the earth (not
actually the sun) that stopped and went to reverse.
I am reminded of a humorous story that was told back in the
50s when cars with automatic transmissions had become
increasingly popular. Not understanding the various gear
positions, a man said: "I put it in 'L' for leap, and then in 'D'
for drag, but when I put it into 'R' for race, I really got into
trouble!" This earth is turning at the rate of over 1,000 miles
an hour (at the equator). It does not seem that God Almighty
would put the gears of nature into a drastic "R" - reverse -
causing all kinds of world-wide chaos (or miracles to prevent
that chaos) simply to show Hezekiah he would be healed of a boil.
A LOCAL SIGN
If the sun moved backward for 40 minutes, or the earth
reversed itself to give this appearance (as some suppose), such
would have been observed over a vast area of the world. This was
not the case, for certain ambassadors came from Babylon "to
inquire of the wonder that was done in the land" (2 Chron.
32:31). They had heard, apparently, the news of this wonder and
that Hezekiah "had been sick, and was recovered" (Isaiah 39:1).
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says this wonder,
being done "in the land" over which Hezekiah ruled, was a local
miracle, not a world-wide phenomenon (ISBE, article: "Dial of
Ahaz").
In the tract, the "religious fellow" told the scientists
that "the Bible said the sun went backwards" for ten degrees
which caused "40 minutes" of missing time. Of course this is
totally inaccurate and the Bible does not say this! Even if time
was measured by the sun moving forward, if it stopped, and
reversed its direction for 40 minutes, and then reversed to
continue on, this would be eighty minutes!
Suppose I am driving from Riverside to Palm Springs,
California. When I get to Banning I remember I forgot something
at Riverside. It is 40 miles back to Riverside, but I decide to
turn around and return. I pick up what I forgot and continue back
on the highway. When I come to Banning again, how many miles have
I gone out of the way? I went back 40 miles, so by the time I
return to where I had been - round trip - I would have gone 80
miles out of my way. It would be the same with the sun. If it
went back for 40 minutes, by the time it again reversed its
direction and got back to where it had been, the amount of time
"lost" would not be 40 minutes. It would be 80!
Where did anyone ever get the notion of 40 minutes anyway?
This is based on the idea of the sun making a circle around the
earth every 24 hours. The 1,440 minutes in 24 hours are divided
by 360 (the degrees in a circle) so that each degree equals 4
minutes. These 4 minutes are multiplied by 10 (the number of
degrees the sun went back), thus 40 minutes.
But this concept is completely erroneous. It was not until
the time of Hipparchus (d. 126 B.C.) that the circle was divided
into 360 degrees - centuries after the time of Hezekiah! (Ency.of
Americana, 1981, article" "Circle").
The sundial sign occurred about 711 B.C. It would be absurd
to suppose that Isaiah used a technical and precise scientific
term about the degrees of a 360 degree circle when talking to
Hezekiah, especially since this concept was totally unknown at
the time.
DIAL DESIGN
The whole thing is cleared up once we understand the design
of this "dial." According to the Bible, it was actually a series
of steps, a staircase, running east and west. As the day
progressed, the shadow on the steps indicated how much daytime
was left. The accompanying drawing, based on the one given in the
Encyclopedia Judaica (Vol.15, p.519) shows how this may have been
accomplished. In contrast to what we think of as a dial today,
with a flat surface, this "dial" could allow the shadow to go
back and forth, or up and down, as described in the Bible
(2 Kings 20:10; Isaiah 38:8).
The Septuagint version of Isaiah and Josephus say this
staircase was a part of the king's house, while a Qumran version
specifies these were the steps of the upper story of the house.
Whatever may have been the arrangement, there can be no mistake
that this dial involved steps, for the very word translated
"dial" in our text is "maalah," having the meaning of STEPS
(Strong's Concordance, 4609). It is the word translated "steps"
(1 Kings 10:19, etc.), "stairs" (2 Kings 9:13, etc.), and
"degrees"! Notice how "maalah" is used in the text:
"Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees [maalah-steps], or
go back ten degrees [maalah-steps] ...And Isaiah the prophet
cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees
[maalah-steps] backward, by which it had gone down in the
dial [maalah-steps]" (2 Kings 20:9-11).
It is certain, then, that when the shadow moved back ten
degrees, it is the same as saying that the shadow moved back ten
steps. To assume that 10 steps would equal 40 minutes is, of
course, totally unfounded.
The idea given in the tract - that there were "40 minutes of
missing time" - would require us to believe that God moved the
sun backward millions of miles. Or, he had to stop, reverse,
stop, and start the earth turning again - in order to change the
shadow on the sundial! All of this would be unproportional to the
actual sign that was given. The magnitude of the miracles that
would have been required world-wide - holding oceans in place,
keeping buildings from falling over, etc. - would far outshine
the sign given to Hezekiah. We would have to ignore the Hebrew
word which clearly shows that the "dial" was a staircase and that
the "degrees" were "steps" on this staircase.
And, finally, we would be driven to the absurdity that
Isaiah, in speaking of 10 degrees, meant 10 degrees of a circle
of 360 degrees, even though that concept was not invented until
centuries later!
Since the scriptures imply that the cycle of the earth and
sun has never been stopped or interrupted (Jeremiah 33:20), we
favor the view that the shadow was moved on the dial for Hezekiah
without involving the motion of the solar system. If the hands on
a modern clock are moved back an hour - as when we switch from
daylight saving time to standard time in the fall of the year -
we have not changed the actual time the sun sets.
Likewise, we believe a sign was given to Hezekiah in which
the shadow moved on the dial (staircase) without changing the
actual position of the sun. It was a miracle of sunlight and
shadow, not time.
NOTHING TOO HARD
We know there is nothing too hard for the Lord (Genesis
18:14; Jeremiah 32:17). Consequently, if a Biblical passage is
capable of two different explanations, some are prone to believe
that the one that is the most miraculous is correct. This is not
necessarily true. Roman Catholics are taught that during mass a
miracle turns the elements of bread and wine into the actual body
and blood of Christ. Are Protestants "unbelievers" because they
hold an interpretation that does not require this miraculous
change? Would God be any greater if he had taken the Israelites
across the Mediterranean Sea instead of the much narrower Red
Sea? Would the deity of Christ be greater if he fed 100,000
people instead of 5,000? Would the miracle of his resurrection be
more important if he had been in the tomb 300 days instead of 3?
.................
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