In the destruction of the Canaanite cities we have the certainty that God’s kingdom will one day come in all its fullness. None of the cities or the people who set themselves against the Lord will triumph. Makkedah is destroyed and devoted to destruction (Joshua 10:28), as are Libnah (Joshua 10:30) and Lachish (Joshua 10:32). Joshua devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord commanded (Joshua 10:42).
These verses, as much as they might be repetitive, are there to emphasize the total victory of God against his enemies. God is not timid; he will most certainly destroy all those who oppose him. What he has promised he will do. One day, Jesus Christ will return in glory. On that day the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven (Mark 13:24–25). For those who belong to God it will be a day of salvation; for those who are his enemies it will be a day of complete destruction (Hebrews 9:27–28).
Faced with the certainty of God’s coming kingdom, how can we make sure that we are not found to be God’s enemies, condemned to death on account of our sins? It’s not by hiding in a cave like these five kings, but by finding refuge in Christ (Psalm 2:12). It is by trusting in Jesus Christ, the one given by the Father to save all those who believe from his wrath and judgment. He is the one who will keep us from hell because he has been through hell on our behalf. Like the Amorite kings, he was cursed and hung on a tree (Galatians 3:11–14). But unlike them, he was cursed not on account of his own sins but the sins of his people.
28 As for Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.