At the end of this week, it will be time to turn our clocks ahead one hour, as we enter Daylight Savings Time once more.  Many of our devices for keeping time will automatically advance the necessary one hour, but some need to be changed manually.  Some people would prefer to eliminate the need to change our clocks entirely, and some places in our country this is even now a reality. 

        “Words from Above” in the Bible tell of a very unusual situation where time essentially stood still at the request of the commander-in-chief in an ancient battle.  In Joshua 10 we are told that the people of Israel were in a battle with the Amorites, when Joshua said in the presence of the people of Israel, “Sun, stand still upon Gibeon, and Moon, in the valley Of Ajalon.”  The purpose of such a request related to the fact that Israel was winning the battle, and Joshua felt he could totally defeat the Amorites if there would be continued daylight until the battle ended.  Momentum was on the side of the people of Israel, and Joshua did not want to lose that momentum.

        This seems like an unlikely request to be answered by God, but the Bible says “the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies.”  The Bible also says that the “sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.”  Critics of the Bible no doubt say that this is proof that the Bible is unreliable or not believable, but they would definitely be wrong.

        In 2003, it was reported that astronauts and space scientists at Green Belt, Maryland, were checking the position of the sun, moon, and planets in space to determine where they would be 100 years and 1000 years into the future, in order to plan for sending satellites into orbit.  Computers used to measure these positions came to a halt and signaled that there was a day missing in elapsed time in space.  They were at a loss for an explanation until one of the scientists recalled the story in the Bible about Joshua asking for the sun to stand still.  But there was forty minutes in the missing day for which they could not account.

        The Christian scientist then remembered that in II Kings 20, the Bible spoke about King Hezekiah asking God for the sun to go back ten degrees so he would know that he was going to live and not die.  So, the missing forty minutes (ten degrees) was discovered.  Isn’t it about TIME to believe the Bible?

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.