Our gemara on Amud Beis records a dialogue between Rav Illish and Rav. Rav made a mistaken ruling which Rav corrected. Rav Ilish was embarrassed and so To comfort him, Rav read the following verse about him: “I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time” (Isaiah 60:22), as if to say: It was due to Divine Providence that I was here to correct you before your mistaken ruling was implemented

This verse is classically interpreted by our sages as God’s assurance that He would bring redemption, even if the Jews not fully merit it (Sanhedrin 98a):

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The son of David will come only in a generation that is entirely innocent, in which case they will be deserving of redemption, or in a generation that is entirely guilty, in which case there will be no alternative to redemption. He may come in a generation that is entirely innocent, as it is written: “And your people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever” (Isaiah 60:21). He may come in a generation that is entirely guilty, as it is written: “And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no intercessor; therefore His arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness, it sustained Him” (Isaiah 59:16). And it is written: “For My own sake, for My own sake will I do it; for how should it be profaned? And My glory I will not give it to another” (Isaiah 48:11).

Rabbi Alexandri says: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi raises a contradiction in a verse addressing God’s commitment to redeem the Jewish people. In the verse: “I the Lord in its time I will hasten it” (Isaiah 60:22), it is written: “In its time,” indicating that there is a designated time for the redemption, and it is written: “I will hasten it,” indicating that there is no set time for the redemption. Rabbi Alexandri explains: If they merit redemption through repentance and good deeds I will hasten the coming of the Messiah. If they do not merit redemption, the coming of the Messiah will be in its designated time.

Rav Tzaddok (Tzidkas HaTzaddik 50) understands this does not mean the Messiah will come no matter what even if we do not deserve it, but rather as follows: If we achieve some particular extra merit, Mashiach will come early before it’s time. If we do not, at the right time God will engineer events that will inspire us to repent so that we deserve it (see Blogpost Psychology of the Daf, Bava Basra 117.) This is an interesting idea, because it is not so much that Mashiach is “taking too long“ or, “very late in coming“. Rather, unfortunately, we have not merited for it to come early. But, it will always come on time.

Additionally, while the Gemara Sanhedrin applies this verse to collective redemption, our Gemara applies it to individual redemption. Rav Tzaddok Hacohen considers this significant and equates the two.  Just as the Messiah will either come before its time via extraordinary merit, so too for individual suffering, a person may merit pre-empting hardship, as the cure might come before the illness. However, if not, God waits for the prayer and the change and will still offer personal and collective redemption at its appropriate time.