God Sent a Cockroach

I wrote the following poem on March 23, 2004, remembering one of the strangest answers to prayer that I have ever witnessed as a child growing up in the Philippines. As you may gather, I was the boy in question. The only detail I can think of that I left out is that the cockroach did not live to tell the tale. Also, my mom was sharing about it in a prayer meeting with colleagues later in the day, and someone commented, "God sent you a cockroach and you killed it??"

I forget the date of the incident, but I believe it was in the late 1980s or early '90s.

Photo by Kohyao on Adobe Stock

In a far-off land
There lived a boy
Who went to school in the morning
With his father the teacher
In a city not known for its wonderful traffic
So at 4 in the morn
His mother roused him from bed
And every evening he prayed
He'd be alert the next day

And one morning God chose
To answer the boy's prayer
In the last way the boy would expect

In the tropical heat
There was no blanket on the bed
The boy lay on top of the sheet
Too hot even for a t-shirt in bed

His mom came to wake him up
The sleepy boy opened his eyes
And then it happened:
God sent a cockroach!
It scurried over the boy's bare belly
And suddenly
The sleepiness left
The boy was alert
Very alert
And he remembered his prayer
And thanked God for sending a cockroach
God used an insect to bring glory to His Name

As the years have gone by
The boy has grown into a man
He has never forgotten the cockroach God sent
To remind him
That God can use anything at all
To answer prayer
And to bring honor to His Name

Self Portrait in the style of Aaron Douglas

In high school I did a report on James Weldon Johnson, a preacher who put a bunch of his sermons in his book God's Trombones. I love Johnson's style of preaching. He was a great storyteller, and he had a way of presenting biblical narratives in a contemporary and fresh manner that held me spellbound just reading them. At the time, I was intrigued by the illustrations in the book, but as my research was on the author, I didn't look into the illustrator.

In my drawing class while I was studying design a few years later, the assignment for our final was to pick an artist from a list supplied by our teacher. Aaron Douglas was on the list. I wasn't that familiar with him, but when I started to research him, I recognized the art from God's Trombones. 

Self Portrait
Steven Sauke
Marker, Pen, Sharpie on Paper

Part of the reason I was studying design was because I was pondering what to do with my life. (I'm still figuring out what I want to do when I grow up.) I've always loved art and design. As I pondered how to go about art in Aaron Douglas' style, I decided on a self portrait as his art involved silhouetted people. The palm tree represents my past in the Philippines. The Space Needle represents my present in Seattle. For years I have dreamed of living in France someday, so I put the Eiffel Tower in the middle to represent a possible future, as well as a nod to my study in France in 1999. I'm in the foreground wondering and praying, shrugging and looking up to heaven to ask God what His will is. None of Douglas' drawings that I saw featured someone wearing glasses (as the ones in God's Trombones depict characters in the Bible), but I was pretty happy with the way I adapted it. He did eyes the way they are above, but I extended the line farther back to approximately where the ears would appear, were it not a silhouette.

This art is my Google avatar, and I have also used it as a Facebook profile picture in the past. It was not my only foray into the styles of artists of the past, as I also painted Mt. Rainier in the style of Claude Monet, as we have seen. I have also used that painting as a cover photo on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

I Will Praise the Lord

In January I blogged about my childhood diagnosis of pigmentary degeneration of the retina, also known as retinitis pigmentosa, which doesn't have a cure. As I explained in that post, it was miraculously healed after people around the world prayed.

A few years ago, our pastor challenged us to write a poem or prose giving thanks to God for something. I didn't record the date, so I don't recall when exactly I wrote it, but this poem is the result. If it weren't for God's miracle, I would be blind today!

I will say, I recommend getting your eyes checked regularly, and taking precautions such as blue light filters. I didn't know before getting them checked that there was an issue, and I thought my peripheral vision, or lack thereof, was normal. I feel this world would be safer if everyone who needs glasses actually got them.

I like to call this my super extreme close-up.
It is the interior of my eyes, side by side,
with no sign of retinitis pigmentosa.
It's called an Optomap.

I will praise the Lord
For He has healed my eyes
My vision was leaving me
And His children prayed

I will praise the Lord
For my brothers and sisters who prayed
Their cries reached Heaven
And God heard and healed

I will praise the Lord
For giving me my sight
Right now I should be blind
But that was not God's will

I will praise the Lord
To Him I give all the glory,
All the praise and all the honor
I cannot thank Him enough for my vision!

Pigmentary Degeneration of the Retina

My first grade teacher spoke with my parents. They were noticing that I was having trouble in class and wondered if I had trouble seeing. I didn't know any different, so didn't realize there was an issue. My face was nearly back to normal following the monkey attack earlier that year (though the monkey did just barely miss my eyes...that in itself was a miracle). So my parents took me to the ophthalmologist, who diagnosed me with pigmentary degeneration of the retina. (I was proud of myself for remembering what it was called at that age, as it is a mouthful.) More commonly known as retinitis pigmentosa, it is similar to its cousin macular degeneration, in which the vision slowly diminishes as the retina degenerates. The two conditions go in opposite directions. Where macular degeneration starts with the central vision and works outward, retinitis pigmentosa starts with the peripheral vision and works inward. Both conditions lead to blindness, and neither has a cure. My peripheral vision was starting to go, and the doctor predicted I would be blind by the time I was a teenager. I would never be able to drive. It's likely I was born with the condition. The news was devastating to my parents. They got multiple opinions, just to be sure, but everyone agreed. In October 1984, in first grade at the age of 6, I got my first glasses. The following day, we got our family picture:

I remember my first day going to school wearing glasses. I was embarrassed at first, and it would be years before I actually liked wearing them. With the humidity in the Philippines, where we lived at the time, we quickly discovered that my metal frames rusted due to sweat, so I would have plastic frames for the next few years. (I haven't heard of that happening in recent years, so I'm not sure if there have been developments in that area, or if it was just the pair I had.) As a fairly active kid, I also went through glasses. One memorable time was when we went to Expo '86 in Vancouver, BC, and they fell off and shattered. (Fortunately, I had another pair at the hotel, but I had to go the rest of the day without them until we got back to the hotel. After that we were much more careful to make sure the material they used for the lenses was shatter-proof. I also used straps and cords at times to hold them on my face.)

My parents only told my grandparents and some fellow missionaries about the diagnosis. Unbeknownst to us, my grandparents shared it at a national conference for our mission organization with delegates from around the US and around the world. In short order, people around the world were praying for me.

After second grade, we returned to the US in the summer of 1986. We did this every few years for a year at a time to visit our supporting churches and update them on our ministry, as well as to have time with family. There was a lot of travel involved. While in the US, we went to the foremost expert on retinitis pigmentosa west of the Mississippi. He examined my eyes and found no sign of it!

Retinitis pigmentosa has no cure. It leads to blindness. My vision was going starting from the peripheral vision, and had it progressed normally, I would eventually have had tunnel vision, and then it would be gone. I was forecast to be completely blind by the time I was a teenager, and I would definitely never be able to drive. My RP was completely healed! I love telling ophthalmologists that it healed, as that's something it doesn't do. The retinas don't just grow back, but mine did! I got my driver's license when I was 24 - delayed not because of my eyes, but due to slow reflexes as a child. I still wear glasses, but it is due to astigmatism (the corneas are slightly misshapen, which distorts the vision a bit), a condition I much prefer to blindness. They are mild, and one doctor a few years ago told me I could legally drive without them, though it's better to be wearing them. A more recent eye exam revealed 20/20 vision in one eye (I forget what the other eye was, but it wasn't quite as good). Following is my Optomap of both eyes side by side from a few years ago. (Optomap is a picture of the back of the eye, which presents an alternative to having to dilate the eyes, and you get to see a cool picture afterwards. I find it fascinating.) It shows no sign of RP. The doctor showed me Optomaps of patients with RP, and they showed holes in the retinas. None here.

This was the most dramatic miracle I have experienced, and it has made me super thankful that I can see. By all accounts I should be blind, but I can see! God's healing is mindblowing. It has reinforced the amazing power of prayer. It has also given me a passion for things related to vision. I am thankful for my glasses, and I have done research in recent years to figure out ways of raising awareness of the benefits of them. They don't heal anything, but they can be a big help with seeing things, reading, driving and more. With blue light blockers gaining popularity in the past few years, they can also help to keep (or minimize) harmful kinds of light from causing damage to the eyes. I definitely recommend getting regular checkups, as vision trouble can be subtle, and people often don't realize they need glasses and are surprised how much better they can see once they get them. I feel if everyone who needs glasses actually got and wore them, the world would be a safer place. They sometimes have a bit of a stigma, and I feel they're actually something to be proud of. I want to do what I can to remove the stigma.

Prayer, Come from Away

I wrote the following as part of a collaboration in the All Things Broadway blog in December 2018. As it is no longer online, I don't have the other contributions on that post, but it was about Broadway songs that were particularly meaningful to us at Christmas. I selected "Prayer" from Come from Away.

Picture (and rock painting) by Steven Sauke, September 2022
I painted this rock and left it at the World Trade Center for someone to find.
I trust it found a good home.

---

Since the first time I listened to the cast recording of Come from Away, it resonated deeply with me. It brought back memories for me of learning of the tragedy and the aftermath. The music alone left me in tears. I grew up internationally, and this was truly an international tragedy. I found the song “Prayer” especially moving and relatable. Having lived in three countries, and having visited several others, the sense of unity in this song is particularly powerful for me. It beautifully weaves the prayer of St. Francis with Jewish, Sanskrit and Arabic prayers, all expressing a desire for peace and praise to God. This is the spirit of Christmas. In the Bible, the angels proclaimed “peace on earth” to the shepherds. St. Francis (and Kevin T. in the musical) prayed that God would “make me a channel of Your peace.” The rabbi and Eddie pray that God, who makes peace on high, make peace on us and all of Israel. Amen. The Sanskrit section of the song prays that they be led from falsehood to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality, and above all, peace, peace, peace. In Arabic, the character Ali praises Allah for his greatness and glory.

In his book Channel of Peace, and when I was interviewing him for my blog post in August, Kevin Tuerff mentioned that St. Francis’ prayer was in his head while stranded in Gander, but he did not recall mentioning that when Sankoff and Hein interviewed him in preparation for writing the musical. It seemed providential that they included it, and coming from Kevin T., no less. This song and Kevin Tuerff’s book have got me thinking more about how I can be used as a channel of peace. As a Christian, and as a human, I want to be someone who spreads peace. For too long, both Christianity and Islam have given good reasons for their violent stereotypes, exacerbated by the Crusades, terrorism, countless wars, and so much more. But both religions have peace at their hearts. The extremists on both sides have given their respective religions a bad name. We need to end the conflicts and work together to become a channel of “PEACE ON EARTH, GOODWILL TO MEN!”

PS. Did I mention I saw Come from Away three times when it came through Seattle in October? It is that good! In fact, it’s so good that even Grumpy Olde Guy [my friend Michael Kape, a retired Broadway critic] liked it when he saw it a few weeks later in LA! A ticket would make a great Christmas present for anyone in your life if you get the chance.

Kevin Tuerff and me, October 2018

The Judge, the Widow and Justice

Jesus was a master storyteller. He often had just the story to make His lessons more real for the people He was teaching. One time He needed to teach His disciples about how important it is to keep praying and not give up.

He explained, “Once, there was a judge who lived in a town and ruled his courtroom with an iron gavel. He didn’t care about God, and he definitely didn’t care about what anyone in the town thought. He mainly just cared about himself.

“In the same town lived a widow. She had lost her husband some time earlier, and now she didn’t have anyone to protect her. She and her husband had loved each other, and he had always looked out for her. But now that he was gone, what could she do? She had an enemy who was bullying her, and she was having a terrible time. Her husband would have known what to do with the bully, but she couldn’t make the bullying stop on her own.

“So she went to the judge and pleaded, ‘Please bring this bully to justice! He’s being terribly cruel!’ But the judge refused to help. So she tried again. And again. And again. The judge kept refusing her pleas, but she was starting to get on his nerves. She asked for justice again. ‘Why won’t this woman leave me alone?!’ he wondered. She pleaded for justice another time. And another.

“Finally, the judge said, ‘All right, fine! I really don’t care about this woman or anyone else, but if she doesn’t get justice, she’ll never stop pestering me! I’ll do it to get her off my back!’ So the bully got what he deserved because the woman wouldn’t stop asking for justice.”

Then Jesus said, “Listen to what this judge who didn’t care about justice said. Now just think what God will do when people keep praying day and night, all the time. God does care about justice. If an unjust judge can be convinced to be just with enough persistence, surely a just God can answer prayers when people are persistent! He can give justice quickly. But do we have enough faith?”

שְׁמוּאֵל

The day Hannah had dreamed about all her life, and prayed for and wept for, finally arrived! For a long time, she had come to the tabernacle to ask God to give her a child. She had even promised that if God gave her a child, she would give him or her to God’s service. The priest Eli had thought Hannah was drunk, but when she explained why she was so upset, he had told her to go in peace. She had thanked him for his kindness and left.

Now, about nine months later, here she was holding a newborn baby in her arms! To thank God for hearing her prayer, she named the boy “God Has Heard”:

שְׁמוּאֵל

In Hebrew, “God has heard” is שְׁמוּאֵל (Shmuel), which sounds something like “Samuel.” He was a healthy baby boy, and Hannah was very thankful for this precious gift God had given her. She remembered her promise she had made to God, but she knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to take him to the tabernacle right away. It’s kinda hard for a priest to nurse a newborn baby. So when he was little, Hannah kept her new son at home and nursed him.

When Samuel was old enough, Hannah and her husband Elkanah took their son to the tabernacle. Hannah found Eli and said, “Remember a few years ago, when you saw me crying in the tabernacle, and you thought I was drunk? I told you I was very sad that God hadn’t given me any children, and I prayed for a son. Guess what! Here he is! I promised that when he was old enough, I would give him to God’s service, and now I’ve come to do what I promised I would do. For as long as he lives, he will be God’s servant.”

Then Hannah prayed. She told God, “You make me happy, and there is no God like you. You keep us safe, and You give things to people who are low and shame the people who brag. You bring down the strong, but you give strength to the weak. You give and take life. You make people rich or poor. You lift the homeless out of the dump and give them places of honor. You protect people who are loyal to You, but evil people will die in darkness. We can only win victories with Your help. Anyone who attacks You will be destroyed. You will judge the earth and give power to Your chosen king.”

After Hannah had prayed and they had said their goodbyes, Elkanah and Hannah went home, and they left Samuel to grow up in the tabernacle, under the able care of Eli. So Eli started to teach this young boy the way of God and had him do chores and lessons in the tabernacle. Eli was getting old, and he wasn’t in very good shape. In fact, he was a bit on the heavy side. So it was nice to have a young child around to help him out.

But Eli had a big problem. His sons Hophni and Phinehas were also priests, and they had a very bad habit. People would bring animals to the tabernacle to sacrifice to God, and they stole some of the meat for themselves! They sometimes didn’t even let people do the sacrifices right. God got very angry with Eli’s sons for the terrible and selfish thing they were doing.

As Samuel was growing up, his mother Hannah visited him regularly, and she would bring him clothes she had made for him. Every year, Eli would tell Hannah and Elkanah, “God gave you Samuel in answer to your prayers. I pray that God will give you more children to take his place.” God answered Eli’s prayer and gave Hannah three more sons and two daughters.

Eli was getting a lot of complaints about his sons’ behavior. Finally he had had enough with their shenanigans, and he went to them and said, “What are you thinking? Stop this horrible behavior! Hurting a person is one thing – you can always make up for it. But when you commit a crime against God, you’re playing with fire.” But they were so rebellious that they didn’t listen to their dad. And he let them keep stealing from God.

So God sent a prophet to Eli, who warned him that God had decided to put an end to Eli’s family. The prophet warned him that nobody in his family would live to an old age, and his family’s life would be sad. Someday soon his sons Hophni and Phinehas would both die on the same day, and God would raise up a new priest who would not be related to them, and who would help God’s chosen king.

By this time, Eli was nearly blind. God hardly ever spoke to people so they could actually hear Him. (That’s the same today. I’ve never heard God’s voice with my ears. I have to listen in other ways.)

One night, Samuel was sleeping on a mat in the tabernacle near the Ark of the Covenant, God's holy chest, when he heard a voice. "!שְׁמוּאֵל" (“Samuel!”)

He ran to Eli and said, “I’m here! What do you want?”

But Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.” So Samuel obeyed.

A little later, he heard it again. “Samuel!”

So he got up and went to Eli again. “Here I am! What do you want?”

Again, Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to sleep.”

Now Samuel was starting to realize that he didn’t recognize this voice. It didn’t quite sound like Eli’s voice, but there was nobody else around that it could be. So when he heard his name again, he went to Eli and asked what he wanted.

Then Eli realized what was happening. So he told Samuel, “If you hear someone call your name again, stay in bed and say, ‘I’m listening, Lord. What do you want me to do?’”

So Samuel went back to bed. Pretty soon, he heard it again. “Samuel! Samuel!”

This time, he stayed in bed. “I’m listening,” he said. “What do You want me to do?”

So God said, “Samuel, something is about to happen that will shock everyone. Eli and his family will be punished for his sons’ behavior. Eli knew his sons were doing some terrible things, and he let them get away with it. I warned him about this, but he didn’t listen to how serious it was. His family has done too many disgusting things.”

Next morning, Samuel got up and opened the doors to the tabernacle. He was scared to tell Eli what he had heard. How would you feel if you had just heard that the people you love who raised you were in big trouble, and then they asked you about what you had heard?

The first thing Eli said in the morning when he saw Samuel was, “Samuel, my boy, come here!”

“Here I am,” Samuel said.

“What did God say to you?” Eli asked. “Tell me everything.”

So reluctantly, Samuel told Eli everything. Eli replied, “He is God. He will do what’s right.”

Samuel continued to grow up, and God blessed him. Everything Samuel said came true, and he earned a reputation for being God’s prophet.

As for Eli’s family, his sons Hophni and Phinehas were killed in battle by their enemies the Philistines. The Philistines also captured the Ark of the Covenant. When Eli found out that both his sons had been killed and the Ark was gone, the shock was too much for him. He fell backwards in his chair. He broke his neck in the fall and couldn’t get up. If he had lived a little longer, he could have met his new grandson. Phinehas’ wife was so upset about her husband’s death and the capture of the Ark that she named her son “No Glory”, or Ichabod.

What happened to the Ark? The Philistines put it in their temple to their god Dagon. Next morning, they discovered the statue of Dagon had fallen over! So they put it back. The following morning, they discovered the statue had not only fallen over, but had broken into several pieces! The Philistines could tell they had made Israel’s God very angry, and they sent the Ark back.

I wrote "Samuel" (Shmuel) on the whiteboard in Hebrew.

The Lord's Prayer

Today's Sunday school lesson from Luke 11 and Matthew 6...


Jesus had an interesting way of teaching. Sometimes He didn’t teach people what they expected Him to teach. He would do it by example. Sometimes He told stories to help people to understand a point. Sometimes He used miracles. One of his stories had some surprising news about who we were supposed to love. The Samaritans, who the Jews hated, were supposed to be loved and treated with respect. To teach that, He told a story about how respected Jews didn’t help a wounded man, but a Samaritan did. When Jesus visited His friends Mary and Martha, Martha was surprised when Jesus told her it was better for Mary to be listening and learning than to help Martha prepare the meal.

Jesus made a point of praying all the time. His disciples saw Him doing this, and one day, one of them had a request. “Jesus, can You teach us how to pray? John the Baptist taught his disciples how to pray, and it would be really cool if you could teach us that too.”

Jesus thought that was a great idea. So He told them to pray something like this:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your Kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.

Then Jesus told them a parable. Imagine with me that an old friend suddenly showed up at your door one night and needed to spend the night. They’ve been traveling a long way, and they’re really hungry. They didn’t call ahead and tell you they were coming, but they’re such a good friend that you just can’t turn them down! But…oh no! You don’t have any food to feed them, because you didn’t know they were coming! So what do you do? You go to your friendly neighbor’s house and knock on the door to ask if they could share some food. All the stores are closed in the middle of the night, so you can’t exactly go shopping. But it’s midnight, and your neighbor, who is so nice during the daytime, is in bed. People don’t like it when someone knocks on their door asking for food in the middle of the night! So your neighbor says, “Are you kidding? Go ‘way! The door is locked, we’re all in bed, and it’s too late! Who eats a big meal at midnight anyway?” The neighbor might not give you anything because you’re friends, but because you dared to come knocking and ask, and maybe to make sure you still think well of them, the neighbor will get up and give you something to serve your guest. So ask. It will be given to you. Search and you’ll find. Knock, and they’ll open the door.

Now imagine you’re all grown up and you have kids. One day your son asks you, “Can I have a fish?” Would you say, “Naah, I think I’ll give you a snake instead!”? What if he asks for an egg? Would you give him a scorpion? Of course not! Just think…if you know what’s good to give others, how much more does God know what’s good to give you?

The "Steven Paraphrase":

Dad in heaven,
You are holy and so much more awesome
than anything or anyone else.
Rule as King over our lives,
Whatever you want to happen, make it happen,
here on earth just like in heaven.
Give us food to eat today,
and forgive us for our sins,
in the same way that we’ve forgiven
people who have been mean to us.
Don’t let us be tempted,
but save us from evil.
You are our King forever.
Nobody is stronger than You.
You are glorious forever and ever.
I agree.

~~~

I found some pictures to illustrate Luke 11:11-12: "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?"

The Sun Stands Still

This morning's Sunday school lesson, from Joshua 9-10...


Word was getting around. Egypt had been hit with ten nasty and deadly plagues. The Red Sea had parted for the people of Israel, and fire and cloud had led them forward. As they advanced in their slow 40-year journey across the wilderness, they had defeated everyone who attacked them. Heshbon, Bashan and Ashtaroth had fallen. Now Israel had crossed the Jordan River, which had also parted for them! Soon after, Jericho fell, literally. Israel suffered a defeat at Ai because Achan had stolen from Jericho, but once they got that straightened out, Ai was destroyed. Everyone in the surrounding cities was terrified, and they got together to try to put an end to General Joshua and his scary army of Israelites. Everyone but Gibeon. They were scared too, but they were clever and decided to try a more crafty way of not being killed.

The men of Gibeon came up with a plan. They found some dry and moldy bread, put on worn-out clothes, and they made sure everything they brought with them looked old, cracked and worn. They found Joshua and the Israelites nearby and told him their sad story. “We’re from a far-off country, and we’ve heard reports of everything your God has done, and how you’ve been victorious against everyone you’ve fought. We’ve come a long way to make peace with you. We don’t want to be any trouble to you, and we were wondering if you could sign a treaty with us. Look at this moldy bread. It was fresh and steaming when we left home! Look what the long journey has done to our clothes and sandals!”

The Israelites looked at the Gibeonites’ clothes, tasted their bread, and saw that it looked like they were telling the truth. They just forgot one thing…to ask God about it. So Joshua and the Israelites believed the lie and made a treaty with Gibeon. Three days later, the truth came out. These guys were neighbors! Israel wanted to punish those crafty Gibeonites for fooling them, but they had made a promise to protect them. So instead, the leaders of Israel made them cut wood and carry water for them.

King Adoni-Zedek of Jerusalem soon heard that Joshua had destroyed Ai and signed a treaty with Gibeon, an important city that was even bigger than Ai. Gibeon had a lot of good fighters. The combined forces of Israel and Gibeon were even scarier than just Israel. So Adoni-Zedek called four other kings from nearby cities, and together, they marched to attack Gibeon.

The Gibeonites sent word to Joshua: “Help! We’re your servants, and now five kings and their armies are attacking us! Come quick and save us!”

This time, Joshua learned from his earlier mistake. Last time, he hadn’t asked God about the treaty, and they had been tricked because of it. Now, Joshua prayed. God answered, “Don’t worry, I’ve got it. Go and defeat these five armies. Not one of them will be able to stand.”

So Joshua and the Israelites marched all night and took the attacking armies by surprise. God threw their enemies into confusion, and Israel defeated them and chased them away, defeating more and more as they chased them. As the enemies continued to flee, God sent a big hailstorm, and the huge chunks of ice killed more enemies than the Israelites did with their swords.

The day was getting on, and Joshua was worried that it would get dark and some of their enemies might get away. So once again, he prayed:

“O sun, stand still over Gibeon,
O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon!”

The sun was directly overhead, and there it stayed for almost a day. The sun, moon and earth stopped moving, and God gave Joshua and the Israelites extra time to defeat five united armies in one very long day. God had never done that before, and He hasn’t done it since then.

The five kings were so scared that they hid in a cave near the city of Makkedah. When Joshua found out about that, he told the Israelites to block the cave with rocks so the kings couldn’t get out, and then they defeated almost every single enemy soldier. Then he let the kings out, and they didn’t live to tell the tale. The Israelites then defeated Makkedah. So it was that in one very long day, God helped the Israelites to defeat six cities!