Daily Devotions

Deut 32: 10He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye.

The phrase ‘apple of his eye’ denotes the favourite or the most loved one. In this passage Moses wrote that Israel was loved and cared for by the Almighty just as a Father would love and are for His favourite son.  

What this means is that the Father will give the choicest blessing to His favourite and he would bestow to the favourite just as Jacob did to Joseph. Jacob gave a beautiful multi coloured cloak to Joseph who was then his youngest and favourite son. It was a way of expressing his love and showing to all around who he loved most.

Other than showering his blessings, the father would also ensure the protection that he would give to his favourite son. In the case of Israel, God the Father did just that by taking His people out of slavery and bringing them to the “Promised Land” even though they had sinned and rebelled against God. And because of this, God allowed them to go through the wilderness for 40 years in order to purge them

In the end, the whole generation that came out of Egypt was purged and all of them died except for Joshua and Caleb from the original 2 million people who came out of Egypt. Joshua and Caleb were the two who did not turn away from God and they were chosen to lead the nation of Israel across the Jordon River into the Promised Land. All the rest who followed them were the new generation born in the desert as the nation went through the wilderness.

Moses in this passage also declared the goodness of God who shielded the whole mass of 2 million Israelite by providing a pillar of cloud to shield them from the scorching sun in the day and also a pillar of fire providing them heat during the cold desert nights. It was also to provide them protection from the enemies as well as from the wild beasts.

In fact we read that the pillar of fire was moving from side to side keeping the enemies or wild beasts at bay wherever the danger arose. It was because of these experiences that Moses wrote in the latter years that God is their protector and also recorded in several books the awesome works of God in not only providing for the survival of Israel but also for the love that God had for them.

Our God is the same God of Israel, who led the Israelite out of Egypt and into the Promised Land; He is still protecting His people and meeting their needs even today.