"Interestingly, when Mercury is near perihelion, its rotation rate essentially matches its revolution rate, such that it keeps the same side pointed at the sun for several weeks.
The sky remains black even when the sun is up, since Mercury lacks the comfort of Earth’s thick atmosphere. The sun then gradually climbs higher in the sky over the next several weeks. The stars also rise in the east, seeming to move at about twice the speed of the sun. But as Mercury approaches perihelion, the sun seems to gradually slow its upward path, while the stars continue to rise and set at their usual pace. The sun is now noticeably larger than we witnessed at sunrise and over three times larger than it appears from Earth—and ten times brighter! Then the sun gradually comes to a complete stop and begins to travel slowly backward just slightly for about a week. We might feel like Hezekiah!
It then slows to a stop once again and reverses direction once more. The sun then gradually resumes its forward path, shrinking and fading a bit as Mercury moves toward perihelion. The sun eventually sets in the west, roughly three months after sunrise.
Critics sometimes declare that God cannot do certain things, such as make the sun go backward as He did for Hezekiah. Such things are simply not possible, we are told. Yet this happens every three months on Mercury. It is probably not the same mechanism that God used for Hezekiah. Nonetheless, it is to the shame of those critics who attempt to tell God what He cannot do." ICR
Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.
So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
Isaiah 38:8,9
The sky remains black even when the sun is up, since Mercury lacks the comfort of Earth’s thick atmosphere. The sun then gradually climbs higher in the sky over the next several weeks. The stars also rise in the east, seeming to move at about twice the speed of the sun. But as Mercury approaches perihelion, the sun seems to gradually slow its upward path, while the stars continue to rise and set at their usual pace. The sun is now noticeably larger than we witnessed at sunrise and over three times larger than it appears from Earth—and ten times brighter! Then the sun gradually comes to a complete stop and begins to travel slowly backward just slightly for about a week. We might feel like Hezekiah!It then slows to a stop once again and reverses direction once more. The sun then gradually resumes its forward path, shrinking and fading a bit as Mercury moves toward perihelion. The sun eventually sets in the west, roughly three months after sunrise.
Critics sometimes declare that God cannot do certain things, such as make the sun go backward as He did for Hezekiah. Such things are simply not possible, we are told. Yet this happens every three months on Mercury. It is probably not the same mechanism that God used for Hezekiah. Nonetheless, it is to the shame of those critics who attempt to tell God what He cannot do." ICR
Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.
So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
Isaiah 38:8,9
