The Sages of the Talmud were obsessed with the question of when the Mashiach would come — and fiercely allergic to anyone who tried to nail it to a date. Sanhedrin 97 preserves both impulses at the same time.
One opinion pins the hour precisely: in the year 4,291 after creation, the wars of the dragons and the wars of Gog and Magog will cease. What remains of time will be the days of the Messiah. Then the Holy One — blessed be He — "will not renew His world until after seven thousand years."
Rabbi Jonathan's Imprecation
Against that kind of calculation, Rabbi Jonathan spoke with uncommon heat. "May the bones of those who compute the latter days be blown away!" he said. His reasoning was pastoral, not mystical.
When a calculated date passes and the Messiah does not come, people draw a conclusion they were never supposed to draw: "Since the time has come and he has not, he will never come." The arithmetic, meant to produce hope, produces despair.
Instead, he urged, "wait for Him," drawing on Habakkuk 2:3 — "Though He tarry, wait for Him." And if your soul objects that you wait while He does not, learn to say with Isaiah 30:18, "Therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you."
The redemption, in this reading, is not late. It is patient — and the patience is mutual. The Holy One is waiting for Israel at the same moment Israel is waiting for Him.
The person who circles a date on a calendar has misunderstood both sides of the relationship.