Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Despite the clouds blocking our view of the sky on Monday, I hope you were able to enjoy the total solar eclipse. I still thought it was really neat to experience darkness for a few minutes in the middle of the afternoon. I also enjoyed seeing the photos of the moon and sun from people who did have a clear view of the eclipse. 

I’ve been reflecting on amazing astronomical occurrences recently and recalled an interesting story from the book of Joshua. In Joshua chapter 10, we read about a story in which the Israelites alongside the people of Gibeon were being attacked by the Amorites. In the heat of battle, Joshua cries out, “‘O sun, wait at Gibeon, and moon, in the valley of Aijalon.’ And the sun waited, and the moon stood, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies” (Joshua 10:12-13). In Sunday School, I was taught that God heard Joshua’s prayer and “made the sun stand still in the sky” (i.e., the earth stopped rotating on its axis). When I was in graduate school studying theology, an Old Testament professor named John Walton gave me a new understanding of that story. 

In the ancient Mediterranean world, many civilizations placed a lot of value on omens. Lots of different things could be good or bad omens, such as the behavior of wild animals, the motion of the clouds, and the movement of the sun and the moon. In fact, in some ancient Assyrian records, we know that if the sun and the moon were both seen in the sky at the same time, it could be a good or bad sign depending on the day of the month. If it was the fourteenth day of the month, then seeing them both in the sky was a good sign. If it was the fifteenth day of the month, it was a bad sign. If it was the sixteenth day, it might be good or bad. Let's reread John 10:12-13, “‘O sun, wait at Gibeon, and moon, in the valley of Aijalon.’ And the sun waited, and the moon stood, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.” It seems that when Joshua prayed, he wasn’t asking for the sun to stand still in the sky; he was asking for the sun and the moon to both be visible in the sky together, knowing that the Amorites would see it and likely perceive it as a bad sign and not want to engage in battle. That’s exactly what happens, and the Amorites were thrown into confusion and the Israelites won the day. 

Humans have always been looking at the skies, and God has always known that. Instead of trying to make meaning from the movement of the sun, moon, and stars, God has desired for us to allow them to point us to a greater meaning, namely the magnificence, creativity, and power of their Creator. While I never believed that Monday’s eclipse portended any sort of apocalyptic significance, I do believe that God wants us to look at the ineffable beauty of creation (including Monday's eclipse) and allow it to draw us closer to God. Pastor Erin reminded us on Sunday how unique it is that our sun and moon are exactly the same size in the sky. Laura and I were talking about this on Monday, specifically the fact that the sun is 400 times bigger than the moon and the only reason they appear the same size is that the sun is also 400 times farther away from us than the moon. That is simply amazing!

Psalm 148:13 says, “Let all creation praise the name of the Lord, whose name alone is exalted, whose glory is above earth and heaven.”

Thanks be to God,
Pastor Aaron