Ezekiel 22:13-22: a reflection

13“‘“Behold, therefore I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at the blood which has been shed within you. 14Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I will deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken it, and will do it. 15I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries. I will purge your filthiness out of you. 16You will be profaned in yourself in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”’” 17The LORD’s word came to me, saying, 18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All of them are bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the middle of the furnace. They are the dross of silver. 19Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the middle of Jerusalem. 20As they gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the middle of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there and melt you. 21Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you will be melted in the middle of it. 22As silver is melted in the middle of the furnace, so you will be melted in the middle of it; and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out my wrath on you.’”

In a severe word of judgment, God speaks of gathering his people like metal into a furnace, to melt them; and though the passage is heavy with judgment, underlying the image is the purpose of purging away the dross. The house of Israel has become dross to me, God says; as they gather silver, bronze, and iron into the furnace to melt it, so I will gather you. The image of the furnace is one of refining: the fire is meant to melt away the dross, the impurity, and leave what is pure. Even in this severe judgment, there is a purging purpose, to burn away what is impure. God's fire, even in judgment, has a purging aim. The furnace melts away the dross to leave what is pure. God's dealings, even severe, aim to purge impurity. Even judgment carries a purpose of purging the dross.

Notice the image beneath this hard word: the furnace that refines. God speaks of gathering his people as metal is gathered into a furnace, and of the fire that melts. The image is drawn from refining, where the fire is applied not to destroy but to purge, to melt away the dross and impurity so that what is pure remains. Even in this severe judgment, there is this purging purpose. This helps us understand something about God's dealings with us, even the hard ones. The fires we pass through, the difficult purging experiences, are often not simply destructive but refining; God can use them to burn away the dross in us, the impurities of character and sin, leaving us purer. This does not make the fire pleasant, but it gives it meaning: the purging purpose behind it. We can trust that God's purpose, even in the hard furnace, is to purge away what is impure and leave what is good, not simply to destroy. God's refining fire aims to purge our dross, not merely to destroy. The furnace we pass through can have a purging purpose. God can use hard fires to burn away our impurities. Even the difficult furnace can serve God's refining purpose.

That is worth taking to heart, for God's dealings with us, even the hard and painful ones, can serve a purging purpose, to burn away the dross and leave what is pure. We can experience the hard fires we pass through as simply destructive, without purpose; but the image of the furnace is one of refining, where the fire melts away the dross to leave the pure metal. God can use the fires to purge our impurities. When you pass through a hard furnace, remember that God's purpose can be to refine you, to purge away the dross, not merely to destroy. Take to heart that God's dealings with us, even the severe and painful ones, can carry a purging purpose, to burn away the dross and leave what is pure, as God spoke of gathering his people like metal into the furnace to melt them, an image drawn from refining where the fire melts away the impurity; for we can experience the hard fires we pass through as simply destructive and without meaning, but the furnace image is one of refining, in which the fire is applied not to destroy but to purge away the dross so that what is pure remains, and God can use the difficult purging experiences of our lives to burn away the impurities of character and sin, leaving us purer, which does not make the fire pleasant but gives it meaning, so that when we pass through a hard furnace we can trust that God's purpose can be to refine us and purge our dross rather than simply to destroy.

Lord, in a severe word of judgment, you speak of gathering your people like metal into a furnace, to melt them; and though the passage is heavy with judgment, underlying the image is the purpose of purging away the dross. The house of Israel has become dross to me, you say; as they gather silver, bronze, and iron into the furnace to melt it, so I will gather you. The image of the furnace is one of refining: the fire is meant to melt away the dross, the impurity, and leave what is pure. Even in this severe judgment, there is a purging purpose, to burn away what is impure. Show me the image beneath this hard word: the furnace that refines. You speak of gathering your people as metal is gathered into a furnace, and of the fire that melts. The image is drawn from refining, where the fire is applied not to destroy but to purge, to melt away the dross so that what is pure remains. This helps me understand something about your dealings with me, even the hard ones. The fires I pass through, the difficult purging experiences, are often not simply destructive but refining; you can use them to burn away the dross in me, the impurities of character and sin, leaving me purer. This does not make the fire pleasant, but it gives it meaning: the purging purpose behind it. I can trust that your purpose, even in the hard furnace, is to purge away what is impure and leave what is good. Take that to my heart, for your dealings with me, even the hard and painful ones, can serve a purging purpose. When I pass through a hard furnace, help me remember that your purpose can be to refine me, Lord, to purge away the dross, not merely to destroy, so that I trust you to use even the difficult fires to burn away my impurities and leave what is pure.