Secret Number 23

Hidden Names of God

Audio read by Tom Parks - MP3

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In spite of the fact that God’s name is not found overtly in the Book of Esther, it does occur five times in the text in acrostic form. And acrostic is when the first (or perhaps the last) letters of words are used to make another word, in this instance to denote the name of God.: The Book of Esther which was read annually at Purim (one month before Passover) does have God’s name indicated in it in a secret manner. In two places the first letters of four words in the text spell out the name of God (the Tetragrammaton) and in two other places the last letters of four words spell out the same. But in another instance, the last letters of four words spell out the generic name of God "I Am." The first acrostic is found in Esther 1:20, the second in 5:4, the third in 5:13, the fourth in 7:7, and the fifth (the "I Am" acrostic) is in 7:5. These are all shown in Hebrew and English in Dr. Bullinger’s Companion Bible, Appendix 60. The meaning of this is to show that God is always nearby even though we humans may not see him in an obvious sense. There are numerous acrostic designs in the Old Testament. For a rundown of them and to note their special significance, see my book The Original Bible Restored.