When I came to faith in Jesus at the age of 16 in 1971, we were told that all signs pointed to Jesus returning very soon, possibly any minute. Hal Lindsey’s bestselling book “The Late Great Planet Earth” laid it all out. Jerusalem was back in Jewish hands, and the counterculture revolution was the final rebellion prophesied in the Bible. Surely, we thought, He’ll be back any moment now.

That was more than 55 years ago, and since then, many other predictions have come and gone.

There was the bestselling book “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988,” which not only predicted the year of the rapture but also the date: Sept. 12, 1988.

When a friend asked if I planned to read the book, I told him I would read it on Sept. 13. I didn’t take it seriously at all.

Harold Camping of Family Radio infamously predicted Judgment Day and the return of Jesus on May 21, 2011. (This was actually the last of a number of wrong predictions he made.)

And, while not predicting dates, the mega-bestselling “Left Behind” series by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye had millions of Christians expecting an “any moment” return of the Lord.

There was also a viral video released in 2025 claiming that the Second Coming would take place on Sept. 23 or 24, 2025. It was tied to a pastor’s reported vision and to claims about Rosh HaShanah, which some linked to hidden meanings in Hebrew and other prophetic symbolism.

Talk about reading things into the biblical text that are not there.

That’s why I posted a video on Sept. 18, 2025, titled, “Why Jesus Is Not Returning September 23.”

In fact, on Sept. 17, 2017, I posted an article titled, “Sorry to Tell You, But Jesus Is Not Returning on September 23” – meaning, Sept. 23, 2017.

The exact same date was predicted eight years earlier.

When will we learn?

That’s why, on Sept. 10, 2025, I posted an article titled, “Longing for His Return Rather Than Date-Setting.”

And that’s why, in light of these failed predictions, which have been made for most of church history, the last thing I’m going to do is set dates.

Date-setting is not just dangerous business. It is also a great distraction.

It’s possible Jesus will not return for another 100 years, or even longer. Until that time – be it in the very near or distant future – we have work to do for Him. And that must be our focus.

That’s also why, when people have said to me over the years, “But things are different now,” I tell them, “I’ve heard that many times before.”

Yet, to be totally candid – and without setting dates – it’s clear that things are different today, more than at any other time in my life (and I’m 71 now).

From a technological point of view, the rise of AI has given rise to some very plausible doom-and-gloom predictions. And even if the worst of these predictions prove to be completely overblown, it seems clear that the lives of countless millions of people could change dramatically in the next few years.

Some real upheaval could be at hand.

But that’s not my main focus here.

Instead, I want to point to something unprecedented in my lifetime, namely, the rapid, insidious rise of a virulent and violent anti-Semitism right here in America, let alone around the world.

Article after article begins with a litany of the latest violent attacks on Jews, in America, in England, in Australia, and more.

Social media influencers with millions of followers openly praise Hitler or express their fervent desire to see Jews suffer and die. And news of the slaughter of Jews results in an orgy of online hatred, with calls for more Jews to die.

To repeat: This is unprecedented in my lifetime, and even attempting to document a fraction of it would require more of a book than an article.

To give one example from within the last week, a woman riding a New York City subway began complaining about “the Jews” stealing wealth, before shouting that, “Jews are eating kids.” She then assaulted a young Orthodox Jewish woman, pulling out a fistful of her hair.

What utter madness – and yet more and more people believe more and more vile things about “the Jews,” whether it be the Jews in Israel or the Jews next door.

Those evil, dangerous Jews! They might just be eating your kids next.

You might say, “So what does this have to do with the return of Jesus?”

Perhaps nothing, although it is urgent that we wake up and push back against this ideological cancer.

On the other hand, the Bible predicts a day when “all nations” will gather together to wage war against Jerusalem and the Jewish people living there (see Zechariah 12:1-3; 14:1-2).

In light of the out-of-control rise in global antisemitism, with much of the hatred focused on the nation of Israel, such a scenario seems much more plausible.

In that sense, things are different today. It is high time we got on high alert.