Fire Pots

(Proverbs 17:3 KJV)  The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.

What difference did Solomon mean when he mentions a “fining pot” (refining pot NASB) (4715) and a “furnace” (3564a)?  If you look at the words there is a different meaning.  The pot seems to refer to a confined space.  The furnace can mean a pot but seems to refer more to the heating process.  Literary device or theologically significant?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Let me speculate anyway.  Some situations that spur our growth are situations we cannot get away from, like a pot.  The mix continues to bubble and causes separation.  I have heard of a process where the silver is heated and the impurities are skimmed off the top.  There are times when God is removing the problem from us.

With the furnace I think of crushed rock containing the pure gold being heated until the gold runs out, leaving the waste behind.  Sometimes God allows a situation to get overheated in order to force us to move.  There may be a situation which we are tempted to stay and battle and instead we should be doing a disappearing act. 

So which is it for you?  I can’t make that call since I am not you.  You can’t really tell me either.  We do have the Holy Spirit and the written word to give us direction.  Pray for the guidance that produces the fruit of wisdom in your life.