The prophetic Scriptures are full of the expectation of Israel, and the Circumcision writings of later revelation confirm them. Yet it is remarkable how much oftener this thought wells up in Paul s epistles. Although they are not nearly half as long as the Circumcision writings, far more than half of the occurrences of expect and expectation occur in them. In other words, about two-thirds of the occurrences are found in Paul s epistles. This is doubtless due to the fact that faith is far more prominent in the truth for today than it ever was in the past.
Expectation is the future outlook of faith.
The past provides the foundation of faith, the future its fruition. We look back and believe God s record of His activities in creation and revelation as recorded in the Scriptures of truth. We, who have His latest and fullest unfoldings, revel in the deeper truths, that He not only created the heavens and the earth, as recorded in Genesis, the book of the Beginning, but that all was created in Christ, the Son of His love, His visible Image, whether that in the heavens or on the earth, whether visible or invisible. Although expectation is not concerned with the past, it is largely based upon it. Confidence in the future of anyone depends on his previous record.