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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and 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).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.
And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with 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 have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: 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, that thou mayest know and try their way.
The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and 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 whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to 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 after their own pleasure; 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 that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing 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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and 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 as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to 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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and 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.