God Is 
The Refiner
photo of raw ore

    "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"  (Malachi 3:3).  God is the refiner and we are the ore.  I am very grateful to a friend, Mr. Koenig, who gave me the piece of ore as a souvenir  many years ago.  He worked as a geologist for an oil company in Old Mexico.  He said that this piece of ore was most unusual in that it has in it zinc, lead, copper, silver, and gold. If you look closely at the photo you will even see the traces of gold.  I would like to have a mountain of this ore.  I would be quite rich.

    However, even if I had a mountain of this ore, it would still needed to be blasted out and then the refiner would run it through a gigantic rock crusher to break it up into small pieces.  It seems that when we were unbelievers that God blasted us out of the mountain of sin and then ran us through a rock crusher to break our lives.  These trials are to bring us to Jesus as Lord and Saviour.  "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit"  (Psalms 34:18).   Jesus said it this way.  "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"  (Matthew 5:3).  The poor in spirit of those who are "destitute" and "detached" from trying to run their lives, but also come to a "dependence" upon God.  They are ready to receive Jesus as their Lord.  However, the job isn't over yet.  The refiner must put the crushed rock into a heated furnace to remove the dross.  

    God as the refiner puts us into the fiery furnace and turns up the heat to get the impurities out.   "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing"  (James 1:2-4).  There is purpose in the trial!  It is to get the impurities out of our lives.  "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"  (I Peter 1:7).  Without a test, there is no testimony! Therefore, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy"  (I Peter 4:12-13).

    I learned only recently, that the refiner has to keep a close watch on the temperature.  If the heat is not high enough, the impurities will remain, if it is too high, it can actually destroy the precious metal.   God keeps a close eye on the trials that we face.   "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it"  (I Corinthians 10:13).  No matter how difficult the trial or temptation is, God gives us His grace to walk through it.  Again, the trials are not meant to destroy us but to purify us. 

    After the precious metal is purified, it is of much more value than the raw ore, but the product is still not finished.  The molten metal must be poured into a mold or hammered into shape.  "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God"  (Romans 12:1-2).   We are not to let the world pour us into it's mold, but we are to allow God to shape our lives.  One of the most amazing things to me in Scripture is that Bezaleel was gifted by God to take a solid slab of God and make the lamp stand for the Tabernacle.  "And he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, were of the same"  (Exodus 37:17).  It was designed after an almond tree and was perfectly symmetrical.  It had three stages of growth (bowls or calyx, knobs or buds, and flowers), repeated three times on each of the seven branches.  Think about it!  Bezaleel made all the parts from one piece of gold, possibly weight of about 94 pounds (a talent).  "But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day" (Deuteronomy 4:20).

Additional Scriptures:  

"And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city"  (Isaiah 1:26).

"For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried"  (Psalms 66:10).

"The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts"  (Proverbs 17:3).

"Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?"  (Jeremiah 9:7).

"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" (Zechariah 13:9).

"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.  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby"  (Hebrews 12:10-11).

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