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A city gains a reputation by the events, planned or unplanned which happen there. Some times it is set apart from all others by drastic circumstances. For all the religious beauty for which Jerusalem was noted it developed a reputation that was most unpleasant as the ìbloody city.î King Manasseh was as responsible as any for the beginning of such a reputation. It is stated concerning him, that he filled Jerusalem, from one end to the other, with the blood of very many innocent people. 2 Kings 21:16 Then we have the king appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, Jehoiakim who followed in the footsteps of Manasseh and likewise filled the city with innocent blood. These men would have been termed mass murders today. There is a staggering statement made here by the scripture, this was an act, a sin which ìthe Lord would not pardon.î 2 Kings 24:4 Why was there no pardon? Pardon required that the blood of the guilty be shed in order to cover the cry of the blood of the innocent one which had been shed. Gen. 9:6
Jesus rebuked the inhabitants of the city for their rejection of the prophets, the wise men and scribes who came to them with truth, but they rejected their message and tortured and killed some of them. Because of their hard heartedness of heart and complete rejection of the Word of the Lord they were to be made responsible for the blood of all those who were innocent of wrong doing but were murdered by the unbelieving population of the city. Mt. 23:34-35 From the words of the Lord Jesus it is apparent that the actions of the generations past had never had atonement made for them. Blood guiltiness hung over the city like a dark cloud. Their house was desolate, empty and void. Mt. 23:38
The last dispensation which is the dispensation of the anointed message of the gospel ministered by the power of the Holy Spirit has its beginnings in the spilling of innocent blood in Jerusalem. This time, it is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ who is crucified. Acts 2:36 At the conclusion of the dispensation, once again the spirit of the ìbloody cityî will rear its ugly head and witness by its actions that it is indeed the ìbloody city.î The two witnesses are put to death, but not until the conclusion of their ministry. Their dead bodies are exposed to extreme disrespect and hatred as they are left out in the open for three and one half days in the city which the Lord pointed out is where our Lord was crucified. Now He calls it Sodom and Egypt which describes the attitude and nature of the peoples of the earth in the end of the age. Rev. 11:7-13 The scriptures very plainly point out the ìbloody cityî for us, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.