In Prov 25:4-5 we find two verses connected by a common theme of taking something away to make what remains something better. Prov 25:4 says, “Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.” A finer is one who refines or purifies. Mined silver is not pure enough for making vessels. It must be refined. The finer puts the silver in a fining pot, Prov 17:3, and then heats the pot with fire, Mal 3:2. The dross rises to the surface and the refiner skims it off and removes it from the silver. The finer continues to heat and remove the dross until all of the dross has been removed. Then the silver is pure enough to make a vessel.
Removing dross from silver is likened to removing impurities from the Levites when Jesus returns. Mal 3:3, “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Only after Jesus has purified the Levites, will they be able to offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
Prov 25:5 says, “Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.” So, in the same way that dross is removed from silver to purify it, the wicked must likewise be taken away from before the king for his throne to be established in righteousness. The throne can’t be established in righteousness if the wicked is not taken away. The wickedness of the wicked will influence the king’s subjects to pursue wickedness rather than righteousness if they are allowed to remain. Prov 29:16 says, “When the wicked is multiplied, transgression increaseth.”
The Lord God, whose throne is righteous, took away the wicked in Noah’s flood, and spared the righteous, 2 Pet 2:4-5. God took away the wicked when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and spared the righteous, 2 Pet 2:6-9. God told Israel to take away the wicked in Canaan and to not do after their works, but rather to keep his laws and judgments, Num 33:51-53; Lev 18:3-5. Instead, they left some of the inhabitants of the land and they became to Israel what God said they would become, Num 33:55. That’s why God told them to get all the inhabitants out of there. As a matter of law, Israel was supposed to take away the wicked from within, as well. Many of the laws demanded that the transgressor either be cut off or killed, for example, Ex 31:14.
In Ps 101:5-8, look how David handed the wicked of the land. He cut them off and he destroyed them. His son, Solomon, disobeyed God’s command and married strange wives who turned his heart away from the Lord and to their idols, 1 Ki 11:1-11. Look what God did to Solomon, as a result. If the king’s throne is going to be established in righteousness, he has to handle the wicked the way David did.
During Rehoboam’s reign in Judah, the throne was not established in righteousness because the wicked were not taken away, 1 Ki 14:22-24. Asa, during his reign in Judah, took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols, 1 Ki 15:11-14. Asa’s son, Jehoshaphat, took away the remnant of the sodomites that remained in the days of Asa, 1 Ki 22:45-46. The last good king over Judah was Josiah, and he also took away the sodomites, 2 Ki 23:7. The next king of Israel, the Lord Jesus will establish his throne in righteousness at the 2nd Advent by taking away the wicked, 2 Thes 1:7-9.
In our country, candidates appeal to the wicked to get more votes in hopes of winning their elections. Of course, when candidates solicit support from the wicked, they must then accommodate the demands of the wicked to remain in office. Therefore, those who support and believe in homosexuality, transgenderism, evolution, which is a false science (1 Tim 6:10) like climate change, abortion, the lottery, and so forth are going to keep getting elected. Like Solomon said, “they that forsake the law praise the wicked,” Prov 28:4. There is no hope of these things going away in our country if the elected officials are not willing to take away the wicked. Since their elections depend on votes from those who support wickedness, it doesn’t appear that these things will go away. In fact, they will just get worse.
Conclusion: the application in our lives is simple. If you are going to be established in righteousness, you must take away the wicked from your life: wicked things, wicked companions, and wicked influences must be taken away.