1,948 Degrees Fahrenheit!
As a retired fire Captain, I know the average house fire reaches ceiling temperatures of 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit or more and could melt an aluminum ladder in a short amount of time. A firefighter when entering a home which is engulfed in flames, must stay low for the floor temperatures can reach over 100 degrees and at eye level it can be over 600 degrees. This is enough heat to scorch your lungs causing them to fill with fluid and blood and a person will “drown” or suffocate in minutes.
There are four levels of burns a human can have. 1. 1st. degree, a sunburn which doesn’t blister, but can be very painful. 2. 2nd. degree, the skin blisters from over exposure to the sun or exposure to direct heat or flame, this must be treated for infection can spread. 3. 3rd. degree, thermal burns with widespread thickness of the skin, with a white, leathery appearance, causing nerve damage and needed surgeries to help with the healing process, but the skin never is the same. 4. 4th. degree, electrocution burns, sometimes charring the bone(s). The greatest danger of electrical burns is the disruption of the heart and the failure of vital organs.
Therefore, you can image how hot it must be to melt gold at nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, to turn it into one the most precious metals on earth. Why must Gold be melted to be useful? It is due to when gold is first dug out of the ground, for it contains many other elements and impurities, these must be removed prior to gold becoming useful with a high value. Heating gold to this high temperature causes the gold to rise to the surface and then it can be extracted in its purest form.
Our God and Father looks at His children as fine Gold. He allows us to face manifold temptations and painful testings to remove our dross and impurities, causing our lives to become more of a value to Him and others. It’s a painful process, but as James says in chapter 1:2-4, “Count it all joy when you meet various trails, knowing the testing of your faith produces steadfastness…” End result? You may be complete and perfect lacking in nothing. The writer of Hebrews says something similar, in chapter 12:5-6, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves and chastises every son whom He receives.” In today’s world Chastises means a verbal rebuke, but in the first century it usually meant a beating, normally by a whip. In other words, it’s a painful process to be chastised by the hand of our heavenly Father, but He does this to make us even more valuable to others.
From one who continues to go through the Fire -John, a slave of Christ
