The Lord is called "Jehovah" in the Bible when the text is referring to his essence, which is love itself. He is called "God" when the text is referring to the expression of that love -- which is called Divine Truth. References to other gods, both positive and negative, reflect that meaning. In positive cases -- such as when angels and people are called gods, or when the Lord is referred to as the God of gods -- those gods represent true ideas that come to us from the Lord. In negative cases -- such as when the people of Israel repeatedly adopt the gods of their neighbors -- those gods represent false and twisted thinking that attacks what is good and true.

8606. 'And when he let down his hand' means whenever their faith looked downwards or away from the Lord towards self and the world. This is clear from the explanation just above in 8604. The reason why faith that looks to the Lord is a winner is that in these circumstances the Lord does the fighting; for the Lord constitutes faith because it is received from Him. But the reason why faith which looks away from the Lord towards self and the world is a loser is that then the person does the fighting all alone.