denunciations and condemnation repeatedly leveled against Israel by Jehovah through his prophets only serve to emphasize the greatness of his mercy and the amazing extent of his long-suffering. At the end of over 1,500 years of bearing with them, and even after his own Son was slain at the instance of religious leaders of the nation, Jehovah continued to favor them for a period of three and a half years longer, mercifully causing the preaching of the good news to be restricted to them, granting them yet further opportunity to gain the privilege of reigning with his Son—an opportunity that repentant thousands accepted.—Acts 2:1-5, 14-41; 10:24-28, 34-48; see SEVENTY WEEKS.

Jesus Christ evidently referred to Jehovah’s previously quoted statement as to ‘bringing punishment to later descendants of offenders’ when he said to the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees: “You say, ‘If we had been in the days of our forefathers, we would not have been sharers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you are bearing witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Well, then, fill up the measure of your forefathers.” (Matt. 23:29-32) Despite their pretensions, by their course of action such ones demonstrated their approval of the wrong deeds of their forefathers and proved that they themselves continued to be among ‘those hating Jehovah.’ (Ex. 20:5; Matt. 23:33-36; John 15:23, 24) Thus, they, unlike the Jews who repented and heeded the words of God’s Son, suffered the cumulative effect of God’s judgment when, years later, Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed and most of its population died. They could have escaped but chose not to avail themselves of Jehovah’s mercy.—Luke 21:20-24; compare Daniel 9:10, 13-15.

His personality reflected in his Son

In every respect, then, Jesus Christ was a faithful reflection of the beautiful personality of his Father, Jehovah God, in whose name he came. (John 1:18; Matt. 21:9; John 12:12, 13; compare Psalm 118:26.) Jesus said: “The Son cannot do a single thing of his own initiative, but only what he beholds the Father doing. For whatever things that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19) It follows, therefore, that the kindness and compassion, the mildness and warmth, as well as the strong love for righteousness and hatred of wickedness that Jesus displayed (Heb. 1:8, 9), are all qualities that the Son had observed in his Father, Jehovah God.—Compare Matthew 9:35, 36 with Psalm 23:1-6 and Isaiah 40:10, 11; Matthew 11:27-30 with Isaiah 40:28-31 and 57:15, 16; Luke 15:11-24 with Psalm 103:8-14; Luke 19:41-44 with Ezekiel 18:31, 32; 33:11.

Every lover of righteousness who reads the inspired Scriptures and who truly comes to “know” with understanding the full meaning of Jehovah’s name (Ps. 9:9, 10; 91:14; Jer. 16:21) has every reason, therefore, to love and bless that name (Ps. 72:18-20; 119:132; Heb. 6:10), praise and exalt it (Ps. 7:17; Isa. 25:1; Heb. 13:15), fear and sanctify it (Neh. 1:11; Mal. 2:4-6; 3:16-18; Matt. 6:9), trust in it (Ps. 33:21; Prov. 18:10), saying with the psalmist: “I will sing to Jehovah throughout my life; I will make melody to my God as long as I am. Let my musing about him be pleasurable. I, for my part, shall rejoice in Jehovah. The sinners will be finished off from the earth; and as for the wicked, they will be no longer. Bless Jehovah, O my soul. Praise Jah, you people!”—Ps. 104:33-35.

JEHOVAH HIMSELF IS THERE

This translates the expression “Jehovah-shamʹmah,” applied to the city seen by the prophet Ezekiel in his vision recorded in chapters 40 through 48. (Ezek. 48:35) The visionary city is depicted as foursquare (four thousand five hundred cubits to a side [6,562.5 feet (c. 2,000 meters)]) and as having twelve gates, each bearing the name of one of the tribes of Israel. (48:15, 16, 31-34) To an extent it is similar to the holy city New Jerusalem as seen in vision by the apostle John. (Rev. 21:2, 10-16) The visionary city of Ezekiel’s prophecy is to belong to “all the house of Israel.” (Ezek. 45:6) The name “Jehovah-shamʹmah,” or “Jehovah Himself Is There,” would signify a representational presence of God like that expressed in other texts, such as Psalms 46:5; 132:13, 14; Isaiah 24:23; Joel 3:21 and Zechariah 2:10, 11, where Jehovah, whom the ‘heaven of the heavens cannot contain,’ is spoken of as though residing in an earthly city or place.—1 Ki. 8:27.

JEHOVAH IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

This expression translates the two words Y^eho·wahʹ Tsidh·qeʹnu, found at Jeremiah 23:6 and 33:16. Other translations are: “The LORD is our vindicator” (AT); “Yahweh-our-integrity” (JB).

Jeremiah 23:5, 6 is a Messianic prophecy describing the future king sprouting from David’s line to “execute justice and righteousness in the land.” Since he rules as God’s representative (even as David, and others, sat “upon Jehovah’s throne” as God’s anointed king; 1 Chron. 29:23), the prophecy says, “This is his name with which he will be called, Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.” There is no basis for claiming, as some have, that this means that Jesus, the Messiah, and Jehovah are the same, forming one God. This can be seen from the fact that the similar Messianic prophecy at Jeremiah 33:14-16 applies the identical expression to Jerusalem, saying: “And this is what she will be called, Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.” In both cases the expression shows that God’s name, Jehovah, placed both upon his promised king and upon his chosen capital, is a guarantee of their righteousness. Moreover, the justice and righteousness emanating from, or expressed by, these sources are the product of full devotion to Jehovah and his divine will, bringing Jehovah’s blessing and direction.

JEHOVAH-JIREH

(Je·hoʹvah-jiʹreh) [Jehovah will see to (it), or, Jehovah will provide].

A place on one of the mountains in the land of Moriah where Abraham found a ram caught in a thicket and subsequently offered it instead of Isaac. Abraham viewed this ram as Jehovah’s provision and therefore named the place Jehovah-jireh.—Gen. 22:2, 13, 14.

JEHOVAH-NISSI

(Je·hoʹvah-nisʹsi) [Jehovah is my signal (pole); LXX, Jehovah is my refuge; Vg, Jehovah is my exaltation].

The name of the memorial altar erected by Moses after Israel’s successful battle against the Amalekites at Rephidim.—Ex. 17:8, 13-16.

JEHOVAH OF ARMIES

This expression, found over 280 times in the Scriptures, translates the Hebrew Y^eho·wahʹ ts^eva·ʼohthʹ. The prophetic books, particularly Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah, contain by far the majority of its occurrences. Paul and James, quoting from or alluding to the prophecies, used the expression (transliterated into Greek) in their writings.—Rom. 9:29; Jas. 5:4; compare Isaiah 1:9.

The Hebrew word tsa·vaʼʹ (singular; plural, ts^eva·ʼohthʹ) basically means a literal army of soldiers or combat forces, as at Genesis 21:22; Deuteronomy 20:9, and many other texts. However, the term is also used in a figurative sense as in “the heavens and the earth and all their army,” or “the sun and the moon and the stars, all the army of the heavens.” (Gen. 2:1; Deut. 4:19) The plural form (ts^eva·ʼohthʹ) is employed a number of times as applying to the Israelite forces, as at Exodus 6:26; 7:4; Numbers 33:1; Psalms 44:9; 60:10. Some scholars believe that the “armies” in the expression “Jehovah of armies” include not only the angelic forces but also the Israelite army and the inanimate heavenly bodies. However, it appears that the “armies” signified are primarily, if not exclusively, the angelic forces.

When Joshua saw an angelic visitor near Jericho and asked him if he was for Israel or for the enemy