In a more or less widespread misconception of Jehovah, he is thought of as being austere and unsympathetic, demanding cruel punishment for all who deviate from the doing of his will. In this view, Jesus is looked upon as the loving God of the Bible, the One who stepped between the stern Creator and man as a Redeemer and Savior of the human race. This viewpoint is well illustrated by a story that is told of a little girl who was asked what would be the first thing she would do when she got to heaven, and her reply was that she would hide behind Jesus so God would not see her.
In our search of the Scriptures to find what they say about the God of love and mercy, it is important, first of all, to note that Jehovah himself, as well as Jesus, is clearly shown to possess the quality of love. In Titus 3:4, in fact, he is spoken of as our “Savior,” and is there said to be kind and loving. This, the scriptural view of Jehovah, reveals him as being the Author of the plan of salvation, and Jesus as heartily cooperating. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”— John 3:16; I John 4:9; Heb. 10:5-7
The name Jehovah means the Self-existent or Eternal One. (Dr. James Strong) In the Bible it is applied exclusively to the Creator, the great First Cause of every- thing. “From everlasting to everlasting,” is one of the scriptural expressions used to emphasize that Jehovah is not a created being, but the Creator of all things. (Ps. 90:2) The name Jehovah is never applied to Jesus.
The name Jehovah is, of course, an Old Testament word. It is not used by the New Testament writers, evidently for the reason that they considered it too sacred a name to translate into another language, or, perhaps, because there was no suitable Greek word to use in translating it. But this does not mean that Jehovah is merely a national god of the Jews, as some would try to make us believe. He is the one true God, the Creator of the universe, and the one in whom all animate creation lives and moves and has its being.—Acts 17:24-28
In the King James Version of the Old Testament the name “Lord” is often used to translate the word Jehovah. When this is done, the word Lord appears in large and small capital letters, so the student has no difficulty in identifying it. By noting this, it will be found that the name Jehovah is used a great deal in the Old Testament, but is applied exclusively to the Creator—never to other gods, whether good or evil.