When you blink, remember to thank God for His protection.

当你眨眼时，记得要感谢上帝的保守和看顾。

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

耶和华……就环绕他、看顾他、保护他，如同保护眼中的瞳人。-申命记32章10节

“God is like an eyelid,” my friend Ryley said, and I blinked in surprise. What could she mean by that?

我的朋友小莉说：“上帝就像眼皮一样。”我惊讶地眨了眨眼睛，心想：“这是什么意思？”

“Tell me more,” I replied. Together, we had been studying surprising pictures of God in the Bible, things like God as a laboring mother (Isa. 42:14) or as a beekeeper (7:18), but this one was new to me. Ryley pointed me to Deuteronomy 32, where Moses praises the way God takes care of His people. Verse 10 says that God shields and protects His people, guarding them “as the apple of his eye.”

我对她说：“快告诉我为什么！”在这之前，我们一直在查考上帝在圣经中特别的形象，像是产难的妇人（以赛亚书42章14节） 和养蜂人（7章18节） ，但我没想过眼皮也是上帝的形象。小莉带我读申命记32章，看到摩西赞美上帝无微不至地看顾祂的子民。第10节提到上帝环绕、看顾祂的百姓，保护他们就如同保护“眼中的瞳人”一般。

But the word we translate apple, Ryley told me, literally means pupil. And what encircles and guards the pupil? The eyelid, of course! God is like the eyelid, which instinctively protects the tender eye. The eyelid guards the eye from danger, and by blinking helps remove dirt or dust. It keeps sweat out of the eye. It lubricates the eyeball, keeping it healthy. It closes, allowing rest.

小莉告诉我，“瞳人”其实是指眼球，而环绕、保护眼球的是什么呢？当然就是眼皮！上帝就像眼皮出于本能地保护脆弱的眼睛。眼皮能让眼睛避开危险，眨眼则有助于除去肮脏或灰尘。此外，眼皮还能阻挡汗水流进眼睛里，眨眼也能润滑眼球并维持眼球健康。当人阖上眼皮时，眼睛就能得到充分的休息。

As I considered the picture of God as an eyelid, I couldn’t help but thank God for the many metaphors He’s given us to help us understand His love for us. When we close our eyes at night and open them in the morning, we can think of God, and praise Him for His tender protection and care for us.

当我思想上帝如同眼皮一般的形象，不禁感谢上帝，因祂赐下这么多的比喻帮助我们了解祂对我们的爱。当我们在夜晚闭上眼睛，在早晨睁开双眼时，我们都可以思想上帝，并赞美祂对我们温柔的保护和看顾。

Thank You, God, for using surprising metaphors 

to help us understand You better. 

Thanks for guarding us just as the 

eyelid guards the eye.

上帝，谢谢祢用许多特别的比喻，

让我们更认识祢。
谢谢祢护庇我们，

如同眼皮保护眼睛一般。

 Deuteronomy 32:1-12New International Version (NIV)

32 Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
    hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.
2 Let my teaching fall like rain
    and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
    like abundant rain on tender plants.

3 I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
    Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
    upright and just is he.

5 They are corrupt and not his children;
    to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.
6 Is this the way you repay the Lord,
    you foolish and unwise people?
Is he not your Father, your Creator,
    who made you and formed you?

7 Remember the days of old;
    consider the generations long past.
Ask your father and he will tell you,
    your elders, and they will explain to you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
    when he divided all mankind,
he set up boundaries for the peoples
    according to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 For the Lord’s portion is his people,
    Jacob his allotted inheritance.

10 In a desert land he found him,
    in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.
12 The Lord alone led him;
    no foreign god was with him.

申命记 32:1-12Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

摩西作歌

32 “诸天哪，侧耳，我要说话，愿地也听我口中的言语！ 2 我的教训要淋漓如雨，我的言语要滴落如露，如细雨降在嫩草上，如甘霖降在菜蔬中。 3 我要宣告耶和华的名，你们要将大德归于我们的神！ 4 他是磐石，他的作为完全，他所行的无不公平，是诚实无伪的神，又公义又正直。 5 这乖僻弯曲的世代向他行事邪僻，有这弊病，就不是他的儿女！ 6 愚昧无知的民哪，你们这样报答耶和华吗？他岂不是你的父，将你买来的吗？他是制造你，建立你的。 7 你当追想上古之日，思念历代之年。问你的父亲，他必指示你；问你的长者，他必告诉你。 8 至高者将地业赐给列邦，将世人分开，就照以色列人的数目立定万民的疆界。 9 耶和华的份本是他的百姓，他的产业本是雅各。 10 耶和华遇见他在旷野荒凉野兽吼叫之地，就环绕他，看顾他，保护他，如同保护眼中的瞳人； 11 又如鹰搅动巢窝，在雏鹰以上两翅搧展，接取雏鹰，背在两翼之上。 12 这样，耶和华独自引导他，并无外邦神与他同在。

整理：于姊妹