A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to kill - namely, judicially, criminals; or, in wars of self-defense; not in malice. Out of this time and order, killing is murder. God had His times for slaying Israel (Psalms 78:31; Psalms 78:34; Jeremiah 12:3). The evil of the people must have been desperate when God had to resort to such a terrible mode of treatment.
To heal. God has His times for "healing" (literally, Isaiah 38:5 Isaiah 38:5; Isaiah 38:21: figuratively, Deuteronomy 32:39; Hosea 6:1: spiritually, Psalms 147:3; Isaiah 57:19). To heal spiritually before the sinner feels his wound would be out of time, and so injurious. The Lord declares Himself to be the Physician that heals Israel (Exodus 15:26; Isaiah 6:10).
A time to break down - cities, as Jerusalem, by Nebuchadnezzar.
To build up - as Jerusalem, in the time of Zerubbabel; spiritually, Amos 9:11; "the set time" (Psalms 102:13-16). God has His time for breaking down the protecting walls of professing churches, and for building them up (Psalms 80:12; Isaiah 5:5; Jeremiah 24:6; Jeremiah 31:4; Jeremiah 42:10; Psalms 51:18, in David's time, when the walls of Jerusalem were standing, can be best explained in a spiritual sense; Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 18:7-9).