The State of Israel and the Second Coming of Christ

I believe the bible to be authoritative, responsible, accurate, etc.-- you might call me a literalist. I was recently listening via podcast to a sermon of Jerry Falwell, a man who has made the word "Bible-believing" to be a catchphrase among some Christians in the later 20th century. In his sermon "Are We Entering WWIII?" (7/22/06, available via ITunes), he stated that the most important date in human history since the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the date in 1948 when the modern state of Israel was founded.

I don't get it. Let's take for granted that the bible is a literal and accurate record of what is to come in the End Times. FWIW, I once heard that Luther, Calvin, and Augustine all disagreed in their interpretation of what the Book of Revelations fortold, so I am unable to claim an "__ialist" label from the grab bag of available options of pre/post millenialist, etc., to describe a package of events.

Let's say that Jesus is planning to come back and set up a kingdom headquartered in Jerusalem and to rule for 1000 years. Given that we are talking about the Second Person of the Trinity, I'm imagining He's going to do it when and how he pleases. Can human goodness or human badness either thwart or speed-on the coming of Christ? Is there scriptural evidence for this?

Suppose:

• God forbid, Iran & North Korea nuke the entire country to ashes next week, OR
• The best hopes and dreams that Jerry has for the souls & inhabitants of the State of Israel, exactly as he articulates it, come true in next 10 years, OR
• Human effort is able to erect a secularist, Utopian paradise like that out of some kind of scifi movie, OR
• The most depressing aspects of the current stalemate continue to stagmate over the next 500 years, OR
• A meteor hits the planet 100 years from now, making the region literally uninhabitable as humans migrate to the poles.

Pick any of these events. Is Jesus, the one who said he could raise up descendants of Abraham from these stones, going to be any more or less able to Come Again? Pick the case of an oncoming pair of asteroids. Would there be reasons, aside from the obvious humanitarian ones, for making sure that we go after the one going for Israel so that Christ's second coming not be thwarted? What other interpretations are possible from a statement that the establishment of Israel is the 2nd most important event in human history?

Granted, I pray that the Holy Spirit do a work of conversion in the hearts of all those planning acts of terror against civilian targets, especially in Israel (and, um, those planning acts of collective punishment of unpopular peoples). I pray that the Holy Spirit do a work of conversion in the hearts of all those planning to develop nuclear weapons in order to threaten allies of the United States (and, um, those who believe there are ever good reasons to target civilian populations with them for any reason).

But the question remains: Can human goodness or human badness either thwart or speed-on the coming of Christ? I say it is extra-scriptural, if not heretical, to answer 'yes' to this question.