APPLE OF GOD’S EYE

“…Whoever touches you touches the APPLE of HIS EYE” – Zechariah 2:8b

In Christ, I am the prized APPLE of GOD’S EYE: “For thus says the LORD of hosts; after the glory has He sent me unto the nations which spoiled you; for he that touches you touches the APPLE of HIS EYE” (Zech.2:8). The apple of my eye describes someone or something I cherish greatly – my prized possession. God uses this phrase to express deep affection, and how extremely special Israel is to Him. As His inheritance, “He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the APPLE of HIS EYE” (Dt. 32:10). For centuries, God has kept this intense affection, even after Israel disappointed, disobeyed, and rejected Him! They had been so unfaithful that He had been forced to send judgment. Yet they remained the “apple of His eye”!

God warned other people to not toy with this special relationship with Israel, His prized possession, while promising to correct and discipline them: “For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights” (Pro. 3:12). To some degree, God’s blessings to the Gentiles are tied to their attitudes and actions toward His chosen people! He promises to watch out for them, and to take appropriate action against those who oppose them. It pays to pray for Israel (Psa.122:6). God promises to bless, watch, and defend those who bless them; and judge those who harm them.

This term specifically refers to the “pupil,” that core in which, looking closely into someone’s eyes; I can see a tiny reflection of myself. To be the apple of someone’s eye means I am being gazed upon and watched closely by that person. My very image is dancing in the person’s eyes! The remarkable reality behind this image is that, figuratively speaking, when we look into God’s eyes, we see our own reflection. The Father’s Gaze is fixed on the righteous: “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous” (Psa.34: 15a; 1Pet.3:12a). Outside of sin’s deflection, we are perpetually blessed by the steady gaze of His love. We see ourselves in His eyes. All this is true because of what Jesus – the original Apple of the His Eye – did on the cross! He closed His eyes in death so that being the apple of God’s eye could become a reality for all who believe, 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. To be the “apple” of God’s eye” is to be loved “with an everlasting love”: “…Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” (Jer.31:3b); “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jh.3:16). The word ‘SO’ expresses the intensity of God’s love – love so immense that it cannot be described; love that passes human understanding. No wonder the Psalmist prayed: “Keep me as the APPLE of YOUR EYE; hide me under the shadow of Your wings, from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who surround me… I will see Your face in righteousness” (Psa.17:8-9,15a).

Beloved, the revelation of our Identity in God’s Love fortifies us to walk in dominion! All that Christ did – His crucifixion, resurrection and glorification – are for are blessings. Our lives are significant to Him. We are the objects of His affection and attention. He cherishes, keeps an eye on every detail of our lives, and never loses sight of us (Psa.33:13-15). He hides us in the shadow of His wings (Psa.17:8b). To touch us is to touch Him. He promises us with Zion, to be “a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst” (v.5). No power of darkness is permitted to touch the apple of His eye (v.8). His Will is for us to perpetually be “His holy habitation”! (v.13). The Big Question is: Is He also the Apple of our eyes?