This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of YHWH.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about YHWH holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it"
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that YHWH has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.
And, whatever you're going through, you'll be a better person in the end.
Matthew 5:48 ~ "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
Romans 12:1-2 ~ "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, set-apart, acceptable to Elohim, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, that acceptable, and perfect will of Elohim."
Romans 8:29, 31 ~ "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn amongst many brethren. What shall we then say to these things? If Elohim be for us, who can be against us?"
May mercy, blessings, and Yahshua's peace be upon you always.