What is the meaning of Deuteronomy 11:7?

For it is your own eyes

- Moses starts with “For it is your own eyes,” underscoring personal accountability. The generation standing before him had watched God act in real time; no second-hand stories.

- Deuteronomy 4:9 echoes this charge: “Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen”.

- Like the apostles in 1 John 1:1, these Israelites were eyewitnesses, making their testimony weighty and their responsibility clear.

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that have seen

- Sight here is not passive; it is an active, conscious recognition of God’s hand.

- Joshua 24:31 notes that Israel served the LORD “all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel”, showing how firsthand sight shaped long-term faithfulness.

- Jesus highlights the blessing of believing without seeing in John 20:29, but those who have seen bear a special obligation to remember and relay.

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every great work

- “Every” reminds us nothing was minor: the plagues in Egypt, the Red Sea crossing, water from the rock, manna, victory over Amalek—each mighty act was part of a seamless tapestry.

- Deuteronomy 11:2-6 catalogs several of these events, reinforcing the context.

- Psalm 145:4 captures the principle: “One generation will declare Your works to the next and proclaim Your mighty acts”.

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that the LORD has done

- The deeds are exclusively the LORD’s, not chance, nature, or Israel’s prowess.

- Exodus 14:31 records the same refrain: “When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him”.

- Psalm 78:4 urges God’s people to “tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, His power, and the wonders He has done”, anchoring memory in worship and obedience.

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summary

Deuteronomy 11:7 calls the Israelites—and by extension us—to remember firsthand encounters with God’s power. Because their own eyes had witnessed every great work the LORD accomplished, they were without excuse for disbelief or disobedience. Personal experience of God’s faithfulness fuels present trust and future obedience, binding each generation to declare His mighty acts and live in wholehearted allegiance to Him.