Most people would be surprised how many modern-day idioms come from the Bible. These would include such expressions as:
At the eleventh hour - Matt. 20:6
At their wit’s end - Psalm 107:27
By the skin of my teeth - Job 19:20
Feet of clay - Daniel 2:33
Nothing new under the sun - Ecclesiastes 1:9
Eat, drink, and be merry - 1 Cor. 15:32
Many more examples could be cited. During my Bible reading today, I came across another idiom in Zechariah 2:8, where the prophet declares, “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 ….”
In this section of Zechariah’s prophecy, God tells his people to leave Babylon and get back to Jerusalem, because God was about to plunder that nation for plundering his people — because they are “the apple of his eye.”
The “apple of the eye” refers to the pupil, the most sensitive and tender part of human anatomy. Figuratively, it refers to someone who is cherished above all others. That’s how then Lord regards his people!
We are the apple of his eye.
The Lord said this initially about the Jewish exiles who were to leave Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem. God promised that he would punish their enemies. This promise was fulfilled partially in Queen Esther’s time, when “the Jews had rule over them that hated them” (Esther 9:1).
But ultimately God’s promise was fulfilled in Christ’s victory over his spiritual enemies at the cross when God stripped them of their power and disgraced them in public by triumphing over them in Christ (Col. 2:15).
Going back to the Lord’s word through Zechariah, he said, “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people” (Zech. 2:10-11a). Not just Israel, but “many nations.” That is to say, God’s promise would ultimately be fulfilled in the church, when Jews and Gentiles would be gathered together as “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God … being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (see Ephesians 2:13-22).
If you have put your trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, embracing him as your Lord and Savior, you are part of God’s people! You are the apple of God’s eye! In Revelation 3:9, the Lord Jesus says to his church, “I will make [your enemies] come and bow before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you” (cf. Psalm 110:1; 2 Thess. 1:5-12).
Knowing that we as believers are the apple of God’s eye, we have two key responsibilities in relation to this truth — and both duties are described using the same idiom!
Pray. Knowing that God keeps his promises, every believer can pray, as David did, “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings” (Ps. 17:8).
Obey. Speaking through Solomon, the Lord says in Proverbs 7:2, “Keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye.”
The Lord says of his people, “I will be to her a wall of fire all around … and I will be the glory in her midst” (Zech. 2:9). God is the Protector of his church and the glorious Presence within her!
Why? Because God’s people are the apple of his eye!