This verse puzzled the women and they wondered how this statement applied to the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out more about the process of refining silver, and to get back to the group at their next Bible study. The following week, the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him while at work. As she watched the silversmith work, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames were the hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot, and about the verse, "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, that not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "But how do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it.
In biblical times, a refiner began by breaking up rough ore; hardened rock encased with common minerals such as tin, copper, and zinc. But that rock also had the promise of valuable, rare metals hidden within, the precious metals of gold and silver. The breaking of the rock is necessary to begin the refining process to expose highly valuable metals to heat. The Lord communicates His perfect plan to us, we are rough rock in need of refining fire. "Is not my word like fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?(Jeremiah 23:29)
The refiner puts broken, crushed ore into a “crucible", a fireproof melting pot able to withstand extreme heat. Then the refiner places the crucible into the furnace at the precise temperature necessary for removing other metals that would mar the quality of the gold or silver. Just as the furnace is used to purify silver in the crucible, our Refiner uses heat to purify our hearts and cleanse our character. Proverbs 17:3 says, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.”
As the ore melts in the crucible under the watchful eye of the refiner, a layer of impurities called “dross” eventually forms on the surface. The Bible says, “Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel” (Proverbs 25:4). For us individually, dross represents any misplaced dependency, any wrong motive, wrong attitude, wrong action, anything that keeps us from being all that God wants us to be.
After the refiner painstakingly skims off these impurities, he then turns up the heat and places the crucible back into the blistering furnace. Again and again (up to seven times, we are told in historical literature) impurities rise to the surface. He knows that only certain impurities are released at certain temperatures. Psalm 12:6 says, “And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.”
Each time, with utmost skill and patience, the refiner removes the dross, leaving behind gleaming gold and shimmering silver even more pure and precious than before. To gauge his progress, the refiner looks for his own reflection on the surface of the silver-filled crucible. The more dross removed, the less distorted his reflection. The Bible says our Refiner sits over the refining process to purify us, “He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10)
Only when the refiner looks into the crucible and sees a clear reflection of himself is the process complete. Finally, the silver attains its highest degree of purity! And that, my friend, describes our Refiner’s loving intentions for allowing us to be in the “furnace of affliction.” As we trust Him to use our trials to cleanse our character and purify our hearts, we will begin to see the “silver lining.” Isaiah 48:10 says, “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”
But how do we hang on to hope in the midst of our trials, especially when the heat is turned up beyond what we think we can bear? We persevere by pressing into the heart of the One who allowed the trial, trusting in His perfect plan and His character, and surrendering our will to His will.
Remember, the pain God allows in your life is purposeful. The heat is never intended to destroy you, only to conform you into the character of Christ. His gaze is continually affixed to your crucible. As the heat of painful circumstances intensifies in your life, know that the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you. “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify . . . and refine them like gold and silver” (Malachi 3:3)
