For thus says the LORD of Hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations who plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye…” Zechariah 2: 8, NKJV
Dear God, these words give us such a feeling of being loved, and of belonging! For this we give You thanks; in Jesus’ name. Amen
The meaning of the first part of this text is not very clear. The obvious question would be: “After what glory? Or perhaps it is more accurate to ask, “After Whose glory? We pray that the Holy Spirit of God who inspired all Scripture will “lead [us] into all truth,” this day.
Oftentimes, when God has a special message for us to deliver, He inspires us by giving us a glimpse of “His glory.” Hallelujah! This glimpse of His glory could be given for two purposes: 1) The message might be so wonderful, to the point where it seems too good to be true. Catching a glimpse of His glory makes us realize that He who is sending the message is able to bring it to pass. Or, 2) The message could be so fearful, that a glimpse of His glory is needed, to keep us from becoming overwhelmed.
But today, it is the second half of the text, where the promise is found, that we will look at briefly, “he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.” I wonder if we will ever be able to fully appreciate what we mean to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? I wonder if eternity will be enough time to unfold before us all that heaven gave, in order to pay the ransom for our souls. Someone may say, but this statement was made to Israel, not to us. And that is true. But several verses later, God makes known His ultimate intentions, “Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in their midst. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you(11).
The Good News is that God Loves People, period! God is no respecter of persons! As human beings who thrive on concepts like bigger, better, best, we try to pull God into the preferential mode, but He will not have it! From everlasting to everlasting the message is, and ever will be, “For God so loved the WORLD, that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3: 16). That is the Good News! End of story!
When we accept the Lord as our personal Savior from sin, we become a part of those who “believe in Him.” We become heirs to everlasting life, and, “the apple of God’s eye.” It is believed that the phrase might refer to “the eyeball.” It is interesting to watch our reaction when something, even if that something is microscopic, gets into our eye. Everything becomes secondary, to removing that speck from our eye. The incommodity, or pain (depending on what it is), invades our entire body. And our only focus is on removing whatever the foreign body is.
This reaction on our part is a very inadequate comparison to God’s reaction, when anyone hurt His child(ren). His parental love, which is always on the look-out, takes over, “In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them all the days of old” (Isaiah 63: 9). Another version rebders a portion of this text this way: “it was no messenger or angel but [H]is [P]resence that saved them” (NIV). (Emphasis provided). Even before He punished those who had afflicted His people, His first thought was of protecting His children. So He entered into the situation with them. He feels every pain we feel. He bears every burden we bear. He is touched by everything that touches us. We are “the apple of God’s eye.”