Most people—whether they admit it or not—spend their lives desiring recognition and love. Be it in person or online, through family, friends, relationships, or social media—we long to be seen, heard, and valued, or in other words, we want to be known. And Scripture forces us to face the REAL question, as the title reads:
To be known and loved by YAH, OR not to be known and loved by Him, that is the question.
It’s more important than world fame… Bigger than respect… Weightier than the love from people. Because at the end of all things, what will matter is whether The Creator of Heaven and Earth, The Most High Elohim of heaven looks at us and says: “I know you, I love you, well done My child”, because the only other alternative response, none should desire.
“I Never Knew You” — The Warning
The Messiah Yahoshua, delivered a sobering promise recorded in Mattithyahu (Matthew) 7:21–23:
“NOT everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter into The Kingdom of Heaven, BUT he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens. Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’ And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness (Torah-lessness)!’”
That last line above, has often been called the scariest line in all of Scripture— for good reason.
Here lies the danger: It is possible to do things, great things, in His Name and still not be known or loved by Him. Why? Because you cannot love Him without obeying Him! If you reject His Torah—His sent forth instructions—then you reject His love.
“For the [true] love of Elohim is this: that we habitually keep His commandments and remain focused on His precepts. And His commandments and His precepts are NOT difficult [to obey].”
1 John 5:3 AMP
To Be Known and Loved, Like the Beloved Disciple
In the Besorah (“Gospel”, Good News), we often see John referred to simply—yet not simply—as “the disciple whom Yahoshua loved.” For instance, in John 21:20:
“And Kepha (Peter), turning around, saw the taught one (disciple) whom יהושע (Yahoshua) loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, ‘Master, who is the one who is delivering You up?’”
Consider Proverbs 18:24, John held a unique closeness to The Messiah — leaning against Him at the Last Supper, standing at the foot of the crucifixion tree, entrusted with caring for Yahoshua’s mother. John’s life reminds us: to be loved by Messiah is the greatest honor we could have. Who wants to be known and loved by The King of kings?
And if we desire to be loved by The Messiah like John was, then we must love YAH the way that YAH says—just like John did.
How Do We Love YAH?
Yahoshua makes it plain, as John wrote in John 15:12:
“This is My command, that you love one another, AS I have loved you.”
I’ll continue with the latter part first, for a reason. Our love for The Most High Elohim must spill over into our love for others.
John, or better yet lets use his real Hebrew name Yoḥanan, Yoḥanan also wrote in Yoḥanan Aleph (1 John) 4:20-21:
“If someone says, “I love Elohim,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one not loving his brother whom he has seen, how is he able to love Elohim whom he has not seen? And we have this command from Him, that the one loving Elohim should love his brother too.”
And love isn’t just a feeling — it’s action rooted in obedience. Again, Yoḥanan later wrote in 1 Yoḥanan (1 John) 5:2-3:
“By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and guard His commands. For this is the love for Elohim, that we guard His commands, and His commands are not heavy,”
That’s last passage gives us one of Scripture’s simplest definitions of how we love YAH: obedience to His Torah is the key. To love Him is to guard/keep/obey His commandments.
And yes, we know, all of the commandments in Torah and the instructions from the prophets hang upon loving YAH and our neighbors (Matthew 27:33-40), but you cannot love according to your definition of love— No, you must love according to YAH’s definition. You love YAH by obeying His Commands, as instructed:
“And you shall love יהוה (Yahuah/YAH) your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might. And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart,”
Deḇarim (Deuteronomy) 6:5-6 TS2009
“I have called the heavens and the earth as witnesses today against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore you shall choose life, so that you live, both you and your seed, to LOVE יהוה (YAH) your Elohim, to OBEY His voice, and to cling to Him – for He is your life and the length of your days – to dwell in the land which יהוה swore to your fathers, to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Ya‛aqoḇ, to give them.”
Deḇarim (Deuteronomy) 30:19-20 TS2009
Known & Loved = Covenant Relationship
Throughout Scripture, being known and loved by YAH is covenant language. Consider these passages:
- Deuteronomy 7:9 – “Know therefore that YAH your Elohim, He is Elohim, the trustworthy El guarding covenant and loving-commitment for a thousand generations with those who love Him and guard His commands.”
- John 14:21 – “He who possesses My commands and guards them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him.”
- Nahum 1:7 – “YAH is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; and He knows those who take refuge in Him.”
“For you are a set-apart people to יהוה (YAH) your Elohim. יהוה your Elohim has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a treasured possession above all the peoples on the face of the earth. “יהוה did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more numerous than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples, but because of יהוה loving you, and because of Him guarding the oath which He swore to your fathers, יהוה has brought you out with a strong hand, and ransomed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim (Egypt). And you shall know that יהוה your Elohim, He is Elohim, the trustworthy Ěl guarding covenant and loving-commitment for a thousand generations with those who love Him, and those who guard His commands,” but repaying those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He does not delay to do so with him who hates Him, He repays him to his face. “And you shall guard the command, and the laws, and the right-rulings which I command you today, to do them. And it shall be, because you hear these right-rulings, and shall guard and do them, that יהוה your Elohim shall guard with you the covenant and the loving-commitment which He swore to your fathers,” and shall love you and bless you and increase you, and shall bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.”
Deḇarim (Deuteronomy) 7:6-13 TS2009
Those verses remind us that love and knowledge are interconnected. YAH’s love is faithful, but it comes with covenant conditions. Failing to love Him by not obeying His Torah—as instructed—will cost you your soul. We prove with evidence, our love for Elohim by keeping His commandments and faithfully walking after The Messiah, by walking as He walked in obedience to our Father!
“And by this we know that we know Him, IF we guard His commands. The one who says, “I know Him,” and does NOT guard His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. BUT whoever guards His Word (Torah), truly the love of Elohim has been perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. The one who says he stays in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked.”
Yoḥanan Aleph (1 John) 2:3-6 TS2009
Back To The Question
The question is not ‘to be or not to be’—it’s not even just ‘to be known or not to be known’
The full question is:
To be known and loved by YAH, or not to be known and loved by YAH?
Let us always remember that Yahoshua’s beloved disciple showed us what intimacy with The Messiah looks like. And that same beloved disciple also gave us the most practical, straightforward definition for how we love: obey YAH’s Instruction (Torah).
Again: If we truly desire to be known and loved by our Father in Heaven, then we must strive to know and love Him the way He instructs — by obeying His instructions, His commandments with our hearts, our lives, our everything! It is how we become set-apart ones (saints):
“Here is the endurance of the set-apart ones (saints), here are those guarding the commands (Torah) of Elohim AND (and not or) the belief (faith) of יהושע (Yahoshua).”
Ḥazon (Revelation) 14:12 TS2009
A Closing Charge
Every one of us should ask ourselves this compound question, daily:
Do I truly know and love YAH according to His Word—and can I be certain that YAH knows and loves me according to the Scriptural standards we just examined?
It is not about reputation. It is not about religious show. It is about covenant loyalty. It is about loving Him the way He requires to be loved — through obedience, faith, and walking in the footsteps of His Messiah Yahoshua.
The good news is this: YAH wants to know you. He wants to love you. And through His Son, He has made a way for us to enter into that love and remain in it.
So let us guard His commands. Let us walk as Yahoshua walked. Let us love as He loved. And when that day comes, may we hear NOT:
“I never knew you,”
but instead:
“Well done, good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your Master.”
HalleluYAH — Praise YAH!
“Do your utmost to present yourself approved to Elohim, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly handling The Word of Truth (Torah).”
Timotiyos Bĕt (2 Timothy) 2:15 TS2009
Until next time, shalom ✌🏾
~Yahrahn
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Here are two lessons from two great teachers of The Word who inspired this blog:
Read this, pray this, meditate on this:
“¶Let me KNOW Your ways, O YAH; Teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the Elohim of my salvation; For You [and only You] I wait [expectantly] all the day long. He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way. All the paths of YAH are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. ¶Who is the man who fears YAH [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with submissive wonder]? He will teach him [through His word] in the way he should choose. The secret [of the wise counsel] of YAH is for those who fear Him, And He will let them know His covenant and reveal to them [through His word] its [deep, inner] meaning. [John 7:17; 15:15] Guard my soul and rescue me; Do not let me be ashamed or disappointed, For I have taken refuge in You. Let integrity and uprightness protect me, For I wait [expectantly] for You. O Elohim, redeem Israel, Out of all his troubles.”
Psalms 25:4-5, 9-10, 12, 14, 20-22 AMP
And always remember:
“Let us hear the conclusion of the entire matter: Fear Elohim and guard His commands, for this applies to all mankind! For Elohim shall bring every work into right-ruling (judgment), including all that is hidden, whether good or whether evil.”
Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 12:13-14 TS2009
