Isaiah 1:25: “I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all they tin.”
I recently watched a silent movie on You Tube that showed an old Model T Ford from the twenties driving along a rough dirt road. It is a wonder these cars ever stayed together and didn’t fall apart on its first run. When compared to other luxury cars of the day, such as the Duesenberg, I can understand why they referred to the Ford’s Model T as a hunk of tin. When you think of something made of tin you think of something that is not durable and flimsy. Is that what we are to think when we read the word tin in Isaiah 1:25? The word used for tin in the Hebrew is badilik from the root word badal which means to cause a separation, to depart or make a division, hence you have the word eventually evolved to mean tin as tin is a very unreliable metal. Anything put together with tin will quickly fall apart or separate. The Model T was not made of tin, but because of the reputation of tin people would speak insultingly of the Model T as being made of tin to say it was unreliable and likely to fall apart. I think many of as Christians often feel like we are an old Model T Ford or Tin Lizzie as they were called? We just feel like we are unreliable to God and are constantly admonishing ourselves for letting God down.
I recall reading a Clive Cussler’s novel where his hero, Dirk Pitt, who is a collector of classic automobiles jumps into one of his classic automobiles, a 1929 Duesenberg luxury car and out chases a whole team of bad guys driving in a late model Mercedes Benz. The Duesenberg was built so solid and tough it could travel over terrain that the best built cars today (with the exception of those built for off road) could not travel.
You see automakers in 1929 did not lack the skill or technology to develop a first class automobile, it is just that few could afford them and so Henry Ford made his fortune by producing an automobile that most people could afford although it was just a rattle trap. People were willing to settle for a hunk of tin as that was all they could afford, but is was still an automobile. The sad thing is that too many Christians are willing to settle for being a Model T when God stands ready to make them into a Duesenberg.
God says that he will turn out his hand. This is an idiomatic express which could mean one of two things. He would turn out his hand to inflict punishment or to offer help and protection. It would seem in this case that God is turning his hand to possibly inflict some form of punishment. The word turn shuv, however, has the idea of turning in the sense of restoration or renewing. The word itself has a paragogic Hei and thus it has the idea of a complete and total restoration, like being born again. Despite the fact that God’s hand may be used in this case bring about something that we may feel is unpleasant, we see in the Hebrew shuv that this turning of his hand is meant for restoration for renewing us from a hunk of tin to a Duesenberg. Of course the only way a Model T can become a Duesenberg is to be born a Duesenberg, or be born again.
Curiously the writer says esterop kavar which is rendered as purely purge away. Literally this means to refine in purity (esterop) in an abundance (kavar). Again the writer is showing that this transformation that God performs in the refining process is a complete transformation.
In this process he will take away all our tin or that which is unreliable and easily falls apart and separates us from God. The word for take away is sur which is in a Hiphal form with a paragogic Hei and thus it would mean that he will bring about events that will remove every trace of that which tends to separate us from God.
No matter what happens, no matter what type of refining process we are going through ultimately God is removing everything in us that would separate us from Him. He is removing all our tin. He is renewing us and changing us from a hunk of tin or a Model T Ford into a Duesenberg so when the evil one starts chasing us we will not fall apart even when he chases us into rough terrain.
Oh sure, you can settle for being a cheap Model T and avoid those refining fires. However, when the enemy comes after you, you will be wishing you had gone through the esterop kavar or the process of having all that tin, which separates you from God, removed. Sure God can get around in an old Model T. But for my money, I will take those refining fires if it will transform me from a Model T into a Duesenberg for God to ride around in. Painful, yes, ah, but to be transformed into a Duesenberg for God to enjoy, that is pure sweetness.
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