The Bible says that Yeshua is coming back quickly (Rev. 4:11)—but apparently not as we count quickness. The Bible also says that there will be signs forecasting His return—yet it will still be unexpected (Mat. 24:44). So the question is: does this soon, unexpected return mean that His coming is imminent? At this time right now in world history, could Yeshua’s return happen at any moment?

Sadly, the answer is: no.

As things stand today, He will not come—He cannot come—before the occurrence of the most ignored, prophetic, major historical event that Yeshua Himself says must precede His coming. The Master declares,

“Y’rushalayim, Y’rushalayim! You that are killing the prophets and stoning those sent to you—how often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under the wings, yet you did not want it. Look! your House is left deserted to you, for I say to you: you will not see Me from now on until you say, ‘BLESSED is HE WHO IS COMING IN THE NAME OF ADONAI.’” (Mt. 23:37-39, mjlt)

Here we see Yeshua lamenting how Israel rejected and killed those sent to them by God. And He sees their rejection of Him in the same vein. As the Messiah, Yeshua desires to gather the children of Israel together, to lead and care for them as a hen gathers her chicks. Yet, as He says, they don’t want it. So speaking to Jerusalem—to the heart of the Jewish people—Yeshua proclaims to them, “you will not see Me from now on until you say, ‘BLESSED is HE WHO IS COMING IN THE NAME OF ADONAI.’” In other words, until the collective Jew­ish heart acknowledges that Yeshua was sent in the name and power and authority of the God of Israel—until the Jewish people believe that Yeshua is the promised Messiah—we will not see Him again. The acceptance of Yeshua by the Jewish people is the historical and prophetic linchpin that is holding back the countdown to His return.

Yeshua’s eventual coming, then, is not imminent. It can not happen at any time, but has been indefinitely delayed. It isn’t that God is unprepared or unable to fulfill His promise at any moment. It is that Israel still does not recognize that Yeshua is Messiah, which keeps God’s plan from proceeding. We have not been waiting on God—despite most appearances. Rather, this whole time, God has been waiting on us.

The apparent slowness of Yeshua’s return at the inauguration of the Day of Adonai is explained in 2 Keifa 3:9-12.

“Adonai is not slow in regard to the promise (as certain ones count slowness), but is patient toward you, not wanting any to be lost, but all to pass on to reformation. And it will come—the Day of Adonai—as a thief… With all these being dissolved in this way, what kind of people ought you to be in holy behavior and godly acts? The kind who are waiting for and hastening the coming presence of the Day of God…” (mjlt)

Why has God hit pause on His plans? What is Yeshua waiting for? He is waiting for us to live our lives in such a way that speeds His return—one that is lived by holy behavior and godly acts… which includes the facilitation of the salvation of all Israel. If the Jewish people’s national belief in Yeshua depends even partly on us by our provoking them to jealousy (Rom 11:11), then we need to align ourselves with behaviors and beliefs that will hasten this landmark event.

If we wish to expedite and act as agents of Israel’s salvation, then it starts with abandoning any beliefs that absolve us of our responsibility for the timing of Yeshua’s return. We also need to change our thinking about Yeshua Himself—viewing Him apart from the identity He’s been given in Christianity, and restoring His Jewishness especially in the way we represent Him to others. We need to stop treating our own edification and personal relationship with God as the goal of our walk with Yeshua, and instead remember that it was always supposed to be a means to an end—namely, to prepare us to share Yeshua with others and to make disciples. And above all, we need to be biblically correct in our Scriptural understanding, and to purpose and be prepared to share the biblical Yeshua with Jewish people.

The Scriptures teach and promise us that Yeshua is coming again. It is inevitable, it is near, it is happening in a very little while, and it is coming without delay (Jam. 5:8, Heb. 10:37). Yet, as of this moment, His return is not imminent. It has been deferred until such a time that all Israel—the Jewish people—accept Yeshua as the Messiah, fulfill their prophetic role as “a light for the Gentiles” (Acts 13:47), and thus restart the clock for His glorious return.

As followers of Messiah, it is time to accept our responsibility to hasten Yeshua’s coming, because that is what our faithful God has been patiently waiting for us to do. Let us stop looking to the sky hoping to see a sight that cannot yet come. Instead, let us accept the task before us, and purpose to do our part to help all Israel finally fulfill theirs.

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