I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 10-11.

    When word got out that the Gibeonites had forged an alliance with the Israelites, five Amorite kings joined together to punish the Gibeonites for doing so. The Gibeonites sent word to Joshua, who mustered the Israelite army and marched to the defense of the Gibeonites. The Amorite kings fled from the Israelites. It is not clear why, but Joshua felt that the Israelites needed the day to be extended. So, he asked God to make the Sun stand still in the sky. This incident is an illustration of the power of prayer.
    There is another thing to take note of here. The writer tells us that a record of the sun standing still was also recorded in “The Book of Jashar” (or “The Book of the Upright”). In other words, at the time of the writing of this book there were other accounts which recorded some of the more fantastic of the events which the writer was recording. There are those who say that “The Book of Jashar” should be in the Bible. However, the book referred to in this passage has been lost to history. There exist several writings which purport to be “The Book of Jashar”. Those books were written in the late Middle Ages or during the Renaissance and therefore are clearly not the one mentioned here.