Are We Acting with Hostility Toward Yehovah?

Have you ever come face to face with a hostile dog? It doesn’t matter whether you approach it with friendliness, fear, or neutrality—it will still bare its teeth, ready to threaten or attack.

Regrettably, we often respond in much the same way toward the Instructions—the Torah—of Yehovah.

To better understand this, consider a couple of definitions:

Hostile: opposed or antagonistic.
Hostility: a provocative, contrary attitude—often without cause—toward another living being. It involves abusive and aggressive behavior that may manifest as emotional or physical harm, whether from an individual, a small group, or a larger collective.

Some dogs are so hostile they even bite the hand of their master.

Leviticus 26:14–41 clearly and thoroughly defines what Yehovah considers hostility toward Him: disobedience to the Torah, rejection and contempt of His statutes, and the breaking of the covenant made with Him.

This is exactly what our forefathers did. As a result, they were exiled by the Assyrians and removed from the land Yehovah had given as an inheritance.

Persistently, they chose to abandon the instruction meant to make them the most blessed nation on earth. They exchanged truth for deception, which led them into bondage and a degraded way of life.

In this passage, Yehovah warns three times—in verses 21, 24, and 28—that if discipline does not bring repentance, He will multiply the punishment sevenfold. This was ultimately fulfilled: the House of Israel, which was to remain in exile for 390 years according to Ezekiel 4:5, has remained scattered for 2,730 years (390 × 7).

That period came to an end around 2009, marking the beginning of a renewed awakening and interest in Hebrew identity. Yet the question remains: will we continue in hostility toward Yehovah? Will we persist in disregarding His Torah—His statutes, ordinances, commandments, judgments, appointed times, and testimonies—thus continuing to break the covenant made by our fathers?

Yehovah’s purpose in giving His Torah was to equip us to live under His protection and blessing. In it, He reveals—at least in part—the order of His creation and how it functions. When we follow His instructions, we align ourselves with His design, and our lives gain clarity and purpose. But to ignore them, alter them, or mix them with inherited traditions is to adopt a posture of hostility—marked by distrust, rebellion, and defiance—bringing serious consequences upon ourselves.

If, in spite of this, you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins.
—Leviticus 26:27–28 (NASB)

Yehovah’s hostility is not like ours. When we act with hostility toward Him, we are the ones who suffer the consequences—He is not diminished in any way. And when He responds with hostility toward us, we still bear the consequences—only now they are far greater… multiplied sevenfold.

Let us pursue the mercy and grace of our Father, rather than provoke His hostility. To contend with it is a path of certain loss—and a painful one.