Focus on Isaiah 1 - What the Bible says about dross?

Isaiah chapter 1 mentions dross twice. Once in verses 22. And once in verse 25. Here is each reference in context.

Isaiah 1:21-23

²¹How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

²²Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

²³Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

Isaiah 1:24-26

²⁴Therefore saith the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:

²⁵And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

²⁶And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

Notice the pattern in both passages. Each passage has three versus. The first verse mentions the nation Israel or the city of Jerusalem. The second verse makes the dross analogy. The third verse talks about the people's leaders.

The first passage talks about the problem. The "faithful city" that was "full of righteousness and judgement" has become a "harlot". It's condition is compared to silver that has become corrupted with impurities (dross) or wine that is mixed with water. The cause of the problem is corrupt leadership. Princes who are rebellious and friends to thieves and who do will not give justice to the helpless (the widows and orphans), but instead seek bribes.

The second passage talks about the solution. God will avenge himself of His enemies. He will purge the dross from the silver, and remove the baser metals (the tin). He will restore honest and righteous judges. By doing this the city will be know for righteousness once again.

So where are some other places the Bible mentions dross?

Psalm 119:119
Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.

Proverbs 25:3-5

³The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.

⁴Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.

⁵Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.

Ezekiel 22:17-19

¹⁷And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

¹⁸Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.

¹⁹Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

In Psalms the dross represents the wicked in the world, similar to the parable of Jesus of separating the wheat from the tares.

There is a very good Bible study refining the Christian character atFridaySunset.net. The author, who worked in the refining industry, had this to say about dross.

Dross is a useless, contaminating waste product that must be removed from metal in the refining process. It has no value and its presence in metal diminishes its value. For metal to have value, its dross must be removed.

Thoughts from Isaiah Chapter 1

^{Verse 3} The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not consider.”

It's interesting that the KJV used the word "crib" here. That has become a modern slang term for "home" as opposed to simply "baby crib".

^{Verse 6} From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment.

Symbols reminiscent of the boil plague of Egypt or Job's sores.

^{Verse 8}And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

The point here is that Jerusalem is as defenseless without God as it would be if it's wall were no stronger than a garden shack.

^{Verse 9}Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

Abraham pleaded that God would spare Sodom if it had at least 10 good people.

¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

¹¹To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

¹²When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

¹³Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

¹⁴Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

¹⁵And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

¹⁶Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

¹⁷Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

God compares mistreating widows and orphans (those who could not defend themselves) as being evil as the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah. God is not interested in Judah's sacrifice, prayers or offerings until this wrong is made right.

Verse ¹⁸Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

One of the most famous versus about God's forgiveness. It's comparable to 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

¹⁹If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

²⁰But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

A conditional promise based on obedience.

²²Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

Dross is the worthless leftovers of the metal refining process. During that process all of the impurities in the metal rise to the top. There might be a little metal in the dross, but it's not worth trying to refine the dross to get it out. Dross is only good for the disposal heap.

²³Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

Another example of God speaking up for the widows and orphans.

²⁴Therefore saith the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:

²⁵And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

God is again talking about taking away the dross. And here he mentions tin. Tin is a less valuable metal that is often used to make alloys with other metals. For example bronze is tin and copper. Tin and silver alloys are used as a lead free solder. God is looking for pure precious metal, not alloy.

²⁶And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

²⁷Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.

²⁸And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

²⁹For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

This is referencing the oak groves that Judah had worshiped.

³⁰For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.

³¹And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.