By the time we reach the opening pages of the New Testament, waiting has become part of Israel’s story.
In the previous essays, we traced the presence of a faithful remnant through the Old Testament and followed Israel’s story through the time between the Testaments. Empires changed. Greek culture spread. The Scriptures were translated from Hebrew into Greek. The Temple was desecrated and then rededicated. Israel experienced independence for a short time, but eventually Rome took control. Through all of those changes, Israel’s Scriptures remained.
They were read in synagogues, taught in families, discussed among teachers, and carried into Jewish communities throughout the Mediterranean world. The Scriptures did more than preserve a memory, they shaped Israel’s expectations for the future. The faithful were not simply waiting. They had been taught what to wait for.
Promises Still Looking Forward
The Hebrew Scriptures tell a story filled with promises that looked forward. God promised Abraham that through his descendant all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:1–3). He promised David that his kingdom would endure (2 Sam. 7:12–16). The prophets spoke of restoration after judgment, a people, a future ruler, and blessing that would extend beyond Israel to the surrounding nations.
Some promises were partially fulfilled within Israel’s ongoing story, but other promises seemed to point beyond anything Israel had yet experienced. Biblical expectation was created from an ongoing story. The Israelites inherited promises, patterns, images, and hopes that taught them to anticipate God’s future action.
Waiting for a King
One of the most familiar expectations centered on David. God had promised David that his offspring would succeed him and that his throne would be established (2 Sam. 7:12–16). Israel’s later history complicated that promise dramatically. The kingdom divided, David’s dynasty declined, Jerusalem fell, and eventually the people found themselves living under foreign rulers.
But the prophets continued to speak about David’s line.
Isaiah envisioned a shoot emerging from the stump of Jesse, a ruler upon whom the Spirit of the LORD would rest and whose reign would be characterized by righteousness and justice (Isa. 11:1–10). Jeremiah spoke of a “righteous Branch” raised up for David who would reign wisely and execute justice (Jer. 23:5–6). Micah looked toward a ruler coming from Bethlehem whose origins reached back into Israel’s story (Mic. 5:2–5).
These prophetic promises would have been a foundation for the hope of people living under the rule of Persia, Greece, the Seleucids, and eventually Rome. Israel was once ruled by their own kings and they were waiting for a different kind of king to factor into their future.
Waiting for Another Moses
David was not the only figure who shaped Israel’s expectations.
Near the end of his life, Moses said that God would raise up another prophet like him from among their own people (Deut. 18:15–19). Moses had led God’s people out of bondage, ascended a mountain, delivered God’s instruction, and presented a covenant. The idea of another prophet “like Moses” therefore carried considerable weight.
Scripture had created an expectation. Someone was expected.
Waiting for Elijah
The prophet Malachi looks forward to a coming “day of the LORD.” But God said before that day arrives, “I will send you Elijah the prophet” (Mal. 4:5–6). One of the most important prophets of Israel’s past, was mysteriously attached to God’s future plan for His people.
For Christian readers, the location of that promise is particularly striking. Malachi is the last book the traditional Christian order of the Old Testament. After Malachi points to Elijah, the page turns, and the New Testament begins.
Historically centuries lie between those pages. Yet the expectation remains. A king is coming. A prophetic leader is expected. And someone will prepare the way.
Waiting for a Shepherd
Other expectations were less about a particular title and more about what God had promised to do. Shepherd imagery is prominent within Hebrew prophecy .
Israel’s kings and leaders were often described as shepherds. At times they were faithful shepherds, but often they were lacking. Ezekiel condemns Israel’s shepherds for feeding themselves rather than caring for the flock. The sheep have been scattered, injured, and left vulnerable because their shepherds have failed them (Ezek. 34:1–10).
When men failed shepherd properly, God promised that He would search for His sheep, rescue them from the places where they have been scattered, feed them, bind up the injured, and strengthen the weak (Ezek. 34:11–16). Yet only a few verses later, God also promises to place over them “one shepherd, my servant David” (Ezek. 34:23–24).
The imagery begins to overlap. God will come for His sheep through a descendant of David. For those reading Ezekiel’s promise after the collapse of David’s dynasty, it created an expectation. God would once again gather his people.
Waiting for Comfort and Restoration
Isaiah offers another important strand of expectation.
“Comfort, comfort my people,” Isaiah announces as he looks beyond judgment toward restoration (Isa. 40:1). The prophet then describes a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the LORD (Isa. 40:3–5). The language is filled with return, restoration, and the arrival of God Himself.
Later chapters continue developing that hope. Good news is announced to Zion: “Your God reigns” (Isa. 52:7). The LORD comforts His people and redeems Jerusalem (Isa. 52:9). A servant brings good news to the poor, binds up the brokenhearted, and announces liberty to captives (Isa. 61:1–3).
Scripture Prepared People to Recognize
This brings us back to the idea of recognition. Recognition does not happen in a vacuum. People recognize something because, in some sense, they already have a category for what we are seeing.
Someone waiting for a Davidic king knows the story of David. Someone waiting for a prophet like Moses must know the story of Moses. Someone anticipating Elijah knows what Elijah represented. Someone longing for the consolation, redemption, or restoration of Israel has learned those hopes somewhere. For faithful Jewish people in the first century, that “somewhere” was deeply rooted in their Scriptures.
This does not mean everyone interpreted those Scriptures identically. The centuries between the Testaments had produced a diverse world, and groups developed different expectations about what God would do, how He would do it, and when it would happen.
But disagreement about the details does not erase the fact that they were waiting for their expectations to be fulfilled.
When the Waiting People Appear
The Old Testament taught us to expect a faithful remnant. The centuries between the Testaments showed us that Israel’s covenant practices and scriptural traditions continued. And those Scriptures had spent generations teaching God’s people to look forward.
Now we are ready to turn the page.
When the Gospel writers begin introducing their characters, we should pay careful attention to the words they choose. Are these people indifferent to God? Hostile toward Him? Searching for Him? Trusting Him? Waiting for something He has promised?
Those descriptions matter. Before Jesus speaks a word to them, the Gospel writers may already be telling us what kind of people they are. And some of them have been waiting a very long time.
Continue Exploring
What Were They Waiting For? is part of The Cold Call Delusion Essays, an exploration of how careful attention to the biblical narrative can reshape the way we read familiar encounters with Jesus.
Related Essays
The Faithful Remnant: A Story as Old as the Bible
The Old Testament repeatedly reveals people who continue trusting God even during periods of widespread rebellion, idolatry, judgment, and exile. This recurring pattern helps us understand the faithful people who were still waiting when the New Testament story begins.
Between the Testaments, But Not Between the Covenants
Nearly four centuries separate the closing events of the Old Testament from the world of the Gospels. During those centuries, empires changed and Jewish life developed, but Israel’s Scriptures, Temple, covenant practices, and expectations continued.
Recognition: An Overlooked Pattern in the Gospels
Some encounters with Jesus appear to involve more than people discovering something entirely new. The Gospel writers repeatedly portray people recognizing the fulfillment of hopes, promises, and expectations that were already present.
Read the Character Before the Conversation
Before deciding what happens when someone encounters Jesus, pay attention to how the Gospel writer introduces that person. Those descriptions often provide important clues for understanding everything that follows.
Key Terms & Concepts
Messianic Expectation
The collection of biblical hopes and expectations associated with God’s future work through an anointed ruler or deliverer. Israel’s expectation was shaped not by a single prophecy but by generations of promises, patterns, and prophetic images concerning kingship, restoration, justice, and God’s purposes for His people.
Davidic King
The expectation of a future ruler connected to God’s covenant with David (2 Sam. 7:12–16). Prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah continued to describe a coming ruler from David’s line even after the Davidic monarchy had declined (Isa. 11:1–10; Jer. 23:5–6; Mic. 5:2–5).
Prophet Like Moses
Moses told Israel that God would raise up another prophet like him and instructed the people to listen to that prophet (Deut. 18:15–19). This promise contributed to Israel’s expectation that a significant prophetic figure remained to come.
Elijah Expectation
Malachi promised that Elijah would appear before the coming “day of the LORD” (Mal. 4:5–6). This expectation became part of the scriptural background for understanding the role of a future messenger who would prepare God’s people for what He was about to do.
Shepherd Imagery
The Old Testament frequently uses shepherd language for Israel’s leaders and for God Himself. Ezekiel 34 is especially important: after condemning Israel’s failed shepherds, God promises both to shepherd His people Himself and to appoint “my servant David” as their shepherd (Ezek. 34:11–16, 23–24).
Recognition
A spiritual encounter in which someone comes to understand that God’s promises, expectations, or previous work are being fulfilled. Recognition is not necessarily identical to initial faith or conversion; it can describe the realization that something long believed, hoped for, or anticipated has now come into view.
Faithful Remnant
The recurring biblical pattern of people who continue trusting God even when widespread unbelief, rebellion, or judgment surrounds them. The presence of a faithful remnant helps explain why we should expect to encounter people already trusting God when the New Testament story begins.
Next in The Cold Call Delusion Essays
When the Waiting People Appear (Coming Soon!)
The Hebrew Scriptures taught generations of God’s people what to anticipate. When the Gospels finally open, their writers introduce people described as righteous, devout, faithful, prayerful, and waiting. Before listening to their conversations, perhaps we should pay attention to how the Gospel writers have already introduced them.
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