Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. – Judges 6:2

Today's Scripture Reading (March 11, 2022): Judges 6

There is an old joke about a butler retiring from a prominent family position. He has served the family since his youth, so when the butler decides that it is time to quit, the family wants to recognize the butler’s service. And so, the family decides to throw a party and invite all the important people of the area to come and celebrate their butler’s life and work. At the party, the young master of the family calls the butler up to present him with a gift, and as part of the presentation he asks the butler how long he has served the family. The punchline of the joke is found in the Butler’s response. The butler tells his young master, “I have served this family through three degenerations.”

The joke describes our march toward chaos. We may tell utopian stories, but the truth is that unless we are willing to put significant work into the project of our lives, everything moves towards chaos. It takes vigilance and determination to create a utopian society. But the truth is that we don’t want to expend that kind of energy to create a more perfect civilization, and so we don’t. We put up with degeneration after degeneration until everything gets so bad that we no longer have a choice. We have to make the change.

It is the presence of the utopian ideal in society that has brought a torrent of dystopian literature. Dystopian literature recognizes that, over time, we degenerate; things get worse tending toward chaos. Add to that a disaster or a war and suddenly the human race finds itself in an uncivilized world. Maybe the best known of these dystopian tales are Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” George Orwell’s “1984,” Suzanne Colin’s “The Hunger Games,” and, of course, the “Mad Max” movies. All of them tell the story of a society that has degenerated so far that civilization is barely recognizable. They are stories that we might like to read or watch, but not places where we would ever want to live.

Life in Israel had degenerated. The people have moved against the will of God and slowly life had changed. Then the Midianites showed up on the scene. The Midianites took advantage of the chaos that already existed in Israel. They made raids on the homes of Israel and stole the crops that Israel had planted. And things got so bad that the people of Israel left the civilization of their homes and went to live in the caves and cliffs in the hill country. The people were living in the midst of their own dystopian nightmare. Except this nightmare was real, and not the product of some author’s imagination.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Judges 7

Personal Note: Happy Birthday to my Dad. I hope you have a great day today.