Beloved Names of God....series "Refiner's Fire"

"Refiner's Fire"

But who may abide the day of his coming?

And who shall stand when he appeareth?

for he is like a refiner's fire.

Malachi 3:2 KJV

 

 

• Name of God the Son
• Jesus is referred to as a "refiner's fire" once in the KJV.
• A refiner is someone who heats metal that has been mined from the ground to remove its impurities. Like a refiner's fire, Jesus, too, is a purifying force.
• Malachi was warning the priests in the Temple of Jerusalem that they had better start living what they were teaching because God's messenger could arrive at any time.

Metals do not come from the earth in a pure state. If you've ever seen iron ore being smelted in a furnace, you probably noticed the violence the process entails. All the action takes place on the surface. It is a turbulent mix of burning black and red slag. But underneath, the iron is getting purer. The slag is the dirt, stone, and other undesirable stuff the iron has been trapped in. Burning the slag and skimming it off is the most effective way to remove it, but it's somewhat reminiscent of hell.

 

We might rail against the Lord when we suffer, when we lose, and when our hurt is more than we can bear. But in addition to being a fisher of men, He is a miner of souls. He is trying to extract us from this world. But He doesn't want all our nasty sin to come with us. He wants our purified soul. At the end of the smelting process, iron becomes stronger than it ever was. Likewise, after we are purified, we will be glorious.

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