The Apple of His Eye

For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.” (Zechariah 2:8-10 ESV).

In the original Hebrew text of Zechariah, the phrase “the apple of his eye” is more literally translated “the little man of his eye.” If you look deeply into someone’s eyes, you actually see a tiny reflection of yourself in their pupils. Our word “pupil” comes from the Latin “pupilla,” which means “little doll.” At some point in our language development, the “little man” or “little doll” became the “apple” of the eye, possibly because pupils are round. There are some interesting things about this idiom. The pupil, or the “apple of the eye” is the most sensitive part of the eye; it can be harmed by the tiniest of particles; and, is irreparable if damaged or destroyed. Have you noticed how we instinctively protect and cherish our eyes, perhaps more than any other part of our body? As believers, we are the apple of God’s eye. Just think about that. We are God’s highest priority of His creation, made in His image. He protects us, cares for us, and cares about us. We are cherished by the God of the universe! Especially in the season of Lent we should miss the amazing reality behind this image. Figuratively speaking, when believers look into God’s eyes, they see their own reflection because the Father is always looking at his children. The Apostle Peter says, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous … but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12). It is true that sin turns our eyes away from God, but whenever we look back to God we are reminded of the steady gaze of his love. His attention is not broken by our failures. We can always look into his eyes and see ourselves as he continuously focuses on us. We are always “in God’s eyes.” All this is true because of what happened on the cross. If anyone was ever the apple of God’s eye, surely it was Jesus, His only begotten Son. But he closed his eyes in death so that being the apple of God’s eye could become a reality for us forever. God turned his face away from his Son for our sake, and now the eyes of the Father are focused, because of Christ, on us. All of our difficulty, every challenging circumstance, is before Him. His promise is that He will overcome all of them with the mere “shake of his hand” (v. 9). That is our God! This season spend some time getting to know Him better than ever before!