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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I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed.
And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"
But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.
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 knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.
I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
"The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place."
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.
"I have made you a tester of metals among my people, that you may know and test their ways.
The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed.
But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor 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 dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"
But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.
but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who 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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I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.