June 21st is the longest day of the year – the day when the sun rises the earliest and sets the latest. Before 21 June, the days get longer. Afterwards they grow shorter, until the dark days of winter are on us once again.
If we believe the Bible, we look beyond these regular events and see the hand of God himself. He states in Genesis 8:22: ‘While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease’.
The longest day
According to biblical history, the longest day that ever occurred was in the time of Joshua, when God actually lengthened a day to ensure that Israel was victorious in battle.
Joshua 10:12-14 records: ‘Then spoke Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the men of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon in the valley of Aijalon”.
