The Day the Sun Stood Still

The Gibeonites had made a peace treaty with Israel. But five kings got very angry about this! They gathered their armies together to attack the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites quickly sent a message to Joshua: 'Help us! Five armies are coming!'

Joshua and his soldiers marched all night to help. God told Joshua, 'Don't be afraid! I'm going to give you victory!' When Israel surprised the enemy armies, God threw them into confusion. The enemies started running away!

As they ran, God sent huge hailstones from the sky. More enemies died from the hailstones than from Israel's swords! But the sun was going down, and Joshua needed more time to finish the battle.

So Joshua did something amazing. He prayed right there in front of everyone: 'Sun, stand still over Gibeon! Moon, stop over the Valley of Aijalon!'

And do you know what happened? THE SUN STOPPED MOVING! It stayed in the middle of the sky and didn't go down for almost a whole day! The moon stopped too!

The Bible says there was never a day like that before, and there's never been one since. God listened to Joshua's prayer and stopped the sun! That's how powerful God is—He can even control the sun and moon!

With the extra daylight, Joshua and his army completely defeated their enemies. The five kings tried to hide in a cave, but they were found and caught.

This story shows us that God is the Lord over all creation. He made the sun and moon, and He can make them do whatever He wants! When we pray and trust God, He can do impossible things. Nothing is too hard for Him!