Reference: Refiner
Easton
The process of refining metals is referred to by way of illustrations in Isa 1:25; Jer 6:29; Zec 13:9; Mal 3:2-3.
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And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal;
The blower is blowing strongly, the lead is burned away in the fire: they go on heating the metal to no purpose, for the evil-doers are not taken away.
And I will make the third part go through the fire, cleaning them as silver is made clean, and testing them as gold is tested: and they will make their prayer to me and I will give them an answer: I will say, It is my people; and they will say, The Lord is my God.
But by whom may the day of his coming be faced? and who may keep his place when he is seen? for he is like the metal-tester's fire and the cleaner's soap. He will take his seat, testing and cleaning the sons of Levi, burning away the evil from them as from gold and silver; so that they may make offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
Fausets
He who reduced the metal to fluid by heat and solvents, as borax, alkali or lead (Isa 1:25; Jer 6:29), to remove the dross. His instruments were the crucible or furnace ("fining pot," Pr 17:3) and the blowpipe or bellows. Affliction removes the dross from the godly (1Pe 1:7). But the fiery ordeal only hardens the reprobate (Jer 5:3; Isa 9:10). Translated for "tower" and "fortress" (Jer 6:27), "I have set thee for an assayer and explorer," separating the metal from the dross "among My people." In Mal 3:2-3, Christ "shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and shall purify the sons of Levi." The purifier sits before the crucible, fixing his eye on the metal, taking care the heat is not too great, and keeping the metal in only until, by seeing his own image reflected in the glowing mass, he knows the dross is completely removed. So the Lord with His elect (Ro 8:29; Job 23:10; Ps 66:10; Pr 17:3; Isa 48:10; Heb 12:10).
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For he has knowledge of the way I take; after I have been tested I will come out like gold.
For you, O God, have put us to the test: testing us by fire like silver.
The heating-pot is for silver and the oven-fire for gold, but the Lord is the tester of hearts.
The heating-pot is for silver and the oven-fire for gold, but the Lord is the tester of hearts.
And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal;
The bricks have come down, but we will put up buildings of cut stone in their place: the sycamores are cut down, but they will be changed to cedars.
See, I have been testing you for myself like silver; I have put you through the fire of trouble.
O Lord, do not your eyes see good faith? you have given them punishment, but they were not troubled; you have sent destruction on them, but they did not take your teaching to heart: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they would not come back.
I have made you a tester among my people, so that you may have knowledge of their way and put it to the test.
The blower is blowing strongly, the lead is burned away in the fire: they go on heating the metal to no purpose, for the evil-doers are not taken away.
But by whom may the day of his coming be faced? and who may keep his place when he is seen? for he is like the metal-tester's fire and the cleaner's soap. He will take his seat, testing and cleaning the sons of Levi, burning away the evil from them as from gold and silver; so that they may make offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:
For they truly gave us punishment for a short time, as it seemed good to them; but he does it for our profit, so that we may become holy as he is.
So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ:
Morish
God is the refiner of His people, as the precious metals have to be separated from the dross that clings to them. Pr 25:4 (where the A.V. has 'finer'); Isa 48:10; Zec 13:9; Mal 3:2-3. So God tests the believer's heart (1Th 2:4), and his faith, which leads to endurance. Jas 1:12; 1Pe 1:7.
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Take away the waste from silver, and a vessel will come out for the silver-worker.
See, I have been testing you for myself like silver; I have put you through the fire of trouble.
And I will make the third part go through the fire, cleaning them as silver is made clean, and testing them as gold is tested: and they will make their prayer to me and I will give them an answer: I will say, It is my people; and they will say, The Lord is my God.
But by whom may the day of his coming be faced? and who may keep his place when he is seen? for he is like the metal-tester's fire and the cleaner's soap. He will take his seat, testing and cleaning the sons of Levi, burning away the evil from them as from gold and silver; so that they may make offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
But even as the good news was given to us by the approval of God, so we give it out; not as pleasing men, but God by whom our hearts are tested.
There is a blessing on the man who undergoes testing; because, if he has God's approval, he will be given the crown of life, which the Lord has said he will give to those who have love for him.
Smith
Refiner,
The refiner's art was essential to the working of the precious metals. It consisted in the separation of the dress from the pure ore, which was effected by reducing the metal to a fluid state by the application of heat, and by the aid of solvents, such as alkali,
or lead, Jere 6:29 which, amalgamating with the dress, permitted the extraction of the unadulterated metal. The instruments required by the refiner were a crucible of furnace and a bellows or blow-pipe. The workman sat at his work,
he was thus better enabled to watch the process, and let the metal run off at the proper moment.
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And my hand will again be on you, washing away what is unclean as with soap, and taking away all your false metal;
He will take his seat, testing and cleaning the sons of Levi, burning away the evil from them as from gold and silver; so that they may make offerings to the Lord in righteousness.