From the "it pays to know your Bible" category

Thanks to Jim Hurdle for this item: A quotation from Seasons of War: The Ordeal of the Confederate Community, 1861-1865, by Daniel E. Sutherland, 1995.  In a chapter about Culpepper County during the Civil War, Sutherland recounts the efforts of federal soldiers to gain leave to visit their homes during the most brutal fighting season.  One resourceful fellow from the 16th Maine, "recently engaged to his sweetheart back home, justified his application for leave by citing Deuteronomy 20:7, to wit 'And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her?  Let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in battle, and another man take her.'  To his own delighted surprise, his application [was] approved." (p.309)

Who says that knowing the Bible isn't useful!

We will soon be halfway through the Bible in 90 Days.  If you are keeping up, good for you.  We are now entering the territory of less history and more poetry.  The books of the Bible following Chronicles are about times and seasons of the people's life as a nation following the return of the exiles.  You may notice a subtle shift in the tone of the writings, as Israel's faith is changing.  What can you discern about the differences in their faith between the times before the exile to Babylon and after?  What is God saying to us about that?