Even So, Come Lord Jesus!

Dear friend in the Messiah,
If you ask me, today’s events in Israel and the Middle East send a loud and clear message that the Lord is coming soon. Jesus may not want us to know the day or the hour of His return, but He did tell us to pay attention to the signs of the times! The Savior said,
Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. (Matthew 24:32–33)
My Confidence in the Messiah’s Soon Return
I had a strong sense of the Lord’s soon return when I first became a believer during the Jesus Movement of the 1970s. I was a Bible novice at the time, but it seemed to me that the return of the Jewish people to Israel and Jerusalem’s coming back under Jewish control pointed to the signs of the times found in the Scriptures.
Then I became more “sophisticated,” or at least I thought. I grew more biblically fluent and spent more time examining the complex matters of the end times in the books of Daniel and Revelation and in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; and Luke 21). While it was a privilege to study Scripture more closely, I became somewhat cynical about the study of the end times. Maybe I was more aware of the historical prophetic miscalculations of Christians and the overconfidence of date setters in the early 1980s. I believed we should be more cautious about claiming a prophecy was fulfilled when it might not be the case.
After all, I did not want to go out on a limb to suggest that we were seeing prophecy fulfilled right before our eyes. What if I were wrong? I did not want to be a poor testimony for the Savior by misinterpreting His Word. But—thank God—my yearning for the coming of the Lord never waned.

As the years passed, I continued to study these incredible prophetic passages of Scripture and have come back to where I started when I began this journey with Jesus—confidently awaiting His imminent return. I look at today’s events in light of the Bible’s teaching and am more convinced than ever that the Lord is coming soon. And once again, it is a game changer that Israel exists as a modern nation and is under merciless attack by enemies near and far!
As I asked one skeptical friend, “So, how many El Al jets would it take to remove almost seven-and-a-half million Jewish people from the Land of Israel?” I smiled when I asked the question, and he, catching my point, returned the smile. We are not setting dates or declaring prophetic fulfillment in a vacuum. The presence of the Jewish people in the very land God promised to Abraham multiple millennia ago should capture our attention and become a lens through which we see ancient prophecies unfolding before our very eyes. We might be closer than we think!
Recognizing God’s Plan for the Future
I also recognize that parts of the future outlined in the Bible can be quite unsettling and overwhelming. The future holds good news for some and very bad news for others. How harshly this falls on our twenty-first-century ears. Yet, it is true! I have so many family members who are not yet believers, and it is my sincere prayer and highest hope that they might come to know Him before He returns! I am sure you feel the same about your family and friends who do not yet know the Lord.
The future God has for the world is unstoppable! And we cannot sidestep His plans. We are called to discover His agenda and join in His mission of redemption. Humanity is not simply meandering through the ages, as God has a plan and purpose for the conclusion of our present age.
The Importance of the End Times
I know that Bob Dylan is not a prophet, but he eloquently expressed my feelings about the return of the Messiah in his song, “When He Returns”:
Like a thief in the night,
he’ll replace wrong with rightWhen he returns . . .
Will I ever learn that there’ll be no peace,
that the war won’t ceaseUntil He returns? . . .
Of every earthly plan that be known to man,
He is unconcernedHe’s got plans of his own to set up His throne
When He returns.[1]
Did you know that the future was one of the Messiah’s favorite subjects? Jesus never avoided talking about it!
In an article, popular American preacher Chuck Swindoll listed some statistics about Jesus’ return:
One out of every 30 verses in the Bible mentions the subject of Christ’s return or the end of time.
Of the 216 chapters in the New Testament, there are well over 300 references to the return of Christ.
Of the 27 New Testament books, 23 mention Christ’s return.
Christ often spoke specifically about His own return to earth.
Throughout the centuries, Christ’s disciples and followers have adamantly believed, written, and taught that Christ would someday return to earth.[2]
Swindoll is correct in his assessment: The future is a major concern to the biblical authors and to the Savior, who was the greatest of all the prophets.
Our Role in Light of the Future

We also have starring roles in His forever story! We need to study the Bible to discover what His plans for the future are and to allow them to inform the way we live in the present.
Jesus calls His disciples to live today in light of tomorrow.
We recognize our days are numbered. Life, as we know it, will soon end. We have very little time to let the world know that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). I have come to believe that our greatest motivation to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19–20) is knowing that He is coming back soon—and when we least expect Him.
Notice that Jesus said He would always be with us—even till the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). His second coming was always on His mind, even as He was ascending to the right hand of the Father. Thoughts of His soon return need to fill our thoughts as well and motivate us to faithfully proclaim the gospel until we see Him face to face!
Your Mission to the Jewish People
I wish I had time and space to tell you what Your Mission to the Jewish People is doing to proclaim the gospel among Jewish people today. And we need your help now as we reach Jewish people for Jesus in these last days.
So, what can you do to enable God’s chosen people to hear the gospel and to get ready for His return?
- Tell your Jewish friends about the Lord.
- Pray for the salvation of Israel.
- Generously support our ministries in the United States and in twenty countries around the globe.
- Introduce your pastor and local congregation to Chosen People Ministries.
- Pray and work toward the peace of Jerusalem and for the welfare of Jewish people so the Jewish community can see that our love for Jesus gives us a love for His kinsmen according to the flesh.
I just returned from a five-day ministry trip to Israel. We have thirty staff members in the Holy Land, and they are reaching out to elderly Holocaust survivors, secular young Israelis, Orthodox Jewish people, and those still displaced from their homes because of the war.
It is so hard to see Israelis suffer hardship (as well as Jewish people globally due to rising antisemitism), but we know the Lord is coming soon, and He uses difficult times to turn our hearts to the only One who can give us hope.
So, please help us reach Jewish people across the globe through your generous support and prayers! We probably have less time to accomplish the task of reaching His chosen people in these last days than we might ordinarily think.
The signs of the times remind us that the Lord is near.
I am especially burdened for Israelis whose lives are so unsettled because of the wars and rumors of wars we see unfolding and intensifying in Israel and throughout the Middle East (Matthew 24:6). The prophetic future detailed in Scripture is upon us, and time is short.
So, your help today in reaching Jewish people in Israel and around the globe is critical.
Looking ahead to a glorious future through the One who died for our sins and rose from the grave, may the Lord fill you with His joy and the hope of His return!
Your brother,

Mitch Glaser
[1] “When He Returns,” Slow Train Coming, lyrics and music by Bob Dylan, accessed December 11, 2024, http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bobdylan/whenhereturns.html.
[2] Chuck Swindoll, “Scriptural Support for Christ’s Return,” Insight for Living, June 15, 2009, https://insight.org/resources/article-library/individual/scriptural-support-for-christ’s-return.
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