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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That I may turn my hand against thee, And smelt away, as with potash, thy dross, And remove all thine alloy;
Scorched are the bellows, By fire, is lead wont to be, consumed, - In vain, hath he gone on refining, For the wicked, have not been drawn out:
And I will bring the third into the fire, and will smelt them as one smelteth silver, and will try them, as one trieth gold, - It, will call upon my name, and, I, will answer it, and will say, My people, it is! and, it, will say, Yahweh, is my God!
But who may endure the day of his coming? And who is he that can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' alkali; Therefore will he sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and will purify the sons of Levi, and will smelt them, as gold and as silver; so shall they belong to Yahweh, offering a gift 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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But, he, knoweth the way that I choose, Having tried me, as gold, I shall come forth.
For thou didst prove us, O God, Thou didst refine us, according to the refining of silver:
Fining-pot for silver, crucible for gold, but, he that trieth hearts, is Yahweh.
Fining-pot for silver, crucible for gold, but, he that trieth hearts, is Yahweh.
That I may turn my hand against thee, And smelt away, as with potash, thy dross, And remove all thine alloy;
Bricks, have fallen down But with hewn stone, will we build, - Sycomores, have been felled, But with cedars, will we replace them.
Lo! I have refined thee, but not as silver, - I have tested thee, in a smelting-pot of affliction.
O Yahweh! thine own eyes, are they not directed to fidelity? Thou hast smitten them Yet have they not grieved, Thou hast consumed them - They have refused to receive correction, - They have made their faces bolder than a cliff, They have refused to return.
An assayer, have I set thee amongst my people, of gold-ore, - That thou mayest note and try their way:
Scorched are the bellows, By fire, is lead wont to be, consumed, - In vain, hath he gone on refining, For the wicked, have not been drawn out:
But who may endure the day of his coming? And who is he that can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' alkali; Therefore will he sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and will purify the sons of Levi, and will smelt them, as gold and as silver; so shall they belong to Yahweh, offering a gift in righteousness.
For, whom he fore-approved, he also fore-appointed to be conformed unto the image of his Son, that he might be firstborn among many brethren, -
For, they, indeed, for a few days, according to that which seemed good to them, were administering discipline; but, he, unto that which is profitable, with view to our partaking of his holiness:
In order that the proving of your faith - much more precious than of gold that perisheth even though, by means of fire, it is proved - may be found unto praise and glory and honour in the revealing 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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Remove the dross from the silver, and there cometh forth, to the refiner, a vessel:
Lo! I have refined thee, but not as silver, - I have tested thee, in a smelting-pot of affliction.
And I will bring the third into the fire, and will smelt them as one smelteth silver, and will try them, as one trieth gold, - It, will call upon my name, and, I, will answer it, and will say, My people, it is! and, it, will say, Yahweh, is my God!
But who may endure the day of his coming? And who is he that can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' alkali; Therefore will he sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and will purify the sons of Levi, and will smelt them, as gold and as silver; so shall they belong to Yahweh, offering a gift in righteousness.
But, even as we have been approved by God, to be entrusted with the glad-message, so, we speak, - not as, unto men, giving pleasure, but unto God - who proveth our hearts.
Happy the man who endureth temptation! Because, becoming approved, he shall receive the crown of life - which he hath promised unto them that love 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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That I may turn my hand against thee, And smelt away, as with potash, thy dross, And remove all thine alloy;
Therefore will he sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and will purify the sons of Levi, and will smelt them, as gold and as silver; so shall they belong to Yahweh, offering a gift in righteousness.