When the LORD Listened to a Man

Joshua 10

"There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man."

In Joshua 10, Joshua prays to the LORD that the sun will stand still in its place so that the Israelites can pursue their enemies before it becomes dark. And the LORD listens. The sun miraculously stands still, and the enemies are defeated.

But I'm interested in this phrase. There's never been a day like it... Well, I see that as being something true. There has probably never been another day that the sun stands still for a long period of time. Another one is not recorded in the Bible, and I don't really see it happening without Your command. So I get the first part of the statement here in Joshua.

But the second part stumps me. It is apparently not the sun standing still that has never happened before, it is that You listened to a man. Except for, in the rest of the Bible, that happens a lot. Specifically, You listened to Elijah and bring down fire on his bull when he faces off with the prophets of Baal. You listened to Daniel when he prayed on behalf of the exiled Israelites. You listened to Abraham when he bargains for the lives of those in Sodom and Gomorrah. You listened to Moses. You listened to Samuel. And so on and so on.

And even more, it is integral to the modern Christian faith (based on Biblical traditions) that You listen to us and our prayers. It is one of the things that makes Christian faith tradition unique and amazing, that the Creator of the universe will listen to our prayers. It is that relational aspect of your love that I believe (and have taught) is paramount to any other concern.

So, what's going on here in this passage? Why is this a special case? These are questions I would like to have answered. It throws a sprinkle of doubt on one of the reasons that I love You. It flies in the face of what I've experienced.

A couple explanations come to mind. First off, that listen isn't really the best choice of word here. Maybe obey would have been a better choice. Man made a specific, really miraculous, request and You obeyed. However, that is what Elijah did too. He asked for fire to come from the sky. And You sent fire. That takes out obey. But it could still be a weird translation.

More likely, I'm missing something. Some context clue here that changes the interpretation. Something others would have easily understood. Am I missing something? This is where a study would be really useful.

Another option for this? Maybe the author didn't know their history. That's really possible. Maybe the author was only talking about in their story and in their lifetime God never listened like this again. I don't mind this, but then it does call in to question, well, actually this suggestion would erase the idea of inerrancy. I'm okay with that, this isn't a central issue. But I know and understand how people get nervous about that.

So in short, confusing little phrase in the midst of a violent passage. But that's another matter all together. Thanks for the little Bible study today, the raising of questions. I'll see if I can find answers later today.