noon and sundown? Whatever
construction we put upon the incident, whatever explanation we may offer
for it, to all the men of Israel, judging the events of the afternoon by
the only standard within their reach, the eminently practical standard
of the miles they had marched, the only conclusion at which they could
arrive was the one they so justly drew--

"The sun stayed in the midst of heaven and hasted not to go
down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before
it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a
man: for the Lord fought for Israel."

FOOTNOTES:

[351:1] Revised and reprinted from the _Sunday at Home_ for February and
March, 1904.

[372:1] Marcel Dieulafoy, _David the King: an Historical Enquiry_, pp.
155-175.

CHAPTER II

THE DIAL OF AHAZ

The second astronomical marvel recorded in the Scripture narrative is
the going back of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz, at the time of
Hezekiah's recovery, from his dangerous illness.

It was shortly after the deliverance of the kingdom of Judah from the
danger threatened it by Sennacherib king of Assyria, that Hezekiah fell
"sick unto death." But in answer to his prayer, Isaiah was sent to tell
him--

"Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have
heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal
thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the
Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will
deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of
Assyria; and I will defend this city for Mine own sake, and
for My servant David's sake. And Isaiah said, Take a lump of
figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the
Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of
the Lord the third day? And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou
have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He hath
spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back
ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for
the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow
return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto
the Lord: and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by
which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz."

The narrative in the Book of Isaiah gives the conclud