THE MISSING DAY
The space program is now proving what has been called “myth” in the Bible to be truth. Mr. Harold Hill of the Curtis Engine Co., in Baltimore, a consultant in the space program, relates the following:
The most amazing things that God has for us today happened recently to our astronauts and space scientists at Green Belt, Md. They were checking the position of sun, moon and planets out in space
where they would be 100 years and 1,000 years from now. It was imperative they know, so they would not send a satellite up and have it collide with something later on in its orbits. They must lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite, and where the planets will be, so the whole thing will not bog down. They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries, and it came to a halt. It stopped and displayed the red signal, which means something was wrong with the information fed into it, or the results as compared with the standards. They called the service department to check it out, and they pronounced, “It’s perfect.” The IBM head of operations asked, “What’s wrong?” “Well we have found there is a day missing in space in elapsed time.” They were in a quandary. There was no answer.
One religious member of the team recalled the Bible told of the sun standing still. The other members replied: “Show us!” They turned to the Book of Joshua chapter 10, verse 13. “Fear them not,” but Joshua surrounded by the enemy asked the Lord to make the sun stand still. “The sun stood still and the moon stayed…and hasted not to go down about a whole day.” The space team decided, “There is the missing day.”
They checked the computers going back into the time it was written, only to find it wasn’t close enough! The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua’s day was 23 hours and 20 minutes. Turning again to the Bible, it said “about (approximately) a day!” They were in trouble. Unable to account for 40 minutes, you’ll be in trouble 1,000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be found, because it can be multiplied many times over in orbit.
Well, the same religious member of the crew remembered that somewhere in the Bible, it said the sun went backwards. The others told him he was out of his mind. But he turned to II Kings, chapter 20: Hezekiah, on his death bed was visited by the prophet Isaiah, who told him he was not going to die. Hezekiah did not believe him, and asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said, “Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?” Hezekiah said, “It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees.” Isaiah spoke to the Lord, and the Lord brought the shadow 10 degrees backward! Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes.
Twenty-three hours and twenty minutes in Joshua, plus forty minutes in II Kings made the missing twenty-four hours the space travelers had to log in the log book as being the missing day in the universe! “Isn’t that amazing? Our God permitting scientists to prove His truth!”
BEHIND THE MISSING-DAY MYSTERY
Minneapolis Star editor’s note: Since The Star published, on July 8, 1970, the article headlined “The Mystery of the Missing 24 Hours,” numerous questions have been asked and doubts expressed about its authenticity. In an effort to shed further light on the “mystery,” The Star queried Harold E. Hill, of Baltimore, Md., reputed author of the article. Following is a portion of his reply.
I did not write this article nor do I know where it originated, but assume it was adapted from one of the many talks I have made on the subject of the complete harmony I find between science and the Bible. The first appearance in print took place in the Spencer, Indiana Evening World.
Since this event came to my attention about two years ago, I have misplaced the source information. I can only say that had I not considered the source to be completely reliable, I would not have used it in the first place. I am interested in facts, not fiction.
This incident has been documented in writings of many civilizations over the centuries and appears in the historical lore of the ancient Chinese, Aztecs, Peruvians, Babylonians, etc., where reference is made to a “long day,” “extended day,” a day of twice natural length, etc.
In addition, two eminent men of science, Prof. C. A. Totten of Yale University and Sir Edwin Ball, British astronomer, discovered many years ago that a day had been lost out of solar time. Full details are given in a book titled “Joshua’s Long Day” by Prof. Totten and available from Destiny Publishers at Merrimac, Mass. 01860.
While it is thrilling to observe the perfect order and harmony which obtain between the Bible and the world of science, I personally prefer to place my complete confidence in the infallibility of the Word of God as written.
Posted by Tim Scheele on Computer Direct BBS.
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