The Relentless Mercy of Judgment Text: Joshua 10:29-43
Introduction: The Scandal of a Holy War
We come now to a passage that is a stumbling block for many. Modern sensibilities, steeped as they are in a sentimental therapeutic soup, recoil at texts like this. We see a string of cities, one after another, falling to the sword of Israel. We read of kings executed, populations devoted to destruction, and no survivors remaining. And the modern mind, which wants a God who is a celestial guidance counselor, a divine affirmation machine, asks, "How can a good God command such a thing?"
This question, though it presents itself as morally serious, is actually quite shallow. It fails to ask the antecedent questions. It does not ask about the nature of the Canaanites' sin. It does not ask about the holiness of God. It does not ask about the purpose of redemptive history. It assumes a universe where man is the center, and his comfort is the highest good. But the Bible does not begin there. The Bible begins with a holy God who is the center of all things, and His glory is the highest good.
The conquest of Canaan is not an instance of ethnic cleansing or territorial ambition run amok. It is a targeted, localized, judicial act of God. The Canaanites were not innocent farmers caught in the crossfire. Archaeology and the Scriptures themselves paint a grim picture of a culture so debased, so saturated in idolatry, sexual perversion, and child sacrifice, that the land itself was vomiting them out (Lev. 18:25). God had given them centuries to repent, all the way back to the time of Abraham, declaring that the iniquity of the Amorites was "not yet complete" (Gen. 15:16). But the day of grace had ended. The cup of their iniquity was full, and it was now overflowing with the wrath of God.
And Israel was His instrument, His scalpel. This was not their war; it was Yahweh's. This passage is a drumbeat of divine action. "Yahweh gave it... Yahweh gave Lachish... Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel." Israel's role was one of radical, unflinching obedience to the command of their covenant Lord. This is holy war, which is to say, it is an act of divine judgment. And we must understand this if we are to understand the gospel. For the same God who pours out His wrath on the unrepentant Canaanites is the God who poured out His wrath on His own Son at the cross, so that rebels like us could be spared. The cross is the ultimate herem, the ultimate devotion to destruction. If you are scandalized by Joshua's sword, you will never understand the necessity of Christ's cross.
The Text
Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah. And Yahweh gave it also with its king into the hands of Israel, and he struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor remaining in it. Thus he did to its king just as he had done to the king of Jericho... Thus Joshua struck all the land... He left no survivor remaining, but he devoted to destruction all who breathed, just as Yahweh, the God of Israel, had commanded... And Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. So Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.
(Joshua 10:29-43 LSB)
The Divine Initiative (vv. 29-32)
The campaign continues with a relentless pace, but the true agent is never in doubt.
"And Yahweh gave it also with its king into the hands of Israel... And Yahweh gave Lachish into the hands of Israel..." (Joshua 10:30, 32)
This is the key that unlocks the entire passage. The victories are not attributed to Joshua's military genius or the strength of Israel's army. The active verb belongs to God. Yahweh gave. Israel's role is to receive the victory that God provides and to act in obedience. This is the essence of the life of faith. God gives, and we take. God commands, and we obey. Our modern evangelicalism often reverses this, making it sound as though we act, and then God blesses our initiative. But Scripture is clear: God is always the initiator. He is the sovereign Lord of history and of battles. As Proverbs says, "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to Yahweh" (Prov. 21:31).
Notice the pattern: Libnah, then Lachish. The conquest is systematic. God is a God of order, not chaos, even in His judgments. He is dismantling the southern coalition of Canaanite kings piece by piece. This is not a random rampage; it is a methodical execution of a divine sentence. The repetition of the phrase "he struck it and every person who was in it with the edge of the sword" and "left no survivor" is meant to emphasize the totality and finality of the judgment. This is the language of herem, or "the ban." These cities and their inhabitants were "devoted to destruction." This was a form of consecration to God. They were being removed as a cancerous growth from the land God was giving to His people, a land that would one day bring forth the Messiah.
This was not for Israel's enrichment. They were not permitted to take plunder from these initial cities in the way they would be later. This was a holy act, and to treat it as common pillaging was a capital offense, as Achan discovered at Jericho. The judgment had to be clean, total, and for the glory of God alone.
Intervention and Escalation (vv. 33-39)
The conflict escalates as another king foolishly enters the fray, only to meet the same fate.
"Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish, and Joshua struck him and his people down until there was no survivor remaining for him." (Joshua 10:33 LSB)
King Horam's intervention is a picture of the futility of resisting God's declared purpose. He comes to "help Lachish," but in reality, he is simply rushing to his own destruction. When God is judging a person or a nation, coming to their aid is to place yourself under that same judgment. You cannot help those whom God has determined to strike. This is a sobering lesson. The kings of the earth still set themselves and take counsel together against Yahweh and against His Anointed, but He who sits in the heavens laughs (Psalm 2). Their resistance only serves to demonstrate the totality of His power.
The campaign then rolls on through Eglon, Hebron, and Debir. The language is repetitive, and intentionally so. The narrator is building a case, piling up the evidence of Israel's complete obedience and God's faithfulness to His command. "According to all that he had done to Lachish." "According to all that he had done to Eglon." "Just as he had done to Hebron." This is a record of covenant faithfulness. God commanded, and Joshua "left nothing undone of all that Yahweh had commanded Moses" (Josh. 11:15). Joshua here is a type of the greater Joshua, Jesus. Jesus's name is the Greek form of Joshua, meaning "Yahweh is salvation." Just as Joshua faithfully executed the Father's will in clearing the promised land, so Jesus perfectly accomplished the Father's will in His life and on the cross, securing a greater inheritance for us.
The phrase "he devoted to destruction" (herem) appears again and again. This is a deeply theological concept. It means to remove something from common use and dedicate it to God, in this case, through judgment. The Canaanite culture was so thoroughly devoted to false gods that it had to be entirely devoted to the true God in its destruction. This was a quarantine. God was protecting His covenant people from the spiritual contagion of Canaanite idolatry, which would have polluted the line of redemption.
The Summary of a Sovereign Sweep (vv. 40-43)
The passage concludes with a grand summary of the southern campaign, once again emphasizing the two central truths: Israel's total obedience and God's sovereign power.
"Thus Joshua struck all the land... he devoted to destruction all who breathed, just as Yahweh, the God of Israel, had commanded." (Joshua 10:40 LSB)
Here is the justification for it all: "just as Yahweh... had commanded." Israel was not acting on its own authority. They were commissioned soldiers under a divine mandate. To disobey would have been treason against their King. To carry out the order, however difficult, was the essence of faithfulness. We must banish from our minds the idea that God's commands must always align with our modern, therapeutic notions of niceness. God's goodness is tied to His holiness, not our comfort. His justice is perfect, and when He commands a thing, it is righteous by definition.
The scope of the victory is comprehensive, covering the hill country, the Negev, the Shephelah, and the slopes. This was a decisive, sweeping victory that broke the back of Canaanite resistance in the south.
"And Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel." (Joshua 10:42 LSB)
This is the final word, the ultimate explanation. How was such a rapid, total victory possible? "Because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel." This is the secret to all spiritual victory. The battle is the Lord's. When we fight in our own strength, we fail. When we fight according to His commands and in His strength, the victory is assured. The Christian life is not a matter of trying harder, but of trusting more fully in the God who fights for us.
The chapter ends with the army returning to the camp at Gilgal. Gilgal was their base of operations, the place where the covenant was renewed. It represents their return to a place of worship and rest. The war is God's, the victory is God's, and the subsequent rest is God's gift. This is a pattern for us. We go out from a place of worship to engage in spiritual warfare in the world, and we return to worship, acknowledging that the victory was His all along.
The Gospel According to Joshua
So what does this ancient, bloody history have to do with us? Everything. This entire narrative is a picture, a type, of a much greater spiritual reality. We are not called to take up literal swords against literal Canaanites. The new covenant has fulfilled and transformed this command. But the principles remain.
The human heart is the promised land, given to us by God, but it is occupied by hostile forces. Pride, lust, greed, bitterness, idolatry, these are the Canaanite kings that have set up their thrones in our souls. They are deeply entrenched, and they will not leave willingly. They must be conquered. God has commanded us to put them to the sword, to show them no mercy, to leave no survivor remaining (Col. 3:5). We are to devote these sins to utter destruction.
And we cannot do it in our own strength. The battle is too great. But the good news is that we do not have to. Our Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ, has already fought the decisive battle. On the cross, He conquered sin, death, and the devil. He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Col. 2:15). He has given us the victory.
Our task now is the "mopping up" operation. By faith in Him, we are to apply the victory He has already won. We are to go, in the power of the Spirit, from Libnah to Lachish, from Eglon to Hebron, and put to death the remaining pockets of resistance in our hearts. We must be relentless. You cannot make a peace treaty with your lust. You cannot negotiate terms with your pride. You must devote them to destruction, "just as Yahweh, the God of Israel, has commanded."
This is not a call to grim, joyless self-flagellation. It is a call to freedom. Every sin you kill is a piece of territory reclaimed for the glory of God and for your own joy. Every idol torn down makes more room for Christ. The conquest is hard, but the inheritance is glorious. And we do not fight alone. For Yahweh, the God of Israel, fights for Israel. Our great Joshua fights for us. And because He has already won the war, we can fight our battles with the unshakable confidence of ultimate victory.