A small but relevant part of the story:

Peace with justice, security and equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians -

The Road to Balfour: The History of Christian Zionism - Peace with justice, security and equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians

By Stephen Sizer Delivered at a conference arranged by the Balfour Project in association with the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2nd November 2012...

That movie or series that promoted it probably helped popularize it as well.

Yeah, the Rapture craze really hit in the 70s low-budget films too. Televangelists laveraged this be able to comment on how every headline was aCkShUaLlY a fulfillment of some obscure prophesy. The grift has been enormous. We in the U.S. have been a modern-day Corinth.

Pretty much, if not worse.