Proverbs 25:4-5 - Take away the dross from the silver... - Geneva College
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Proverbs 25:4-5 - Take away the dross from the silver...

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Biblical Wisdom

Proverbs 25:4-5 – Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel; take away the wicked from the presence of the king and his throne will be established in righteousness.

This proverb sounds easy. Purify the silver, and you can make a silver cup; get bad people away from the king, and he will rule justly over a stable kingdom. But neither process is easy or safe!

Getting the one percent or so of silver from galena, silver’s most common ancient ore, requires three obnoxious steps, listed here in simplified fashion. First, heat the ore to remove the sulfur, being careful not to inhale the toxic fumes of sulfuric acid. Second, oxidize (i.e. burn) the remainder in shallow pans so that the lead will form lead oxide, the dross. Third, collect the pure silver now separated out on the bottom of the pans. After this dirty and lengthy process, a silversmith will have silver to make a spoon or a bowl, and the government can mint coins.

Kings (governments) have money and power, and they attract ambitious and corrupt people like honey attracts bears and smart phones enslave users. Power corrupts, and the love of money runs deep and strong. How do you separate con men, ambitious schemers and connivers, let alone paid lobbyists, from our Congress, Presidents, Governors, Mayors, and City Councils? Taking schemers seeking power and money away from the king (rulers in general) requires appropriate laws, courageous prosecutors and judges, constant vigilance, but most of all a righteous king determined not to tolerate evil and greedy people around him. They don’t leave easily or permanently. Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Tokyo, and Moscow are dangerous places. As the saying goes, if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.

Evil in government offices often disguises itself as friendly advice, so even good rulers may fail to recognize it. Bureaucrats jealous of Daniel helpfully suggested to the newly victorious king, Darius the Mede, that for thirty days no one should pray to any god except Darius himself. Flattered, the king agreed, but was dismayed when the flatterers gleefully reported that his trusted servant Daniel had continued praying towards Jerusalem. In the end, Darius got rid of these jealous connivers, but he escaped losing Daniel to the lions only by God’s intervention.

While it may seem that we can’t live with governments, we most certainly can’t live without them. So God commands us to give them appropriate honor, because they are God’s agents (Romans 13:7). He commands us to pray for rulers and governors, so that we may live quiet and peaceable lives (I Timothy 2:2). We should ask Him for righteous rulers able to unmask and remove evil men from around them and replace them with honest advisors. But in this age, there will be no perfect governments, so Christians continue to pray, “Even so, come Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).”

Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community offering over 115 traditional undergraduate majors and programs to help students serve wholeheartedly and faithfully in their life's work. For more information, contact Admissions - 800.847.8255 or admissions@geneva.edu.

Dr. Bill Edgar, former chair of the Geneva College Board of Trustees, former Geneva College President and longtime pastor in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA)

Opinions expressed in the Geneva Blog are those of its contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official position of the College. The Geneva Blog is a place for faculty and contributing writers to express points of view, academic insights, and contribute to national conversations to spark thought, conversation, and the pursuit of truth, in line with our philosophy as a Christian, liberal arts institution.

Jul 1, 2019

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