Page 47 of It Starts With A No

“Old Testament.”

“So?”

“Imagine we had a contract between us.” She took another mouthful of cake. “But I wasn’t happy with the terms and decided to negotiate a new contract. You graciously allowed me to do so.”

“Sounds just like me.”

She nodded solemnly. “But after signing the new contract, I change my mind again and insist on going back to the old contract. Is that acceptable?”

If it were anyone else, no.

“I was expecting a resounding no,” she said.

“No.”

Her brows drew together. “You would let people just switch between contracts on a whim?”

“Of course not.”

“So you already know where I’m going and refuse to admit that my point is valid,” she said.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The New Testament is a new contract. Jesus fulfilled the old contract and gave us a new and better covenant. The events that happen in the Old Testament happened under a different covenant.”

“You can’t just sweep everything in the Old Testament under the rug.” Because that would probably eliminate all the examples he had ready for her. All the examples Holly had used to warn and condemn them.

“Go on.”

“Hmm?”

“You look like you have a list prepared. Go ahead.”

“He sent fire down to burn up innocent soldiers who were sent to capture Elijah.”

She nodded, but her index finger shot up right after. “That, first and foremost, shows He protects His people.” A second finger shot up. “In the New Testament, when John suggested doing the same to a Samaritan village, Jesus shot him down, saying we’re not of the same spirit.” She blinked innocently, but was clearly smug about her answer.

“God gave Moses’ sister leprosy.”

“Because she went against Moses, so same answer as before. And of course, Old Testament.”

Seth shook his head. He needed a better example. Snapping his fingers, he continued, “He punished Moses and cruelly refused him—the great leader who got His people out of Egypt—entry into the promised land simply because he hit a rock instead of speaking to it.”

Her head bobbed up and down while she pouted, which was annoying because it was so distracting. He lost his entire train of thought as his attention turned to her pink lips.

“That is sad,” she said. “But it’s because God isn’t an angry God. And He takes it very seriously when He’s misrepresented. Moses made the whole of Israel think that God was angry with them when He wasn’t. God just wanted him to ask. He’s about love, not anger and violence.”

“Yet the Old Testament is full of violence.”

“Most of that is Him protecting his people against enemies.”

“Or when He isn’t happy with His people, but you’re just going to brush it off as Old Testament stuff.”

“The people asked for it.”

Seth arched a brow.

“At Mount Sinai, the people told God that whatever He asked, they would do. So God gave them what they asked for, but they couldn’t do what He asked.”

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