May I ask a quick question for you to consider as we enter 2026.
Can the Church…or an individual believer in Jesus Accelerate the Second Coming of Christ?
I am sure your immediate answer is NO…the Lord will return when He wishes! We all know the passage found in Mathhew 24:36-37,
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
It is true – we cannot possibly know the exact moment of the Saviors return.
But we can understand the signs of the times and the steps that will eventually unfold leading to His return!
I believe it has been wisely stated that if you want to know when Jesus is coming back – keep your eye on the nation of Israel!
“As the great Southern Baptist pastor W.A. Criswell once said, ‘If you want to know the time, look at Israel”, as described in his sermon “Israel in the Consummation of History”.1
The Role of Israel and the Jewish People in God’s Plan
May I remind you of Israel’s central role in the plan of God? The Lord chose the Jewish people to bring blessings to the entire world, and it was through the Messiah Jesus that these blessings were poured out upon all humanity! This future hope is found in the promise of God to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.
Concluding with these words in verse 3,
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
God chose the Jewish people to bless the nations and certainly this took place with the first coming of Jesus and more it will be true with His second coming!
Let me put it another way, “if you want Jesus to return, then share the gospel Jewish people with Jewish people in Israel and around the globe…or have a part in helping others fulfill this great Gospel task. (Romans 1:16, 11:11, 25-29)
The prophet Zechariah gives us a clear picture of the end times. According to Zechariah 12:9-12, the Jewish people—especially in Israel—will be surrounded by enemies who want to destroy God’s chosen people. This will take place at a time when Israel and the city of Jerusalem are once again in Jewish hands. The nations of the world, including Israel’s current neighbors, will surround the Holy City of Jerusalem getting ready to attack His chosen people.
But God will intervene! He will pour out His Spirit at that moment, and the Jewish people will turn to the Messiah they once rejected. As Zechariah prophesied: “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son” (Zechariah 12:10, NASB).
It is at this moment of national repentance that Jesus will return to usher in His glorious kingdom. The attacks against the Jewish people and Israel are the work of the Devil and must be stopped. But in the end, it is the turning and repenting of the Jewish people that brings about the Second Coming—and this is the ultimate entry to world peace.
Proclaiming the Good News in Israel through Hart Times
Recently, in Israel, I had the joy of being able to share the gospel with dozens of Israelis at our Messianic Center in Tel Aviv. If you remember, we had one center that we rented and thank God kept rented because our new facility across the street was bombed on June 17 by an Iranian missile. The work to repair the 30-story condominium and the 4,000 square foot commercial space at the base of this beautiful new condominium which houses our new Center will take at least a year – maybe more. But we will get back into the space in the Lord’s time. Meanwhile the damage to our center is far less than that which happened to the larger condominium. Thank God no one was seriously hurt or killed in the missile attack.
Why did God allow our new and newly dedicated Messianic center to be hit seemingly randomly by an Iranian missile? A good question but every time I ask the Lord WHY He reminds me of His faithfulness and goodness, and I end up simply thanking Him for the privilege of suffering with my fellow Jewish people living in the Holy Land.
I now believe the way in which we handle this disappointment will be a more powerful opportunity to show how those who follow the Messiah Jesus can have hope during destruction. And if my dear Israeli friends and family need anything – it is the gift of Hope which comes faith a founded upon the Word of God and the very character of the Holy One who is always good, generous, merciful, just and kind! We love Him and love our people and are thankful for the opportunity to suffer with them.
We have learned that even in the midst of war, destruction and extraordinary challenges…that our faith and ministries can grow!
- The specific URL for that sermon is: https://wacriswell.com/sermons/1967/israel-in-the-consummation-of-history/ ↩︎
Dr. Mitch Glaser 