Fire by Night by Melissa Florer-Bixler is a book that explores the meaning and relevance of the Old Testament for Christians today. The author, a Mennonite pastor, challenges the common assumptions and stereotypes about the Old Testament as a violent, legalistic, and irrelevant text. She invites readers to discover the beauty, wisdom, and complexity of the stories, laws, and rituals that shaped the faith of Israel and Jesus. She shows how the Old Testament can inspire us to live more faithfully, creatively, and compassionately in our world today.

I didn't love this book. The author's personal stories got in the way of the main message for me, I think.

I want to hear this author preach. She has great command of Scripture. This book left me with so many new ways to interpret Old Testament passages of Scripture. I kept thinking to myself I'd never looked at things from that angle before. In her words, "The rabbis showed me skilled and often playful interpretations of the Bible." YES!

While I appreciate the topic of the book and hope for more books to follow, expanding on this theme, I was disappointed in the book and writing itself. It was slow, often felt disjointed, and at many times I found myself wondering why certain stories were included as they did not seem to fit the topic.