“‘And it shall come to pass in all the land,’ says the LORD, ‘That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it. I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.’” (Zechariah 13:8–9a, NKJV)

Do you remember finals week? All the lessons of the school year were compressed into a single test for each class. I remember studying hard the earlier tests, lecture notes, and textbooks to make sure I was ready, since the final exam was a large percentage of the grade.

Likewise, we are tested throughout our lives by God. He allows us to go through trials, attacks and deprivations to see what is in our hearts. Actually, God already knows what is in our hearts, but we don’t always know our own hearts until we go through trials and see how we react. God uses these times to purify and refine us.

The Jews will go through great trials during the Tribulation described in the book of Revelation. This is known in Scripture as “Jacob’s Trouble.”

“Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble. But he shall be saved out of it.” (Jeremiah 30:7, NKJV)

Following the general cataclysmic judgments coming upon the world at that time, two-thirds of the Jewish population will perish. One third will pass through the fiery trials and be refined as silver and tested as gold.

I have heard it said that the silversmith knows he is done refining the silver when he can see his reflection in the molten metal. Then all the dross that floats to the surface has been removed, and the silver is pure.

Likewise, you may be going through fiery trials. Friends criticizing you, the loss of a job, illness, the loss of a loved one, wayward children—all these trials and so many more test our faith. We react in various ways, and some of them are ugly. God allows us to see remnants of the old life of sin, pride and rebellion that still need to be removed. Does He allow this because He hates us? Of course not! It is because He loves us and wants us to partake in His holiness that He allows us to pass through the fire. He tests us because He wants to present us faultless on that glorious day!

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24–25, ESV)