The Silversmith

There was a dedicated Christian woman who once visited a working replica of a pioneer village; and one was a silversmith shop. 

The woman watched the silversmith as he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He then explained that in refinibeholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgettethre where the flames were the hottest, in order to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; and then she recalled the verse which says, “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

She then asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes; that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver 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, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh that’s easy, when I see my own image in it.” 

Ezekiel 22:17–24 “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.”

Ezekiel described Israel during the Babylonian exile of 587 B.C. 

Israel had gone astray from the Lord by worshiping foreign gods and idols. 

Because the people would not repent and turn to the Lord, God allowed the holy city of Jerusalem to be invaded by the Babylonians

The Babylonian exile was a process of purification of the nation of Israel, and His means of purification was similar to that used of a refiner of precious metals. 

The process of refining metals,

described very simply without all the complicated details, works like this: 

*** A silversmith unloads ore in a large smelter, and the ore is melted down. As the ore melts, all the impurities and worthless metals such as bronze, tin, iron, and lead, which are called dross, float to the top and are either burned off or skimmed off. 

In this passage Ezekiel was describing the Babylonian exile as the melting down of Israel and the separation of the godly (the silver) from the unrighteous (the dross). 

He saw those taken into captivity as people set apart as fine silver. They were separated from the dross of the idol worshippers, and they would one day return to Jerusalem as true worshippers of God alone. 

The prophet Jeremiah spoke of the remaining inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Jeremiah 6:29–30 “The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.”

1. The Reason of God’s Refining Fire

Ezekiel described the Babylonian exile as being a refiner’s fire; so what was its spiritual purpose? 

Psalm 24:3–4 KJV 1900

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, Nor sworn deceitfully.

God’s refining fire was for spiritual purification. 

He wanted to set apart a group of people having clean hands and pure hearts to worship and serve Him alone. 

Malachi 3:2–3 KJV 1900

… 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.

The Babylonian exile was like using laundry detergent, people later returned to Jerusalem with clean hearts; and God heard them “Cheer” because they were free and ready to serve the Lord with gladness. 

The refiner was in order to set apart a people for Himself 

2. The Rules for God’s Refining Fire

Do believers experience God’s refining fire?...Sure they do

Psalm 66:10 KJV 1900

For thou, O God, hast proved us: Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.

God wants to spiritually purify us as believers 

Isaiah 48:10 KJV 1900

Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Testing or trials is Gods refining process for us “the furnace of affliction.” 

Revelation 3:19 KJV 1900

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten …

Hebrews 12...For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? .... Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence:shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits...but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness 

A father will discipline a child because he loves him and wants to correct the child’s wrong actions in order to protect him from future harm. 

The heat of God’s refining fire comes upon us and cleanses us from unrighteousness.

3. The Reflection in God’s Refining Fire

James 1:22–24 KJV 1900

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.