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 I will turn my hand upon thee and according to pureness purge away thy dross and take away all thy tin;
The bellows are burned; the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melts in vain; for the wicked are not plucked away.
And I will put the third part into the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried; He shall call on my name, and I will hear him; I will say, My people, and he shall say, The LORD is my God.
But who may abide the time of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he shall be like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit to refine and to purify the silver: for he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the LORD an offering 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 has known the way that I take; he has tried me, and I have come forth as gold.
For thou, O God, hast proved us; thou hast refined us as silver is refined.
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tries the hearts.
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tries the hearts.
and I will turn my hand upon thee and according to pureness purge away thy dross and take away all thy tin;
The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the wild fig trees are cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.
Behold, I have refined thee, and not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they did not feel it; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive chastisement; they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people; thou shalt know and examine their way.
The bellows are burned; the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melts in vain; for the wicked are not plucked away.
But who may abide the time of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he shall be like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit to refine and to purify the silver: for he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
For unto those whom he knew beforehand, he also marked out beforehand the way that they might be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
For they verily for a few days chastened us as it seemed good unto them, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold (which perishes, nevertheless it is tried with fire), might be found unto praise and glory and honour when Jesus, the Christ, is made manifest;
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 a vessel shall come forth for the finer.
Behold, I have refined thee, and not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
And I will put the third part into the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried; He shall call on my name, and I will hear him; I will say, My people, and he shall say, The LORD is my God.
But who may abide the time of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he shall be like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit to refine and to purify the silver: for he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
but because we have been approved of God that he might entrust us with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who tries our hearts.
Blessed is the man that patiently endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those 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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and I will turn my hand upon thee and according to pureness purge away thy dross and take away all thy tin;
And he shall sit to refine and to purify the silver: for he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.