“DID THE SUN AND THE MOON ACTUALLY STAND STILL?”

“The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.” (Habakkuk 3:11)

Dear Reader, ever since God spoke to man, and indeed, through God’s own written words, the scriptures, man’s one aim has been to question God.  
You know … “Did God really say that? And if he did, what does he really mean by it?”
Now why would men be like that? Where would that come from?  Let me think … Mmmmm! Oh! …  I know! … in the garden a serpent aka the great dragon, aka that old serpent, aka the Devil, aka Satan (Revelation 12:9; 20:2) started it all with Eve with saying “Yea, hath God said … ?” (Genesis 3:1). Did God really say that? Did God really mean that? 

But Satan is also transformed into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) who can get Christians … yes Dear Reader … blood washed Christians (Revelation 1:5) with eternal salvation, to also question the truth of the written words of God.

It’s called DE-MIRACLE-IZING the Bible … that is … taking out or explaining away the miracles in the Bible.

For example, Jesus didn’t actually feed the 5,000 with a miracle? No! the critics say … he simply demonstrated that through the generosity of a little boy in sharing his lunch with everyone, this opened the crowd’s heart to share their lunches as well.

So, to the case in point … Did God really stop the sun and moon or is there another explanation? Four arguments of Bible Correctors go like this:

1. “While not pretending to explain how this great event was brought about, God has many ways in which the effect may be produced without disturbing the whole order of the universe. An old experiment will illustrate the meaning.

Put a twenty cent piece in a basin and step back till the coin disappears from sight. Then pour some water into the basin, and the coin will once more come into view. Now step back further till the coin disappears again. It will come into view if more water is poured into the basin. This is explained by the bending or refracting of the rays of light.

2. Another example is, that we see the sun on the horizon for a short time, after it has actually sunk beneath the horizon. God might have been able to modify the atmosphere to such an extent, that the sun and the moon might seem to stand still over Gibeon and over Ajalon. It is reported that travellers in the Polar regions give many instances when the sun is seen for several days, when they know the sun is one degree below the horizon!”

They go on to say, that “This explanation helps us understand how God could act without an interference with nature, and not have catastrophic results to the earth.” 

3. Another example of light refraction explains how the Archer fish catches a flying insect out of the water with its eyes being just below the surface of the water. Where the fish sees the insect, is not where the insect really is.

4. There is another example from the annals of relativity. Have you ever sat in a stationary train at a station, and suddenly the train begins to move backwards? You get such a fright until you realize it’s not the train you are in, that is moving, but that the train in the next set of tracks, is going forward, giving you the feeling you are going backwards.

A person in the other train might think you are going backwards and they are stationary. However a person on the platform has another interpretation of what is going on. See? Three different people with three different perceptions … and all valid to each of the three. It’s called relative movement.

Now of course Einstein with his theory of relativity was able to introduce into the world the idea that there are no absolutes.  What you see is only relative to where you are in the universe.

Now this way of thinking caused people to start asking questions … “Are there absolute truths in the Bible?” “Does it mean what it says?”, and conversely, “Does it say what it means?”  

The Bible Corrector’s answer is this “The truth is whatever is revealed to you and no-one else. There are no absolute truths in the Bible. If it’s true to you, that’s good, but it may not be true to me. I believe this and you believe that … we are both correct!” 

Now it all sounds plausible doesn’t it? Jesus and the five loaves and two fishes, the sun and the moon standing still, indeed, was Jesus actually dead in the tomb? or was he simply in a short-lived coma?

But Dear Reader, here is the flaw in their arguments … miracles cannot be explained by the laws of physics, nature, human behaviour and scientific principles.

Take for example, the chicken and the egg? To a man’s way of thinking, the egg must be first, as we know chickens can only come from eggs. This is biological fact! But it is a miracle, that God created the chicken first. See how God’s miracles work opposite to human reasoning?

Now unbelievers, and indeed, blood washed Christians (Revelation 1:5) side with Satan’s crowd of questioning and then explaining away what God said.

To their everlasting shame, the Bible Corrector only sees the first six words of the verse …The sun and moon stood still in their habitation … and ignores the last three.

Let me explain it this way. Let’s suppose you, we’ll call you Bob, and your wife Joan, are walking up the hallway in your house. It’s called your habitation, because it is your habitat … it’s where you live … and then … a very loud crack of thunder, makes you both freeze and stand still.

What just happened? Bob and Joan stood still in their habitation.

Did it matter if Geoff, their next door neighbour, perceived that you and your wife stood still. No, of course not. You both stood still in your own house … your own habitat. What happened with Geoff outside of your house is irrelevant. You both stood still in your habitation.

What actually happened with the sun and moon?
The sun and the moon, in and of God’s accord, in and of themselves, were made to stand still. What is the habitat of the sun and the moon … it’s their own spheres and orbits. They were made to stand still in their own literal tracks … and this was irrelevant to anyone on earth.

And do you know what? I reckon God didn’t bat an eyelid over the effect on the rest of the universe … it wasn’t affected in the least. Such is the power of the Almighty God to combat any dis-equilibrium that would have occurred.

No laws of refraction, no relativity and no explaining away the miracle. It happened as the Bible says it did … not according to our perception.

Dear Reader, one of the basic rules of Bible study is this “It’s what the Bible says … not what you think it means?”

Harley Hitchcock

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