O my soul,
Have you understood what “through the fire” means?
I am of course referring to that uplifting song, The Goodness of God, which is addressed directly to the Lord. The chorus asserts “all my life you have been faithful”, and verse two, “you have led me through the fire”.
Have all who cherish this song really understood what this means? Through does not mean out of without first into.
Why would a faithful God lead me into the fire? And since this is just a song we have to ask, does Scripture even support this idea?
Hear the word of the Lord through Isaiah.
For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
― Isaiah 48:9-11
Who are these whom the Lord has refined in the furnace of affliction? Isaiah tells us.
Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.
― Isaiah 48:1
These are the Israelites, God’s chosen people, who confess his name, but crucially not in truth or right. They are in fact hypocrites, lacking integrity, lacking honesty, lacking righteousness. And so the Lord refines them in the furnace of affliction. And why? For his own sake and for his own glory. Otherwise how would his name be profaned, dishonoured by these hypocrites professing his name in falsehood?
But notice how the Lord restrains his anger at these hypocrites. He holds it back for the sake of his praise and instead he chooses to refine.
What was this furnace of affliction? It was the eighteen month siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar followed by the exile of Judah to Babylon, truly the grimmest of times. Into the fire indeed.
And was that enough? Was that to be the end of the refining? No it was not. Upon their return to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile there is a further prophecy from Zechariah, again of the Lord’s own chosen people.
In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’
― Zechariah 13:8-9
Two thirds perished and the remaining one third was to be put into the fire by the hand of the Lord. And then what? The Lord will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’
And now we must endeavour to understand the two different kinds of refining, one which is not as silver and one which is. This is certainly difficult to understand and it seems to me to be a hard teaching indeed. But we must not shy away from such verses! The commentaries differ and so this must be approached with humility. And yet surely we must wrestle with these hard teachings with both intellectual integrity and reverence.
When silver is refined, the whole of it is purified and all the silver is retained. Dross is removed from throughout and from throughout pure silver is retrieved. Nothing is lost.
What then is a refining not as silver? I believe it may be a separation, as of sheep and goats. Not all are accepted. Some are rejected.
The people to whom Isaiah prophesied were to be refined but not as silver. Later, after the return from the exile, two thirds perished. Rejected. Discarded. One third remained to be further refined, and this time as silver.
Oh my soul, cry out to the Lord lest you be refined but not as silver, for both kinds of refining remain. Listen to Jesus.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
― Matthew 25:31-32
O my soul, there is to be such a separation. Pray for mercy.
And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
― Matthew 25:33-40
Besides praying for mercy you must be sure to love and care for the least. For as you do to each of these you do to Jesus himself.
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
― Matthew 25:41-46
Jesus’ warning in the Sermon on the Mount was both urgent and stark.
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
― Matthew 7:21-23
Cry out to the Lord for mercy, love him with all of your heart, and trust him in everything. And know that just as he leads into the fire, he also leads out.
For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
― Psalm 66:10-12
Here we see both into and out of. Truly through the fire and out to a place of abundance. Do not forget the words of Jesus.
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
― John 10:10b
O my soul, trust the Lord, knowing that if he leads you into the fire he does indeed know what he is doing, and it is for his praise and his glory. May the name of the Lord be praised! 🙏