"Dashing Babies Heads Against a Stone" Explained
(Psalms 137)
Aside from Israel, the other nations in and around the Promised Land used imprisonment and bonds, mutilation, blinding, killing captives of war by the sword, ripping up pregnant women, and dashing their little ones to death against a wall or a stone.— 2Ki 8:12.
(2Kings 8) Hazael (the future King of Damascus, the capital of Syria) went to meet Elisha the prophet and said to him... Thy son Benhadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
(Kings 8:10) And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die. The Prophet Elisha wept.
(2Kings 8:12, 13) And Hazael (the future King of Damascus, the capital of Syria) said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child. 13 And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.
Hazael, (flourished 9th century BC), king of Damascus, whose history is given at length in the Bible, 2Kings 8–13. Hazael became king after the death of Ben-hadad I, under whom he was probably a court official. Ben-hadad, who was ill, sent Hazael to the prophet Elisha to inquire concerning his chances of recovery.
The Book of Psalms was written in the 5th Century BCE
The Book of Kings 1 & 2 were written in 550 BC
the Northern Kingdom of Israel, they were conquered by Assyria around 721 B.C.
The books of 1 and 2 Kings cover more than 400 years of Israelite history, starting with the death of King David (approximately 1015 B.C.) and concluding with the death of King Jehoiachin (sometime after approximately 561 B.C.). The book of 2 Kings outlines the causes of the scattering of Israel. Because of the wickedness of the people in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, they were conquered by Assyria around 721 B.C. Unfortunately, Judah did not learn from the mistakes of Israel. Even though some of the kings of Judah mentioned in 2 Kings were faithful and obedient, there were many who were wicked. One of these kings was King Manasseh, whose wickedness caused Judah to lose its divine protection. Babylon crushed the Southern Kingdom and carried its people into captivity (587 B.C.), fulfilling Lehi’s prophecy that Jerusalem would be destroyed (see 1 Nephi 1:13, 18).
Deuteronomy Chapter 13 Explained
Deuteronomy 13 is saying that you must resist temptation before it spreads and becomes dangerous.
Remember, God told them/Israel they are a Holy People unto Himself (Deuteronomy 7:6). Therefore, as Jesus also explained more clearly, sinners can not judge other sinners. "Anyone among you who has not sinned can cast the first stone (John 8:7)"
*** Meaning, "you can't go around slaughtering wicket people if you yourself is also a sinner". To put it more plain and simple... Only a perfect being, someone without sin, has the right to expose and get rid of evil!
From a national perspective, criminals should generally be punished to the full extent of the law. Too much leniency encourages more crime. One application for individuals is for parents to wisely discipline their children. Repeated threats or warnings without any actual discipline will cause children to ignore their parents.
Take cancer, for example. If it is discovered early and removed while it is small, the body will be protected. But if it is allowed to remain and spread, it will metastasize and infect everything. By that time, it will be too late to stop it, and the cancer, which started off small, will kill the host.
Inquire and make search and ask diligently – Moses put into place due process guardrails to ensure that the innocent were protected. Attacking a city was a serious thing and not something to do willy-nilly.
Luke 17:1-2 – And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
Ephesians 5:11 – Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
God does tell us to love others, even our enemies (1 John 4:7-8, John 13:34-35, Luke 6:27-28, Ephesians 5:1-2, John 15:12) and the Bible does certainly say that God loves all people (John 3:16-17, 1 John 4:10-11, Lamentations 3:22-23, Romans 5:8, 2 Peter 3:9). This doesn’t mean that God accepts or supports what evil people do though, nor are we instructed to.