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Friend, saying it is not the same as doing it!

Matthew 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"

For several days we have been learning to examine fruit. A tree is identified by what it bears, not by how attractive it looks. Now Yeshua (Jesus) describes the inspection He will carry out Himself.

Consider the people standing before Him. They are not mockers. They call Him Lord, and they say it twice. In Hebrew, repeating a word carries weight and emotion, just as He later cried, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem." (Matthew 23:37-39)  These people were serious. They had prophesied, cast out demons, and worked wonders, all in His name. By every outward measure they were active and productive. Yet He says, "I never knew you."

That word "know" is the key to the whole passage. In Hebrew thought, to know someone is yada (יָדַע). It does not mean having information about a person; it is covenantal knowledge, a shared life, the same word Scripture uses when a husband knows his wife. When Yeshua says He never knew them, He is saying there was never a relationship. They used His name but never walked with Him. They performed for Him but never belonged to Him.

That is the difference between activity and fruit. Activity can come from talent, ambition, or even spiritual power God allows to operate in order to reach people. Fruit can only come from a living root. A person can work a wonder in Yeshua's name and still be a thornbush, because the wonder was never the fruit He was looking for. The fruit He wants is a life that does the will of the Father.

Look at the contrast He draws. One side says; the other does. Not everyone who says "Lord, Lord," but he who does. This is thoroughly Hebraic. In much of the Western mindset, faith is something you believe and confess. In the Hebraic mindset, faith is something you live out. When Israel stood at Sinai, they replied na'aseh v'nishma (נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע), "we will do, and we will hear" (Exodus 24:7). They put doing first.

The Shema, Israel's central declaration of faith, "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one," takes its name from its first word, shema (שְׁמַע). But shema means far more than to hear. In Hebrew, to hear is to obey; the two are inseparable. You have not truly heard God until you have done what He said. There is no concept of hearing God and setting His commandments aside. That is not hearing. That is lawlessness.

Then He names what they practiced: anomia (ἀνομία), without Torah. To a Hebrew ear, that is devastating. These people spoke of God constantly while living as though His commandments did not apply. They separated His name from His ways, and that is the mark of the false prophet: he comforts without repentance, promises peace without surrender, and offers the King's name without the King's rule. Gifts are not fruit. Gifts are given; fruit is grown. It is possible to operate in a gift and bear almost none of the life the Father is after.

But this warning carries good news. Yeshua tells us exactly who enters: he who does the will of My Father in heaven. The Hebrew word for will is ratzon (רָצוֹן), and it carries delight and good pleasure. Doing the Father's will is not grim rule-keeping; it is living inside what pleases Him because you know Him and love Him. This is Psalm 1 again. Blessed is the man who delights in the instruction (Torah) of the Lord. He is not performing to be accepted. He is bearing fruit because he is planted by the water.

And the Father has not kept His will a secret. He has given us His Word, sent His Spirit to write it on our hearts, and given us His Son so we can see the Father's will in human form. Yeshua said, "I always do those things that please Him." The narrow path is not obscure. It is His path, and He walks it with us.

This is ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי), the truly blessed life. Blessed is the one who is known by the King and has no need to hide behind titles or displays, because he walks with Him in the ordinary places of life. Blessed is the one who says "Lord" as the truth of who rules his life. Blessed is the one whose obedience is a loving response rather than a performance before a crowd. That person is building on the rock, and that is exactly where Yeshua goes next.

Friend, saying it is not the same as doing it, but when the words "Lord, Lord" are joined to a surrendered life, they mean everything. So walk with Him now. Let His name on your lips be matched by His will in your life, and let your serving and praying flow from intimacy, not performance. Keep saying yes in the small, hidden moments. The wonders were never the goal; the relationship always was. The One who calls you to do the Father's will has already done it perfectly for you and now lives in you to do it again. Because He knows you, that day will not bring "Depart from Me," but "Well done, enter into the joy of your Lord."

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George & Baht Rivka

Editor's Note: For the first week, we’re discounting The Eternal Kingdom Revealed to help get the book into as many hands as possible. My hope is that people will begin reading, share their thoughts, and leave honest reviews so others can discover the message of the Kingdom as well. If you’ve been thinking about getting a copy, this is a great time to pick one up. Available now on Amazon at a special first-week price.