And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin
- Isaiah 1:25
Main Entry: dross
Function: noun
1 : the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal
2 : waste or foreign matter : impurity
I have a hard time reading the Old Testament; I seem to get lost in it because I don't understand the references. I had a fantastic theology and scripture discussion with my Papa last weekend, and I talked about that with him. He mentioned that understanding the historical background and context is essential to understanding the Old Testament. This is because many illustrations are lost on us today because we do not understand the language and meaning behind the phrases used to convey the larger ideas about God and His plan.
I started some reading in Isaiah today because it is referenced so much in the New Testament, and I figured it would be a good Old Testament book to start with because of that. That is when I found the verse at the top of the page.
I remember memorizing the definition of smelting in earth science, or one of those early science classes in school:
Main Entry: smelt
Function: verb
1 : to melt or fuse (as ore) often with an accompanying chemical change usually to separate the metal
That's really all I remember about the word, and it's a very clinical definition - but it brought out that we are in a purification process with God, so that was somewhat helpful.
I found that there are several instances in the Old Testament in which the process of refining, or purifying metals is used as a metaphor to explain how God purifies His people. Here is one from Malachi (in the title of this post):
...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.
- Mal 3:2-3
I figured that this analogy of God being like a refiner of metal must be pretty important since it is mentioned so many times, and that there must be more to it than just the obvious purification reference that I was understanding.
I like my Life Application study Bible because it has notes at the bottom of the page to sort of give you some of that historical context to help you understand the illustrations that may sometimes be lost on us today. My favorite part of the studying was when I read the note at the end of the page in Isaiah on the above verse:
1:25 (note): God promised to refine His people as metal is purged in a smelting pot.
This process involves melting the metal and skimming off the impure slag
until the worker can see his own image in the liquid metal
I researched the art of refining metal just a little more, and learned that the heating process must be done very carefully, because each impurity in the ore will melt and rise to the top at different temperatures. The refiner must sit patiently and skim the impurities out of the melted pool as they rise to the top. The process is finished when the final impurities are removed, and the refiner sees his own reflection in the pure silvery pool.
So what Papa said makes sense now. If I had just read through this verse with my own sense of understanding, I would have totally missed the poetry of this example. God sits over us, seeing the mixture of gold, silver, and all the impurities that we have mixed in along with it. He patiently sits over the refining pot, gradually testing us and "heating" us up to rid us of the impurities in our lives. Each trial and each blessing is a chance to overcome our pride; to overcome our desire to control life on our own; a chance to learn to praise Him in all storms and good times; a chance to finally lay it all in His hands. With each scoop of impurity we allow Him to remove, we become that much closer to reflecting more of Him as He looks down at us as His creation.
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