Length: 7 minutes

“Wait on the Lord.” Some people love the term. Some people don’t. Either way, the term is usually misunderstood.

There is a crowd that believes God controls everything. When they hear, “Wait on the Lord,” that falls right in line with their doctrine. They’re always waiting on God because they believe He controls everything. They don’t have any say. They’re just waiting (though this is not true).

There is another crowd that’s realized the truth that Jesus finished everything. We are merely responding in faith toward the work Jesus has already done. When that crowd hears, “Wait on the Lord,” they do their best to try and reinterpret it. “Perhaps it doesn’t really mean to wait, but more to serve, like a waiter would.” They know that Jesus finished everything, and they don’t want people to be passive, just waiting around for God to do something, because they know God has already done everything! And that’s true! So, what’s up with the term “wait on the Lord.” The Bible is full of this term. 

We don’t need to try and re-interpret the word “wait.” It means just what it sounds like. It’s talking about waiting for God. But why? Jesus already finished everything. That’s true today, but that wasn’t true in the Old Testament when people were talking about “waiting on the Lord.”

Today, when we believe in Jesus it’s just called “faith” or “belief.” We’re believing something that Jesus already did. But in the Old Testament, while their belief could be called “faith,” it was also called “waiting” or “hope,” because the Messiah they were believing on was still to come! We don’t need to re-interpret the word “wait.” It’s incredibly important.

When the Bible says that Old Testament saints received from God by “waiting” on Him, it’s that word “waiting” that shows they were receiving through the Messiah, because He’s the one they were waiting for! They were waiting for salvation. They were waiting for freedom from sin. They were waiting for the payment to be made. When we reinterpret the word “wait” we’re taking away the part of the verse that is referencing the Messiah! 

The word “hope” is also commonly used for how Old Testament saints received from God, because “hope” means “expectancy.” This fits perfectly because they were expecting the Messiah!

Lamentations 3:26 (NKJV) It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.

Also, here in Isaiah it says people can receive strength by “waiting on the Lord.” This is Old Testament language for saying that they could receive strength by looking forward to the Messiah!

Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength…

For the Old Testament, the term “wait on the Lord” is beautiful! It shows that they were seeing Jesus ahead of time. It shows that the reason for all their receiving was Jesus! The problem is, it’s not applicable today. It would be incorrect for a New Testament saint to say that they receive strength when they “wait on the Lord,” because the Lord already came and provided the strength! We’re looking back on it now. We’re not waiting anymore.

This is why, when Paul quoted an Old Testament verse about “Waiting” on the Lord, he updated it by the Holy Spirit to speak of loving the Lord. And if you’ve heard our teaching, you know that loving the Lord is faith (Matthew 22:37-39; 1 John 3:23)

Isaiah 64:4 (NKJV) …Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV) But as it is written: “EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD… THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

You see? Paul, as a New Testament Saint would not tell the Corinthians that they should wait on the Lord for provision. That would be incorrect in the New Testament. To wait on the Lord would to be to not acknowledge that our salvation and full provision is in the past at the cross. There’s nothing more to wait for.

It would also be incorrect to say that Christians receive by “hope” today. Hope is a belief for the future (Romans 8:25). Since Jesus is the object of our belief, we’re not believing for provision in the future, like Old Testament saints. We’re believing a provision 2,000 years in the past, at the cross! We receive through faith in a past tense work. We don’t receive by hope (a belief for the future).

I’m not saying that a believer shouldn’t have hope (or an expectancy). We certainly should. But we shouldn’t be hoping for God to provide for us. The only biblical hope there is for a believer today, is a hope that what we have inside us will manifest (Romans 8:19, 25). That is an entire teaching in and of itself. 

If you read Romans 5:2, it speaks of both faith and hope, though it makes it very clear that today we receive through faith in Jesus. Hope is not how we access.

So, we receive by faith, not by hope, but for Old Testament saints, funny enough, their faith was also called hope. 

Faith is just a belief about spiritual things. Hope is a belief for the future. But in the Old Testament, the spiritual things they were believing were in the future! They were still to be provided! So, it would be accurate to say that their faith in Jesus was also called hope, because Jesus was still on His way!

If I lost anyone along the way, what should we gather from all of this? Whether people in the Old Testament or people in the New Testament today, the object of our belief is Jesus! That is how everyone receives! They were waiting and hoping for that salvation. We are believing His salvation which has already come!

Jesus said that Abraham saw the day of Jesus (John 8:56). Moses and the prophets prophesied of the coming of Jesus (John 5:46). Elihu said to magnify the work of the Lord, but they were still seeing it afar off (Job 36:24-25).

The thing we should learn when we see Old Testament saints receiving from God as they “waited on the Lord,” is not that we should still be waiting. All the contrary. We should learn that even the Old Testament saints received from God by looking at Jesus. They were waiting for Him, but for us, He’s already arrived. 

If this article blessed you, share this with someone else!