Jerusalem is called here a bloody city on account of the deeds of violence which were committed in her midst. Once it was a faithful city, full of judgment and righteousness; but she had become an harlot, and murderers lodged in it (Isaiah i:21). The prophets and the righteous had been killed in her midst. And He who sent these messages of warning and impending judgment, who waited so patiently for Jerusalem's repentance and the return of His people, came in the fullness of time, in the midst of His people and to that city. Before He went to the cross of Calvary, where He gave Himself and where also Jerusalem's bloodguiltiness was fearfully crowned by killing the Prince of Life (Acts iii:15), He stood before that city with tear-filled eyes and uttered those tender and never to be forgotten words: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and ye would not" (Matt. xxiii:37). And Stephen said, "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers" (Acts vii:52). "His blood be upon us and our children" was their awful cry, when the bloody city delivered Him into the hands of the Gentiles, and ever since they have been, Cain-like, the homeless wanderers among the nations, till some day they will acknowledge their bloodguiltiness and turn to Him. And in this chapter the Lord describes all her violence and abominations. All were guilty of violence and the shedding of blood, especially the princes, the Kings of Judah. (See Jeremiah xxvi:21 and xxxviii:4, etc.). And inasmuch as they had turned away from Jehovah and worshipped idols, moral corruption and the vile things man is capable of were likewise present. And such are also the conditions to-day among the nations, which profess to be Christian; violence and bloodshed, moral corruption and abomination. May we not forget that the Lord, who knew Jerusalem's guilt and judged her for it, is the same to-day, who will judge the violence and the abominations on the earth among nations whose privileges have been even greater than the privileges and blessings of Jerusalem. "Thou hast forgotten Me," was Jehovah's accusation against the city. Had they remembered Jehovah's kindness, His gracious dealing with their fathers, had they remembered His Word, these abominations would not have come to pass. And the source of the violence, the bloodshed, the moral darkness in the world to-day, is, that the nations have forgotten God. The judgment of the city is again announced. II. The Smelting Furnace.