One of the clearest pictures in the Bible of the second coming of Yeshua (Jesus) is found in Zechariah 14:2-3:

"I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem, the sea shall be taken...then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as He fights in the day of battle."

The fact that the second coming of Yeshua is connected with a battle over Jerusalem raises several theological problems. Interestingly enough the strange combination of terrorism, Islam, and the United Nations is shedding light on how this prophecy could come to pass.

The first problem is one of coalition: How could all the nations of the world, from so many different backgrounds come together in agreement. Over the recent years, we have seen the block of Islamic nations joining together with the liberal humanist nations of Europe in anti-Israel resolutions in the UN. Although the European humanists and the religious Muslims are so different in their worldviews, they are able to come into unity against Israel.

The second problem is one of focus. How could all the nations of the world be focused against one small city? Here again we see the threefold influence of terrorism, Islam, and the United Nations. Terrorism affects all the nations of the world, but its primary focus is Jerusalem (as seen by the recent El Aksa intifada that started on the Temple Mount). Islamic claims on Jerusalem as its holy city (El Quds) and the Palestinian anti-Israel propaganda in the UN have made Jerusalem the focal point of international conflict in our generation.

The third problem is one of Christian Eschatology: How are Christians around the world to equate their faith in Jesus with the city of Jerusalem? Certainly a Christian well-read in the prophesies of the Bible will already be aware that the battles of the end times are centered around Jerusalem. However, modern events are also forcing Christians to see the connection between Jesus and Israel. As some Christians see roots in the UN of a one-world anti-Christ government, so do they see the UN as a forum for anti-Israel propaganda. As Islam has become in our generation the primary obstacle to world evangelism, so has it become the primary motivator for anti-Israel sentiments. Militant Islamic terrorism is not only directed against Jews, but is also the greatest cause of Christian martyrs in the world today.

The fourth problem is one of Jewish messianic expectations. While many religious Jews understand biblical prophecy of the coming of the Messiah at the time of a great apocalyptic battle over Jerusalem, they do not see that as connected with Yeshua. However, as the nations of the world turn more against Jerusalem, the people of Israel will find that their only allies are staunchly evangelical Christians. Even this week on a morning talk show on the largest Israeli television station, I heard a perplexed discussion as to how it could be that the only people really standing with Israel are the radical religious right of the American evangelical Christians. Unfortunately, this phenomenon was totally misunderstood by them (as being a strange form of Christian anti-Semitism). However, the awareness of the phenomenon (of the support of Israel by evangelical Christians) is already well noted in Israel.

The fifth problem is one of morality: If Yeshua is coming back to judge the world in righteousness (Psalms 98:13), why would He punish those who are against Israel? There are many evils in the world today. Yet suicide terrorism is the greatest of them all. We have yet to see the effects of what suicide terrorists will do if they can get their hands on small nuclear devices or biological/chemical weapons. Suicide terrorism may very well emerge as the greatest moral evil the world has ever seen. If that is so, terrorism will become the issue that forms a moral dividing line between good and evil. Every moral person will have to take a stand against terrorism. Since the number one focus of worldwide terrorism is Jerusalem, Jerusalem will by necessity, de facto, become the moral dividing line of all peoples.

Liberal humanism in the UN, religious militancy in Islam, and the new wave of suicide terrorism are forcing Christians, the people of Israel, and simply moral people everywhere to be aligned together. This alignment sets the stage for the prophecies concerning the second coming of Yeshua to take place.