Not As Silver

The Word is first...

Isaiah 48:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ See, I have refined you, though not as silver;

I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

In the passage that precedes this verse, God is reminding the nation of Israel of their wickedness and of the fact that his redemption of them is for His sake, not theirs. This is a fact that we can all take to heart. Being the selfish lout that I am, I have a tendency to think that God redeemed me so that I could be with Him; that's simply not the case. God redeemed me so that He could be with me. In the former statement, the focus is on me, my needs and my benefit. In the latter statement the focus if rightly on God, his desire and his will. That is a fundamental change in perspective or paradigm that I would be well-served to internalize and live out. As Rick Warren said "It's not about [me]."

The study verse today speaks of how the people had been refined at the hands of God. It is this refining process that brings us to the point of "presentability" to God; this is the nature of sanctification. However, God draws an important distinction in this passage between the common metaphor of the silversmith and the reality of what God is doing.

God said "though not as silver" and herein is the point. We often think of ourselves as the silver and God as the silversmith. It's a fair metaphor that helps us to understand the process of sanctification. However, there are two points that we need to consider.

First, we need to be careful not to overvalue ourselves. For us to compare ourselves to silver is to assign a value to us that may not be realistic. I'm made from clay, a common component that is walked upon every day. I'm made by God and called according to his purposes. In that realization there is true value. Think of it this way... I'm a painting. If I'm a painting by Carl Schultz, I will never fetch a high price at auction. But if I'm a painting by Renoir or Rembrandt or Monet, I will be worth a fortune at auction. As a painting, I have no intrinsic value but as a creation of a master, I am invaluable.

Second, in the practice of refining silver the silversmith heats the silver and draws away the dross or contaminants. This practice is continued until there is virtually no contaminant in the silver; it is pure; sterling. Now compare this concept to the nation of Israel who repeatedly turned from God to idols and sinfulness. If God were to refine them as silver, after removing all the dross, in the end there would be nothing left and they would be thrown out. Rather, God has refined them to a point, partially refined them if you will to the point where He finds them acceptable yet not pure.

So it is by the refining process of affliction that the good in us is brought out. It is by our sharing in the suffering that we may become the vessels of noble purpose which God intends for us. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, our afflictions reveal God's glory and it is for His sake that we are tested and refined. Though indeed we benefit from the process and from His favor, we must not forget that it is for His sake that we are.

Peace,

Carl