Why You Shouldn’t Use AI to Write a Sermon

PREFACE

We have all likely heard a lot about Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots, like ChatGPT. I had no prior usage of any of these Chatbots so I set out to see if it would be proper to use them in sermon preparation. I constructed this sermon by entering the following prompt into six of the top ten AI Chatbots plus one other relatively new one, seven in all.

Prompt: “Please write a 4000 word sermon with outline quoting scripture and biblical principles on why you shouldn't use AI to write a sermon.”

In seconds each Chatbot crafted an outline and a full sermon in accordance with my request.

The irony of my request was not lost on one of the bots (Perplexity) –

It responded like this –

“That’s a really thoughtful and somewhat ironic request! Writing a 4000-word sermon on why you shouldn’t use AI to write a sermon (by having AI write one) carries an inherent paradox. But I understand your intent: you want a comprehensive, scripture-rooted message that cautions against outsourcing the sacred work of preaching to Artificial Intelligence.”

So, to be perfectly clear and totally transparent with you, the words of this sermon are NOT my words. They are a compilation of the responses of all seven AI bots. I merely cut and pasted them into a document. Bear in mind, Artificial Intelligence does not innovate; it draws from the material it finds on the internet and through algorithms structures a report verbatim of what it found.

I did not write this sermon in the traditional sense. I merely collated the seven AI responses to organize the flow, add headers, and delete redundancy, along with a few edits for length and clarity.

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INTRODUCTION

We live in a season of astonishing technological progress. Tools that once belonged to science fiction now sit on our desks and in our pockets. Technology can serve the church — and sometimes it does. Yet today I must speak plainly about a temptation in our day: the temptation to outsource the work of preaching the Word of God to Artificial Intelligence — to let a machine write our sermons.

It is the temptation of efficiency, the allure of the shortcut, the promise of a tool that can, with a few well-placed prompts, craft something that looks and sounds like a sermon.

I want to be clear from the start: this is not a sermon against using technology. Technology is a gift from God, and we see it used for good in countless ways, from livestreaming services to digital Bibles. This is a sermon about the nature of the Word itself and the sacred trust given to those called to preach it.

The sermon is not merely a speech or a collection of words; it is a medium through which God speaks to His people. It is a sacred act, rooted in prayer, study, and the leading of the [Holy] Spirit. Today, we will explore why entrusting this task to AI undermines the biblical principles of preaching, the authenticity of the preacher’s calling, and the transformative power of God’s Word.

The temptation to use AI assistance for sermon preparation might seem practical, even reasonable. After all, doesn’t AI have access to vast theological resources, commentaries, and biblical knowledge?

 

It can process the entirety of the Bible in a millisecond. It can cross-reference every theological commentary ever written. But it cannot believe.

 

A sermon written by AI, therefore, is a ghost. It has the shape of a sermon, it has the words of a sermon, but it lacks the soul. It is a beautifully crafted report about the Word, but it is not a living act of faith. And what our world desperately needs is not more information about God, but a living encounter with Him.

Preaching is not a mere transfer of facts—it is the living communication of God’s truth, spoken through a man with God’s Holy Spirit. When we look to shortcuts—whether through [outright] sermon plagiarism or, in our modern day, through the outsourcing of preaching to Artificial Intelligence—we tread on dangerous ground. Preaching is holy, weighty, blood-bought work. It cannot be delegated to [the ghost in the machine].

Today, we will explore the practice of using AI to write sermons. This is not about rejecting technology entirely, but about understanding the irreplaceable elements of authentic ministry that cannot and should not be outsourced to machines.

 

THE CALL OF THE PREACHER

 

2Ti 4:1-5 NKJV

(1)  I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:

(2)  Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

 

What does Scripture demand of those called to preach? When Paul charges Timothy in our text with the solemn words, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,” he establishes preaching not as mere information transfer, but as a sacred trust that requires the whole person—heart, mind, soul, and spirit.

 

Can a machine carry the weight of God’s call? Can it wrestle with the text as a human heart does? The answer is no, for preaching is not just about words—it is about faithfully stewarding the message God entrusts to His servants. What seems helpful may erode the foundations of our faith.

The preacher is not merely a communicator; he is a [faithful] steward of [the] mysteries [of God]. (1 Corinthians 4:1–2)

 

Jas 3:1 NKJV  My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.

Preachers will give account to God, not only for how they lived, but for what they preached. Every sermon carries eternal weight. Who then will answer for sermons generated by machines? To delegate one’s sacred duty to a program is to stand before God having abdicated responsibility.

Every preacher must wrestle with the text, weep over the lost, pray for the Spirit’s anointing, and stand accountable before heaven itself for what is proclaimed. This duty cannot be shifted onto the shoulders of silicon and software. It belongs to the preacher alone.

The strict judgment that James warns about attaches to a human conscience that responds to God. If a preacher lets a machine speak in his stead, who is truly accountable before God and before the church? Using AI shifts accountability— who answers for errors, the preacher or the program?

1Co 2:1-5 NKJV

(1)  And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.

(2)  For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

(3)  I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

(4)  And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

(5)  that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

 

It is not about perfection but about faithfulness. God does not call us to produce flawless sermons; He calls us to be faithful stewards of His Word.

Paul tells the Corinthians he did not come with “enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

 

 

 

AI, no matter how advanced, cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit. It cannot pray, seek God’s face, or discern His will for a specific congregation. A sermon written by AI may sound polished, but it lacks the divine spark that comes from a preacher’s communion with God. The Spirit moves through human hearts that are surrendered to Him, not through algorithms that process data.

 

In 2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV, Paul gives us a beautiful and profound image of ministry: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." The treasure is the gospel. The jar of clay is the preacher—fragile, breakable, and utterly human. The power, Paul insists, is not in the jar, but in the treasure, and the very imperfection of the jar serves to highlight the glory of the treasure it holds.

The temptation to use AI is the temptation to build a better jar—one that is flawless, efficient, and never fumbles for a word. But Paul’s ministry was a testament to the power of a fumbling, flawed jar.

The power of Paul’s preaching was not in its eloquence. It was in his weakness, his fear, and his trembling. His vulnerability allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to be made manifest.

When a congregation hears a sermon that bears the imprint of the preacher’s authentic life, they sense the credibility of the message. Without that personal touch, the sermon becomes a lecture rather than a shared pilgrimage.

Here lies the line AI can never cross. It can assemble enticing words of man’s wisdom. It can produce rhetorical elegance. But it cannot demonstrate the Spirit and the power of God. It can inform, but it cannot transform. For the things of God are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14), and a machine has no spirit.

 

 

PERSONAL WRESTLING WITH GOD’S WORD

 

There’s a connection between preacher and the sermon text. When the preacher hasn’t personally wrestled with the passage, he cannot speak with the authority of one who has been transformed by the text. The congregation senses this lack of personal engagement. They may receive information, but they don’t receive the bread of life that comes from a preacher who has first fed himself.

 

The foundation of authentic preaching begins with the preacher’s personal encounter with Scripture. Notice the progression in Ezra 7:10: study, do, then teach. It is not just information-gathering; it is prayerful encounter.

 

Ezr 7:10 NKJV  For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

 

This wasn’t casual reading or surface-level research that could be accomplished by consulting an AI database.

 

2Ti 2:15 KJV  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Paul’s instruction to Timothy uses the Greek word “spoudazo,” meaning to make every effort, to be eager, to give diligence, studying, meditating, and praying over Scripture.

Scripture speaks personally before it speaks generally. When a preacher struggles with a text—questioning, praying, meditating—the message that emerges carries the authenticity of personal spiritual battle.

 

The Holy Spirit works through human vessels, not digital algorithms. Jesus promised, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).

 

Personal wrestling produces spiritual authority. The difference between a sermon written by AI and one birthed through prayer and study is the difference between secondhand information and firsthand revelation. AI, by its nature, lacks a soul. It cannot experience the divine illumination. Nor can it be led by the Spirit of truth, as Jesus promises in John 16:13: "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth."

 

If we use AI, we risk sermons devoid of vitality. They become echoes of human data, not whispers from heaven. Imagine a preacher inputting keywords like "faith" and "salvation," and out pops a polished message. But where is the wrestling in prayer, the tears over sin, the joy of discovery?

 

Consider the process: A preacher sits with an open Bible, perhaps struggling with a difficult passage. He reads commentaries, yes, but ultimately must grapple with the text himself. He prays, “Lord, what are you saying to me first, before I speak to others?” In that holy tension between human limitation and divine revelation, the sermon is conceived. This process shapes not only the message but the messenger.

 

The process of sermon preparation, when done authentically, serves as a means of grace in the preacher’s life. Consider the spiritual disciplines inherent in proper sermon preparation:

 

Prayer and Dependence on God: Before opening commentaries or consulting resources, the faithful preacher must come before God in prayer, acknowledging his need for divine illumination. “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18). This prayer of dependence cannot be replicated by AI because it flows from genuine humility and recognition of human limitation.

 

Meditation on Scripture: The Psalm 1 man meditates on God’s law day and night. The Hebrew word for meditate (hagah) suggests a continuous, ruminating process—like a cow chewing its cud. This deep, repetitive consideration allows the Word to penetrate not just the mind but the heart. When a preacher sits with a text, reading it repeatedly, thinking about it while driving, praying over it before sleep, the text begins to work on the preacher before the preacher works on the sermon.

 

Wrestling with Personal Application: Before a preacher can faithfully apply a text to others, he must allow it to search his own heart. This personal examination cannot be outsourced because it requires genuine self-reflection and repentance.

Intercession for the Congregation: As the preacher prepares, he should be praying for his people—their specific needs, struggles, and spiritual condition. This intercession shapes not only the content of the sermon but its tone, emphasis, and application. This pastoral heart cannot be replicated artificially.

 

When we use AI to write sermons, we short-circuit this formative process. The result is not just an inferior sermon, but a preacher who remains spiritually unchanged by his own message and through him, the congregation—is bypassed in the name of efficiency.

 

When we shortcut this process through AI assistance, we rob ourselves of the transformative work that sermon preparation is meant to accomplish in the preacher’s own soul. We become distributors of processed spiritual food rather than shepherds who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. (Psa 34:8)

 

RELIANCE ON GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT

Central to the task of preaching is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We must rely on the Holy Spirit, not human inventions like AI.

1 Corinthians 2:10-13 NIV: "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God... We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit."

Here we face the critical problem: Artificial Intelligence can generate words, but it cannot generate Spirit-taught words. AI is like a mirror of human knowledge—but preaching requires more than knowledge. It requires revelation, illumination, conviction—all of which can only come through the Holy Spirit.

The process of interpreting and applying Scripture requires spiritual discernment—a faculty that belongs solely to believers who have been indwelt by the [Holy] Spirit. An AI, however sophisticated, operates purely on pattern recognition and statistical inference, algorithms fed on vast datasets, often biased by secular worldviews; it lacks the Spirit’s illumination. Consequently, any sermon generated by AI can never claim true inspiration; it remains a human‑crafted artifact masquerading as divine counsel.

Artificial Intelligence, at best, is a simulacrum [semblance] of human language patterns. It can analyze texts, quote Scripture, assemble arguments, and mimic rhetorical forms. But it has no Spirit. AI's "creativity" is derivative, remixing human input without true innovation. Sermons should be fresh words from God, not algorithmic echoes.

Even if an AI were fed countless sermons, it would lack the living presence that makes a message transform lives. The Spirit’s timing, emphasis, and nuance are beyond any algorithmic prediction.

The power of preaching is not in polish but in presence—the Spirit’s presence coming through a sanctified messenger. “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy [Spirit], and in much assurance” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

The sufficiency for ministry flows from God: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament” (2 Corinthians 3:5–6).

When we shift our functional trust to the speed, novelty, or polish of a generated sermon, we quietly confess another sufficiency. Tools may serve; they must never supplant.

 

EFFICIENCY OVER FAITHFULNESS

The process of sermon preparation is a sacred discipline. It is a journey of prayer, of meditation, and of diligent study. As we read and reread the text, as we consult commentaries and theological resources, we are not just gathering information; we are allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us, to challenge us, to transform us. This is a process of sanctification.

It is a spiritual discipline that shapes us as much as it shapes the content we deliver. When we outsource this process, we are not just saving time; we are sidestepping a crucial part of our spiritual formation.

David reminds us in 2 Samuel 24:24 ESV [when he purchased the threshing floor to erect an altar]: “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

Sermon preparation is costly. A faithful preacher spends hours in the Word, days in prayer, nights wrestling with God’s truth. There are tears of frustration when the text feels closed and tears of joy when revelation breaks forth. This effort costs something—time, energy, life itself.

AI offers a shortcut. It says: “Save the time. Skip the wrestling. Here is something polished and ready.” But if David would not offer God something that cost him nothing, how dare we? To present to God’s people words concocted without sacrifice is to dishonor both God and His flock.

The church does not need efficiency. It needs faithfulness.

Using AI fosters laziness. 1 Timothy 5:17 honors elders "who labor in preaching and teaching." AI is a lazy shortcut, dishonoring God.

The parable of talents (Matthew 25:14-30) condemns the lazy servant. Revelation 3:15-16 rebukes lukewarmness: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot... So, because you are lukewarm... I will spit you out."

When God calls a man to preach, He doesn’t merely assign him a job—He imparts a sacred trust.

 

DISCERNMENT NEEDED TO SIFT THE DATASET

Truth, especially divine truth, is relational. It meets us where we are, speaks into our hearts, and invites us into a covenant relationship with God. When we reduce Scripture to searchable keywords or statistical probabilities, we strip it of its relational depth. AI treats the Bible as a dataset, ignoring the living, breathing context of the believer’s journey. The result is a sermon that may be factually correct yet spiritually sterile—unable to illuminate the darkness of a soul or stir genuine repentance.

AI systems learn from a vast corpora, [body of work] but they also inherit the biases, errors, and ambiguities present in those sources. A subtle shift in phrasing can change theological meaning dramatically. Moreover, AI lacks the ability to discern cultural, historical, and literary contexts that are essential for sound exegesis. A misapplied verse can lead a congregation astray, cause doctrinal confusion, or even foster heretical ideas. The preacher, trained in hermeneutics and accountable to the church, must guard against such pitfalls.

AI is trained on the world’s data; it reflects human opinions, half-truths, and the confusions of the age. AI poses risks of error and dilution. Machines lack conscience; they replicate pattern rather than covenant. AI, trained on global data, might produce generic content that fails to resonate. This detachment could lead to shallow faith.

AI may [even] draw from thousands of sermons, but it cannot seek God’s face. It may mimic biblical language, but it cannot discern God’s will. A sermon written by AI risks being a hollow echo of human words, not a vessel of divine truth.

Col 2:8 KJV  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

AI algorithms are designed to please and cater to user preferences.

The sermon must be prophetic, challenging worldly wisdom, and not catering to "itching ears."

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions (2Ti 4:3 ESV) 

 

The sermon is meant to be a moment of truth-telling, even if that truth is uncomfortable. It is meant to challenge the world's wisdom and to confront sin. It is meant to call people to a life of repentance and obedience. The temptation for a human preacher, and a temptation that an AI could very easily amplify, is to give people what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear.

An AI, by its very design, is built on algorithms that seek to please the user, to generate content that is most likely to be accepted and enjoyed.

The gospel is not about consensus, but about a singular, radical truth.

It is meant to be counter-cultural, to be a stumbling block to the world.

 

WISE DISTINCTIONS: TOOLS AS RESOURCES NOT AS AUTHORS

Commentaries, lexicons, historical helps, and even software can assist us.  If AI is used as a research assistant — to find historical background, to highlight linguistic questions, to suggest references — and then the preacher prays over, edits, and personalizes that material in a Spirit-led way, that is different from outsourcing the entire act of proclamation.

Use reference works to clarify difficult texts, to check outlines against the grain of Scripture, to consult backgrounds—then go back to prayer, meditation, and writing in your own voice.

The final composition, theological framing, and pastoral application must remain the preacher’s own work. After any technological assistance, pray earnestly, seek the Spirit’s confirmation, and perhaps run the draft by trusted elders for accountability.

Always remember the baseline: the pulpit must be human, accountable, and Spirit-led. Our Lord gave the church pastors and teachers “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11)

AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY

Scripture calls for faithfulness, not convenience. “We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully” (2 Corinthians 4:2).

Test everything by Scripture and conscience. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Let the Spirit-trained conscience keep you from handing holy things to impersonal hands.

God calls His messengers to speak His Word faithfully, not to rely on artificial substitutes. An AI-generated sermon may sound impressive, but it lacks the fire of God’s truth spoken through a faithful heart.

Jer 23:30-36 NRSV

(30)  See, therefore, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who steal my words from one another.

(31)  See, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who use their own tongues and say, "Says the LORD."

(32)  See, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says the LORD, and who tell them, and who lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or appoint them; so they do not profit this people at all, says the LORD.

(36)  But "the burden of the LORD" you shall mention no more, for the burden is everyone's own word, and so you pervert the words of the living God.

 

Is that not what AI does? It steals phrases, recombines sentences, producing words as though they carried authority. It “wags its tongue” with borrowed wisdom. But God did not send it. He did not appoint it. And how dangerous it would be to put counterfeit words in the mouths of God’s people as though they were Spirit-breathed.

The pulpit must never echo with artificial words. The pulpit rings hollow if its words are not weighted with the burden of a human heart and the power of God’s Spirit.

Preaching must draw from the fountain of living waters, not from systems that repackage what they have gathered secondhand.

 

CONCLUSION

This is not a call to reject all technology or helpful resources. Commentaries, concordances, theological works, and even digital tools can serve as valuable aids in sermon preparation. The crucial distinction is between tools that assist human study and systems that replace human spiritual labor.

 

The question each preacher must answer is not whether AI can produce acceptable sermons—it probably can. The question is whether using AI to write sermons fulfills the biblical mandate to “preach the word”.

 

When we stand before Christ to give account of our stewardship, will we be able to say with Paul, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” ? (Acts 20:27) Or will we have to acknowledge that we delegated this sacred responsibility to artificial systems?

So, I urge you: Preach the Word. Preach it when it is hard, preach it when it is costly, preach it when you feel weary. Preach it when the world says a machine could do it better. Preach it with trembling, with weakness, with tears, with joy. But preach it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

1 Timothy 4:13-16 ESV - “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things; immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

 

Paul’s final charge to Timothy provides a fitting conclusion to our consideration of why preachers should not use AI to write sermons. Notice the intensely personal nature of Paul’s instructions:

 

“Devote yourself” - The Greek word (prosecho) means to turn one’s mind to, to occupy oneself with, to give attention to. This devotion cannot be outsourced or automated. It requires personal investment of time, energy, and spiritual focus.

 

 

“Do not neglect the gift that is in you” - Timothy’s spiritual gift was given specifically to him through prophetic ministry and the laying on of hands. This gift required cultivation and exercise. (Heb 5:14) Using AI to write sermons would represent a fundamental neglect of the spiritual gifts God has given to each preacher.

 

“Practice these things; immerse yourself in them” - The call to practice and immersion suggests ongoing, intensive engagement.

 

“Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching” - This vigilant attention requires personal responsibility that cannot be delegated to artificial systems. The preacher must guard both his character and his doctrine through personal spiritual discipline.

 

Paul’s final promise to Timothy is significant: “Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” The word “persist” (epimeno) suggests continuing steadfastly despite difficulty. The promise is twofold—both preacher and people benefit from this authentic perseverance.

 

 

The choice before every preacher is clear: Will we embrace the difficult but transformative work of authentic sermon preparation, or will we take the shortcut that promises efficiency but delivers spiritual poverty? Shortcuts—whether stealing another’s sermon or outsourcing to AI—undermines the sacred calling.

 

Let us open our Bibles, get on our knees, and allow God to speak to us first, so that we might then speak His living and powerful Word to a world in desperate need.

Preach the Word—prayerfully, faithfully, sacrificially.

 

 

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At Twilight Time

As the temperatures rise, I’ve developed a certain appreciation for the end of the day when the sun is going down. As evening draws on, the air gets a little cooler, the cool of the evening, maybe a light breeze.

Especially, those hot Texas days that are coming when even a couple of degrees cooler standing in the shadows is refreshing.

Sitting out on the back deck or patio, or evening walks

Just after the sun sets it starts to get quiet. You can still see the sunlit sky above the horizon. Often that’s when you see the most spectacular colors. And things seem to start to settle just a bit. They calm down just a bit. The street lights sense the impending darkness and start to turn on. When they first came out, we called them “electric eyes”. Now they’re photosensors. Either way, street lights and the devices in people’s yards that sense the changes in lighting begin turning on.

Maybe that’s why they call it nightfall, as night just begins to fall, things calm down. The birds and the people begin to settle in for the night. This period of time, between sundown and night we call dusk or my preference, twilight.

 

Twilight in the Old Testament

 

Twilight, a compound word combining two syllables, “twi-“ and “-light”. When you think of the syllable “twi” it might make you think of two as in twin. While it does convey a sense of two, it more precisely conveys a sense of “tween”, as in “between,” twi-light, the light between two events.

In Hebrew, there’s a phase that describes twilight perfectly. That phrase is “ben ha arbayim”.  And that phase will be the focus of our study today.

“Ben ha arbayim” is an interesting expression. And that is exactly what it is, an expression. You won’t find it in Strong’s Concordance. Strongs only translates words not expressions or phrases. In fact, in each of the eleven instances where the expression “ben ha arbayim” is used in the Bible, Strongs and the King James get it wrong and translate it as “erev”, at even.

 

Pronounced “beyn”, it means “between”

“ha” an article meaning “the” and

“arbayim”-

Arbayim is a bit more complex. It derives from the same root as the word “erev” (H6153) which is often translated as “even”, “evening”, “dusk”, or “eventide”.

Delving into the root, we find the word “arab” (H6150). Yes, that arab. It’s where we get the word Arabia. It means to grow dusky or dark, to become evening.

By adding the suffix “im” to “arbayim”, it becomes plural, “two darknesses or evenings.”

When translated to English, the phrase means, “between the (two) evenings” or just “between the evenings”. It describes twilight perfectly. The first darkness or evening occurs after the sun has just dropped fully below the horizon, we call this sunset. The word “erev” is used to describe sunset, when the sun touches the horizon to when it has dropped completely below the horizon. It is stated more precisely as “ba erev”, at sunset. That is the first evening. The second evening is when it gets totally dark. One evening when the sun has set and the second evening when it becomes totally dark.

During, this period of time it is still light out for another 30 minutes or so to maybe as long as an hour depending on location and time of year.

We view the sun setting as marking the end of the day and it does, yet the day isn’t over by our reckoning until midnight. But more importantly, in God’s view it marks the beginning of a new day.

Between the evenings is the time between when the sun has set below the horizon, no longer visible, and before total darkness. It is dusk or twilight time at the beginning of the day on God’s calendar.

Between the (Two) Evenings – “ben ha arbayim”

 

There are only eleven instances of the phrase “ben ha arbayim” in the Bible. So, we’re going to review each one. And if I do this correctly, we will see it has an important connection to the Passover.

Of the eleven times the phase “ben ha arbayim” is used in the Old Testament the King James translation somehow missed all eleven, choosing instead to translate it as “at even” or “evening”.

 

Passover killing the lamb in Egypt

Exo 12:1-8 KJV

(1)  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

(2)  This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

(3)  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

(4)  And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

(5)  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

(6)  And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. [at sunset, ba erev]

(7)  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. (at home)

(8)  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, [layelâh] roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

This has led to some confusion as to whether the lamb was to be killed at sunset on the 14th or the night before on the 13th just after sunset.

We are blessed to have Robert Young’s Literal Translation, the YLT, as it shows us when ben ha arbayim appears in the Hebrew and translates it correctly. First published in 1862, the Literal Translation is, as the name implies, a very literal translation of the original Hebrew and Greek texts.

 

Exo 12:6 YLT 

(6)  'And it hath become a charge to you, until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole assembly of the company of Israel have slaughtered it between the evenings; [at twilight, ben ha arbayim]

(8)  'And they have eaten the flesh in this night, [layelâh] roast with fire; with unleavened things and bitters they do eat it;

 

For it to be killed at ben ha arbayim which occurs after sunset and to still be on the 14th, it would have to be killed after sunset the day before at the beginning of the 14th.

 

Passover Keeping

We will now look at a few passages instructing us in keeping the Passover.

Lev 23:4-6 KJV

(4)  These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

(5)  In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.

(6)  And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

This too has caused some confusion as to when to keep the Passover. In the fourteenth day at even has been interpreted by some to mean at the end of the 14th at sunset causing them to incorrectly keep the Passover on the 15th combining the 14th with the Feast of Unleavened starting the 15th. However, Young makes this passage plain by properly translating ben ha arbayim.

 

 

Lev 23:4-6 YLT 

(4)  'These are appointed seasons of Jehovah, holy convocations, which ye proclaim in their appointed seasons:

(5)  in the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, between the evenings, [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] is the passover to Jehovah;

(6)  and on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast of unleavened things to Jehovah; seven days unleavened things ye do eat;

 

Now, if it’s got to be on the fourteenth day of the month, when is ben ha arbayim on the fourteenth? Between the two evenings at the start of the fourteenth, which is after sunset on the thirteenth. If it were at sunset at the end of the fourteenth, it would actually be on the fifteenth.

The children of Israel are to continue to keep the Passover.

 

Num 9:1-5 KJV

(1)  And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

(2)  Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.

(3)  In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, [ba erev] ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

(4)  And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.

(5)  And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even [ba erev] in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

 

What does Young’s Literal Translation say?

Num 9:3-5 YLT 

(3)  in the fourteenth day of this month between the evenings [at twilight, ben ha arbayim at the beginning of the 14th] ye prepare it in its appointed season; according to all its statutes, and according to all its ordinances ye prepare it.'

(4)  And Moses speaketh unto the sons of Israel to prepare the passover,

(5)  and they prepare the passover in the first month , on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings, [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that Jehovah hath commanded Moses, so have the sons of Israel done.

 

 

Someone who couldn’t make the Passover ceremony when it was originally scheduled because he had been in contact with a dead body and was defiled, or was travelling, provision was made to keep it in the second month of the year.

 

Num 9:10-11 KJV

(10)  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.

(11)  The fourteenth day of the second month at even [ba erev] they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

 

 

Num 9:10-11 YLT 

(10)  'Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, Though any man is unclean by a body or in a distant journey (of you or of your generations), yet he hath prepared a passover to Jehovah;

(11)  in the second month, on the fourteenth day, between the evenings [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] they prepare it; with unleavened and bitter things they eat it;

This is very clear.

 

Daily sacrifices and offerings

Now we have a few passages with instructions on carrying out daily sacrifices and offerings.

Exo 29:38-41 KJV

(38)  Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually.

(39)  The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: [ba erev]

Now it’s unfortunate the morning is mentioned first as it causes confusion that the morning one comes first, when actually the evening sacrifice comes first being at the beginning of the day.

(40)  And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.

(41)  And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, [ba erev] and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

 

Exo 29:39, 41 YLT 

(39)  the one lamb thou dost prepare in the morning, and the second lamb thou dost prepare between the evenings; [at twilight, ben ha arbayim]

(41)  'And the second lamb thou dost prepare between the evenings; [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] according to the present of the morning, and according to its libation, thou dost prepare for it, for sweet fragrance, a fire-offering, to Jehovah: —

 

He doesn’t correct the order but plainly says one occurs at ben ha arbayim, the beginning of the day.

 

Num 28:1-4, 8 KJV

(1)  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

(2)  Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season.

(3)  And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering.

(4)  The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even; [ba erev]

(8)  And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: [ba erev] as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

 

Same issue. I can see how over time day after day it would seem that the first offering is done in the morning and the second is done at the end of the day. Young makes it clear though.

 

Num 28:4, 8 YLT 

(4)  the one lamb thou preparest in the morning, and the second lamb thou preparest between the evenings; [at twilight, ben ha arbayim]

 

(8)  'And the second lamb thou dost prepare between the evenings; [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] as the present of the morning, and as its libation thou preparest—a fire-offering, a sweet fragrance to Jehovah.

 

As we’ve learned ben ha arbayim, twilight, begins the day.

 

Lighting the Temple Lamps

And we have one passage regarding lighting the temple lamps.

 

Exo 30:7-8 KJV

(7)  And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.

(8)  And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, [ba erev] he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

 

Exo 30:8 YLT 

(8)  and in Aaron's causing the lamps to go up between the evenings, [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] he doth perfume it; a continual perfume before Jehovah to your generations.

 

The Jews have mistakenly interpreted the evening to begin at the ninth hour, 3:00 pm in the afternoon and some even as early as right after noon when the sun begins its traverse towards going down. Traditions of men. Why would Aaron light the lamps during the daylight at 3:00 pm in the afternoon?

When do you turn the lights on at your house? In the middle of the afternoon or when it starts to get dark?

 

Proof of the Quails

 

Exo 16:1-3, 8-13 KJV

(1)  And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

(2)  And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

(3)  And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

(8)  And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening [ba erev] flesh to eat, and in the morning [boqer] bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.

(9)  And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.

(10)  And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

(11)  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

(12)  I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even [ba erev] ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning [boqer] ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.

(13)  And it came to pass, that at even [ba erev] the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.

 

Exo 16:6-8 YLT

(6)  And Moses saith—Aaron also—unto all the sons of Israel, 'Evening— [ba erev] and ye have known that Jehovah hath brought you out from the land of Egypt;

(7)  and morning—and ye have seen the honour of Jehovah, in His hearing your murmurings against Jehovah, and what are we, that ye murmur against us?'

(8)  And Moses saith, 'In Jehovah's giving to you in the evening [ba erev]  flesh to eat, and bread in the morning to satiety—in Jehovah's hearing your murmurings, which ye are murmuring against Him, and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against Jehovah.'

 

Notice he says, “evening” in both places. In the evening at sunset [ba erev] you will know it is the Lord Jehovah (v. 6 when you see the quails arrive) and (v. 8) when Jehovah gives you the quail in the evening at sunset [ba erev]. Young properly translates both of these as the evening sunset.

 

Exo 16:11-14 YLT

(11)  And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

(12)  'I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel; speak unto them, saying, Between the evenings ye eat flesh, and in the morning ye are satisfied with bread, and ye have known that I am Jehovah your God.'

(13)  And it cometh to pass in the evening, [ba erev]  that the quail cometh up, and covereth the camp, and in the morning there hath been the lying of dew round about the camp,

(14)  and the lying of the dew goeth up, and lo, on the face of the wilderness a thin, bare thing, thin as hoar-frost on the earth.

 

Take careful note as to when it says, God will give them quails at sunset and when God says they will eat the quails at twilight, between the evenings.

Verses 6, 8, and 13 talk about when God will give them the quails, when they will arrive in the camp. Both the King James and Youngs correctly say “at even” or “evening”, [ba erev] is when they will witness the quails falling all over the camp. The quail come up, they arrive at sunset.

Only verse 12 says when they will eat the quails. The King James says, “at even ye shall eat flesh” and Youngs says, “between the evenings ye eat flesh”. Once again the King James gets it wrong while Young gets it correct. They will begin to eat the quails between the evenings, at twilight, ben ha arbayim after sunset!

You can’t eat the quail before they arrive! They have to arrive at sunset before you can eat them after sunset at twilight. This proves once again that when God said to kill the lambs between the evenings, He meant after sunset the thirteenth at the beginning of the fourteenth. (Exo 12:6)

Why could they not eat the quail until after sunset?

 

Proof of the Manna

 

Notice what it says in the verses regarding the manna.

 

Exo 16:4-5, 8, 12-17 KJV

(4)  Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

(5)  And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

(8)  And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.

(12)  I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.

 

Exo 16:12 YLT

(12)  'I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel; speak unto them, saying, Between the evenings ye eat flesh, and in the morning ye are satisfied with bread, and ye have known that I am Jehovah your God.'

At twilight you shall eat flesh and that morning you shall eat bread (manna)

 

 

Exo 16:13-17 KJV

(13)  And it came to pass, that at even [at sunset] the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.

(14)  And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.

(15)  And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

(16)  This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.

(17)  And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.

 

This was the first day they gathered manna. It was the first of the six days that they would gather it.

 

Exo 16:22-23 KJV

(22)  And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

(23)  And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

 

Exo 16:25-30 KJV

(25)  And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.

(26)  Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.

(27)  And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.

(28)  And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

(29)  See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

(30)  So the people rested on the seventh day.

 

The seventh day, the 22^nd day of the second month, one week after the quail was a Sabbath.

And that means one week earlier, the 15^th day of the second month had to be a Sabbath also.

They couldn’t eat the quail until after sunset, beginning at twilight, because that day was the Sabbath! God wouldn’t let them violate the Sabbath by slaughtering and roasting quail over an open fire on the Sabbath.

Some may say, “Yeah, but I thought they arrived in the wilderness of Sin on the 15^th. They wouldn’t have been traveling on the 15^th, right?”

 

What day does it say they arrive in the wilderness of Sin? Verse one.

 

Exo 16:1-2 KJV

(1)  And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

(2)  And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

 

This is some unfortunate phrasing as it ignores a very important Hebrew accent mark, the atnah. The atnah is used to express division of thoughts in the Hebrew text. In other words, the atnah divides the verse into two units of thought, similar to the semicolon in English.

The word Sinai has an atnah attached to it in the Hebrew and as such requires a full pause separating it’s thought from the next portion of the text.

More proper phraseology would be read like this –

And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai; [full pause] And on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

In other words, they didn’t arrive on the 15^th on a Sabbath day. The 15^th was the day they murmured about not having anything to eat.

We know this has to be true because of the proof of the manna. The manna began the very next day after the 15^th, on the 16^th, the first day of the week and ended seven days later on the following Sabbath the 22^nd.

If the 22^nd was a Sabbath, the 15^th had to be a Sabbath!

 

The Selfsame Day

Now, what day did they depart Egypt? Numbers chapter thirty-three.

 

Num 33:3 KJV

(3)  And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD. (Exo 12:42)

Why am I pointing this out?

The Passover lambs were killed on the 14th of Nisan, the evening before on the 13th after sunset, between the two evenings. They ate the Passover lamb that night and burned the leftovers so nothing remained until morning. (Exo 12:10)

At midnight that same night the Lord passed over and spared their firstborn but killed the firstborn of Egypt. They did not go out of their houses until sunrise of the 14th. (Exo 12:22) They had no idea how long it would take for the firstborn of Egypt to be killed so the only command they had was to not go out of their houses until morning. No way they were going out! Once they saw the sunrise, they knew it was okay.

After sunrise during the Passover day, they began spoiling the Egyptians. (Exo 12:36)

The tribes of Israel then gathered in Rameses. After sunset of the 14th, they departed. It was the 15th of Nisan a Night to be Much Observed! (Exo 12:42)

Notice the days of the week on the calendar. The 14th of Nisan was a Wednesday. Christ was crucified also on a Wednesday some 1230 years later. He was laid to rest in His grave just before sunset. The night the Israelites left Egypt free from bondage in Egypt was the selfsame night we were freed from the bondage of sin and death.

A Night to be Much Observed!

 

Why is This Important?

Our study of the difference between “ba erev – at sunset” and “ben ha arbayim – between the (two) evenings proves that we are keeping the Passover on the correct day, the 14^th of Nisan, after sunset on the 13^th.

Our God is a God of order and precision. When we see evidence of His faithfulness we know we can trust Him and our faith grows.

 

Conclusion

I wish you all an enjoyable Night to be Much Observed when you go out with a high hand. I hope from now on you will always remember twilight time as an important time for the Israel of God.

It’s a wonderful time of transition to a new day.

And according the Platters 1958 #1 hit single entitled, “Twilight Time” it’s a wonderful time to rendezvous with your darling and fall in love again in the afterglow of day together at last at twilight time.

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