Every one must have noticed that the Deity is called by a great variety of names; and it is plain that these are mainly employed to express some peculiarities belonging to His nature. Each refers to some distinctive attribute or action by which the one God is characterized, and by which He was most fully apprehended by the people to whom it was first revealed, and by whom it was employed in their adoration and worship. Under the Old Testament dispensations, it is evident that Jehovah was the most distinguished name of the Almighty. He expressly said, "I am Jehovah, that is my name:"[1] "They shall know that my name is Jehovah:"[2] He "whose name alone is Jehovah is the most high over all the earth."[3] Now the idea which this name is intended to convey to us is that of esse, the Exsting One; that is, the supreme Being as He is in His essential nature. But this name is frequently associated with another which, in Hebrew, is Elohim, which term is commonly translated God. This is the most general name of the Deity, because it is intended to convey to us some idea of His existere; that is, His wisdom or manifestation. But in the Scriptures these two names are frequently joined together. In the original they are Jehovah Elohim; in our version they appear as Lord God. In this connection those names express the Deity in respect to two essentials of His Divine nature, namely esse, or love, and existere, or wisdom.
Now it is under these two names that we find the Supreme Being first revealed to the human race. If the narratives describing the creation and fall of man are consulted in a spirit of discrimination, it will be found that in those remarkable histories the Deity is called Jehovah Elohim; that is, Lord God. Thus, "the Lord God" formed man out of the dust of the ground; "the Lord God" planted
