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The God Who Is
The Simple Present Form
The name "Jehovah" has also been translated in the simple present form of the verb "to be," or simply, "I AM", or "I, I AM;" "I Am He Who Is." In his Latin translation of the Bible, The Vulgate, Jerome translated the name "Jehovah" as "I AM WHO I AM." In John chapter 18 when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus spoke the "band of men and officers" to the ground with the words "Ego, eimi, or "I, I AM." This is the simple present form of the verb "to be," and the meaning of the name "Jehovah." When the name "Jehovah" is translated in the simple present tense, it speaks of God's eternal being. God dwells in the eternal present. He is what He is. He is eternal, and self-existent, without beginning of days or end of life. He is ever-present, and therefore, ever able to help, to comfort and to deliver His people.
"I, I AM." Jehovah alone has the exclusive claim to sovereignty because He alone "IS" among the gods that are worshipped. All other gods are pretenders. Therefore, only Jehovah is to be worshipped. No one else has the right to receive worship; not Buddha, not Confucius, not any of the 300 million gods that the Hindus worship, and not the gods or spirits the American Indians worship. The simple present form of the name "Jehovah" means that He has the exclusive right to our obedience.
Whenever the name "Jehovah" is used in its simple present form, it means that Jehovah reveals His will. He does this by a succession of events which He directs toward His goal. He may use earthquakes, or hurricanes, or even slavery to effect His purpose; but He will fulfill His covenant promise, and His divine will. "The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm" (Nahum 1:3).
The Simple Future Form
The name "Jehovah" has also been translated in the simple future form of the verb "to be," or "I WILL BE." When the name is translated in this manner, it teaches us that God is everlasting. It speaks of His perpetual duration. He will cease to be, never! Imagine what that meant to the Jews in their slavery. It meant that the future accomplishments of the promises God already made could be depended upon because He will be hereafter. The God who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps, and He yet remains "God" even when our body is laid in the dust. Even then, He is able to bring to pass the fruition of His will.
A Summary
Someone may ask, "Which of the three ways of interpreting the name `Jehovah' is the proper one? Is the name to be translated as the causative form of the verb—`I Cause To Be What I Cause To Be?' Or, is it to be translated as a simple present form of the verb—`I, I AM?' Or is it to be translated in the simple future form of the verb—`I Will Be?'"
I answer that the name God gave to Moses is properly translated in all three ways. All are correct. God endures everlastingly. The promises that He had already made to Israel, He was able to fulfill. The word that He gave to Abraham, Isaac and to Jacob, to make of them a great nation, He was now present through Moses to deliver and to guide, and to judge their descendants.
God retains the freedom to be present when He will be present. "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion" (Romans 9:15).