10. Pure and Clean: The Refining Fire

10. Pure and Clean: The Refiner’s Fire.

“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it… My glory I will not give to another.” (Isaiah 48:10-11).

The Bottom Line: Our gracious God uses the refiner’s fire of life’s challenges, struggles, afflictions and difficulties to burn out our impurities and remove what is keeping us from purity, so that we return to His original idea of our true self. God’s divine idea of each of us is then re-formed to resemble Christ, in Whose image we are all created. As George MacDonald once wrote, “The true self, the real self, is God’s original idea of him, the divine idea of him, the person God had in view when He began to send him forth, the person God is now working to perfect by casting out what is not he, and developing what is he.” During this entire refining process, the Lord continues to promise His presence with us, no matter what. That picture of the three young men in the fiery furnace with the fourth Person with them inside the fire is unforgettable (Daniel 3).

The Refining Process. The refiner’s goal is to remove the dross from precious metals like silver through a fire’s intense heat. The refiner’s fire does not consume the silver, it does not destroy anything that is worthwhile or precious in the metal. The fire is completely constructive and purposeful, and results in perfectly pure and highly valuable silver. Dross is an old word that means impurities, foreign objects, waste materials, worthless and unwanted substances imbedded within the metal. Dross is anything that is keeping the precious metal from being completely pure. The process looks like this:

1. The refiner places the silver ore into an intensely heated furnace at 1,800 degrees F.;
2. When the metal reaches the needed temperature, the refiner adds oxygen by blowing air over the molten metal, usually by a refiner’s bellows;
3. As the metal melts down, the dross rises to the top surface of the molten metal;
4. The refiner either blows the dross off of the surface or scrapes it off before it cools;
5. The more this process is repeated, the purer the silver becomes, until it literally has a glowing light. Usually, two or three repetitions are enough.

Seven Times Refined. Psalmist David wanted an effective way to proclaim how pure God’s Word was, so he used the refining process in Ps. 12:6: “Every word God speaks is sure and every promise is pure. His truth is tested, found to be flawless, and ever faithful. It’s as pure as silver refined 7 times.” Seven is the Biblical number that represents perfection, completeness, wholeness, fulfillment, finished. So David is pointing out the profound contrast between human speech and divine speech. Every quality of God’s words: pure, flawless, trustworthy, faithful, truthful, contrasts with men’s words: dishonest, impure, deceitful, devious, malicious. God’s words are pure silver refined 7 times, completely and perfectly pure. We can trust our lives to God’s words. When silver is refined one time in a furnace, it is fairly pure. At its 7th refining, it is utterly and unquestionably pure of any impure, harmful or foreign matter. Clearly David loved God’s Word, he delighted in God’s words. He expanded on this major theme in his life in his Psalm 19:7-11:

“The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true, each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.”

The Refiner’s Fire in God’s Pure Word. This process of purifying silver was so commonly known in the biblical eras that we see this idea used throughout the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, from Yahweh Himself to His prophets, from the Hebrew sages like Job and Solomon to the psalmists like David, from Sts. Peter to James to John. This picture of the refining process seemed to fit the bill as to how the Lord uses our hardships in His cleansing process for His people.

1. “But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” (Job 23:10);
2. “For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net, you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water. Yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.” (Ps. 66:10-12);
3. “All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, therefore I love your teachings.” (Ps. 119:119);
4. “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.” (Prov. 17:3);
5. “Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel; take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.” (Prov. 25:4-5);
6. ‘I will take action against you, My sinful children, burning off whatever is worthless dross, removing whatever is impure.” (Isaiah 1:25);
7. ‘I have made you a tester of metals among my people, that you may know and test their ways. They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron; all of them act corruptly. The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed. Rejected silver they are called, for the Lord has rejected them.” (Jeremiah 6:27-30);
8. “Therefore, thus says the Lord of the Angel Armies: ‘Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people?” (Jer. 9:7);
9. “And the word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 22:17-22);
10. “Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. She has wearied herself with toil, its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. I am the Lord, I have spoken, it shall come to pass. I will do it. I will not go back.” (Ez. 24:11-14);
11. “Some of the wise will fall victim and be martyred in order to be refined, purified, and made clean until the end, for the appointed time is still to come.” (Daniel 11:35);
12. “Many will keep themselves pure and clean and be refined despite the pressures of these times, but those who are wicked will continue their wicked ways and none of them will ever understand. But those who are wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12:10);
13. “In the whole land, declares the Lord, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. 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.” (Zechariah 13:8-9);

But Who May Abide + For He Is Like A Refiner’s Fire + And He Shall Purify

14. “The Messenger of the Covenant in whom you delight, behold, He is coming, says the Lord of the Angel Armies. 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 fuller’s 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.” (Malachi 3:2-3);

15. “As others build on the foundation of Jesus Messiah, whether with precious gold, silver and gemstones, or with inferior wood, hay and straw, the quality of each person’s work will be revealed in time as it is tested by fire. If a person’s work stands the test of fire, he will be rewarded. If a person’s work is consumed by the fire, his reward will be lost but he will be spared, rescued from the fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15);

16. “My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can! For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things. And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.” (James 1:2-4);

17. “…Lately you’ve had to endure the grief of many trials and suffer various hardship. But these only reveal the sterling core, the proven character of your faith, which is far more valuable than gold that perishes, for even gold is refined by fire. Your genuine, authentic faith will result in even more praise, glory and honor when Jesus the Anointed One is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:6-7);

18. “For you claim, ‘I’m rich and getting richer! I don’t need a thing!’ Yet you are clueless that you are miserable, poor, blind, barren ,and naked! So I counsel you to purchase gold perfected and refined by fire, so that you can be truly rich.” (Revelation 3:17-18).

Faith More Precious Than Gold – Mission House (Live)

Come Judgment Day. Does the Refiner’s Fire have to stop its purification process after Judgment? Might the Consuming Fire of God continue to burn away the dross and impurities after earthly death in order to prepare for an eternity in His purity? Might the Refiner’s Fire burn away whatever dross is present at the Last Day, since His mercy endures forever? Why not? The grid to be used in this question should be the character of Jesus as seen in the Gospels. And so I believe that God is a “finisher of the faith” and will ultimately restore and reconcile to Himself all things in creation, including mankind, making God “all in all;” that Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension began the ultimate redemption of the whole universe, and will eventually result in bringing everything back together under Him as Lord; that God has always originally intended for all His creation to eventually be united forever in Him as the supreme authority over everything and everyone, completely reclaiming the entire universe, all because “God so loved the world;” that God desires that at some point all people will be saved after a time of accountability and repentance, and He will eventually have mercy on everyone after a time of suitable punishment for rejection of Him: “And all mankind will see God’s salvation; all of humanity will witness God’s deliverance.” (Luke 3:6). “For the grace of God has appeared, giving salvation to all human beings.” (Titus 2:11). “God our Savior, who wants all mankind to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth; He longs for everyone to embrace His life, to be delivered, and to understand the divine truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4). “The Lord  is not slow in  keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance; It is not God’s purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins.” (2 Peter 3:9).

God Allows, or God Inflicts? This is a mystery of course. But let’s again take a look at the character of the God of Scripture, especially of Jesus in the Gospels. I believe the Lord is not some cosmic sadist (as C. S. Lewis wondered in his book A Grief Observed). I can’t imagine that a perfectly loving God would enjoy the action of Personally afflicting pain and misery on His creatures. God is merciful, and, I think, chooses to allow in his wisdom whatever might bring a person closer to Him. He allows difficulties and challenges in our lives in this sinful world and chooses to redeem those trials, use those experiences of suffering for our betterment, our purification, our holiness. God is sovereign, yes, but He is a redemptive King who doesn’t inflict suffering, but instead allows our inevitable suffering and uses it refine us, cleanse us, and return us to our original image in Jesus Christ.

CeCe Winans – Refiner (Official Lyric Video)