This past January marked 39 years since the death of Herbert W. Armstrong and the beginning of the corporate disintegration of the church. A new administration and "new" doctrines in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) served to scatter God's church quickly and effectively. Nearly four decades later, only a small percentage of the former membership of the WCG can be found following shepherds who have held onto the church's core doctrines. Even now, after such a long time, the law of entropy is proved, as the splintering and crumbling of the various church groups continues.

How long until an outside force intercedes to arrest this momentum and turn it around? How long will we be in this scattered condition?

While we in the church like to think of ourselves as having advanced beyond the carnal and stiff-necked Israelites, it would appear we are following the same patterns ancient Israel etched into history. Even though we have been given a new spirit—a heart of flesh and not of stone, a heart to understand—the carnality that remains will lead us in ways similar to the Israelites. As we find ourselves scattered and corporately separated, wondering how long until things improve, reviewing the time elements of Israel's various punishments, subjugations, and captivities may prove helpful.

Upon initially reaching the border of Canaan, the Israelites' fear caused them to balk at following God's lead in entering the Promised Land. This subtle form of idolatry—disbelief in God's ability and willingness—resulted in God pronouncing a punishment on the very nation He had just redeemed from Egypt. He caused Israel to march an additional 38 years—two nineteen-year time cycles—until every man and woman above the age of twenty at the time of Israel's faithlessness had died (Joshua and Caleb excepted). God allowed an entire generation to die out to avoid the Promised Land immediately becoming another Egypt. Israel simply was not ready to take on the responsibilities of entering the land until they understood God to a much higher degree. Like water wearing down stone, fundamentally changing the human mind takes a long time.

The book of Judges has been called the Bible's bloodiest book because of the brutality resulting from Israel's immorality. After the deaths of Joshua and Caleb, Israel went through many repetitions of idolatry, subjugation, repentance, deliverance, and idolatry once again:

• The Israelites served the Mesopotamians for eight years.

• They served the Moabites for eighteen years.

• Jabin and the Canaanites oppressed them for twenty years.

• God delivered them to Midian for seven years.

• The Amorites oppressed and harassed Israel for eighteen years.

• The Philistines reigned over Israel for forty years before God finally delivered them through Samson.

(Interestingly, the average length of these subjugations was 18.5 years—just shy of a nineteen-year time cycle.) Sometimes, Israel repented and cried out to God quickly (e.g., seven years), and God moved to restore the peace. Other times, God let them endure the subservience for many years until the people abandoned their idols and returned to God.

Perhaps the best-known verses in Judges are Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25, both of which declare, "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." The entire book takes place before Israel called for a king "like all the other nations," so these statements initially seem self-evident. However, they are significant because in Moses' final blessing on Israel, he showed that there was supposed to be a King in Israel—God Himself (Deuteronomy 33:5). Because Israel would not recognize God as their King, they did what was right in their own eyes, and their repeated subjugation of varying duration was the result.

After the unrelenting idolatries of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, God caused both to be conquered and their remaining populations led away captive, approximately 100 years apart. Judah's captivity lasted for a full seventy years. A small child at the time of the Judean captivity would have been an old man, perhaps ready to die, when Judah returned. The northern Kingdom of Israel's captivity and subsequent scattering have lasted now for more than 2,700 years. How much longer will it last? It will continue until it has served the purposes God has in mind.

The same can be said of the church's current scattered condition: It will continue until it has served God's purposes. We cannot know all those purposes or when they will all be fulfilled. But looking at the patterns of Israel's history and the expansive periods God often uses, we can draw a number of practical applications.

First, Israel's history—especially in Judges—highlights that it is not until the people forsake their idols, repent, and cry out to God for deliverance that He moves to raise a leader to restore them. How is the church doing in this regard?

Do God's people recognize yet that He is the One who scattered us due to our sins? Have we thoroughly contemplated what caused us to turn our attention from God? If our perception in this regard has not changed, God's motivation for scattering the church will likewise be unchanged. We have a responsibility to pray for unity, not merely among the churches but unity with God. In scattering the church, in one sense, God only finalized the disunity that we had already created.

Second, as the above survey of history indicates, it could be quite a long time before God's purposes have been fulfilled, and He causes a change in the church's condition. Are we prepared for the long haul? Can we continue growing in our relationship with God even if the corporate organizations continue to splinter and shrink? Can we stay the course without the support of a visible leader or community of believers?

Third, when (or if) God raises a man to lead His people, the pattern is that the people will recognize God's voice in the leader and voluntarily submit to his leadership. He will not need to proclaim his own greatness, humility, or position. God gives His people eyes to see through whom He is working.

God's understanding is unsearchable, and His ways past finding out. We cannot know how long things will continue as they are, but we can be assured that God oversees all things, especially those pertaining to the apple of His eye. As calamitous as the events of recent church history have been, they can still be seen as a part of God working out His salvation:

We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet; nor is there any among us who knows how long. O God, how long will the adversary reproach? Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever? Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them. For God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. (Psalm 74:9-12, emphasis ours)