Joshua 10:13
And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
During the battle with the Canaanites at Bethhoron, at Joshua's command God held back the setting of the sun and moon for about a whole day, giving Israel time to pursue and defeat its fleeing enemies until avenged, with His promise of victory to Joshua fulfilled before evening. That extraordinary day lived on in Israel's memory as proof that the Lord fought for Israel, and it stands as one of many similar wonders in Israel's history and as an example of a sign from heaven. The standing still of the sun was the answer to a prayer inspired by God and gives evidence of God's power. Joshua's request was not presumptuous, for although God had promised victory he exerted all possible effort and then prayed in faith for divine help, illustrating that success comes through the union of divine power and human effort and that those who rely most fully on God achieve the greatest results.
When the Pharisees and Sadducees demanded some such sign from heaven from Jesus, such outward wonders were not what the Jews needed, for no mere external evidence could benefit them. What they needed was not intellectual enlightenment but spiritual renovation. The verse shows God's power over the sun and moon to hold them in place and to turn nature out of its natural course for the deliverance of His people. That same halting of the sun and moon will occur again at the final deliverance in the time of trouble when God delivers His people. Then the sun will come up and suddenly appear at midnight shining in its strength and the moon will stand still, as God's chosen token of deliverance, beheld by the saints with solemn joy and by the mocking wicked with amazement, followed in quick succession by other signs and wonders.
At that final deliverance the sun coming up and the moon standing still comes while the streams cease to flow and dark, heavy clouds clash, leaving one clear place of settled glory from which the voice of God like many waters shakes the heavens and the earth. That scene also includes the sky opening and shutting in commotion, the mountains shaking like a reed in the wind and casting out ragged rocks, and the sea boiling like a pot and casting out stones upon the land. It comes after the saints cry day and night for deliverance, when from that clear place God speaks the day and hour of Jesus' coming and delivers the everlasting covenant to His people. In that crisis God's people have fled from the cities and villages and are pursued by the wicked until their cry for deliverance comes up before God.