Here but not here yet...

A common theme that runs through the Pentateuch and New Testament Theology.

From the introduction to Pentateuch in New Bible Commentary:-

David Clines has aptly summed up the theme of the Pentateuch as ‘the partial fulfilment—which implies also the partial nonfulfilment—of the promise to or blessing of the patriarchs’ (The Theme of the Pentateuch [JSOT Press; 1978], p. 29). The promises to the patriarchs, of land, descendants, a covenant relationship and blessing to the nations, are first announced in Gn. 12:1-3, when the Lord called Abraham to leave his family for a land that he would show him. The many subsequent divine messages in Genesis elaborate and enrich these promises. For example, it is gradually made clear that the land of Canaan was the land promised and that it would be the possession of Abraham’s descendants for ever (e.g. Gn. 13:14-17; 17:8). The promise of descendants is made more specific too, as it becomes clear that the first of these descendants was not Lot (ch. 13), nor Eliezer (ch. 15), nor Ishmael (ch. 17), but Isaac, the only son of Abraham’s elderly wife Sarah.

It is not just the promises that relate to the theme of the Pentateuch. Every episode in the history or statute in the law contributes to the unfolding of the theme. For example, the urgent demand for holiness relates to two aspects of the promise, the gift of the land and the covenant relationship. Israel is commanded to be holy like God, for holiness is the essence of his character, and Israel as the Lord’s covenant–partner must imitate her God (Lv. 11:45). Furthermore, the continued presence of God and Israel within the promised land depends on the latter’s righteous behaviour. Heinous sins pollute the land making it impossible for the Lord to dwell there and prompting the land to vomit out its inhabitants (Lv. 18:25-28).

Although Gn. 1 reveals God as the almighty Creator who made and controls the whole world, the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham is never completed in the Pentateuch. His descendants totalled about seventy by the time his grandson Jacob left Canaan (Gn. 46:27), were enough to cause concern to the Pharaoh of Egypt some generations later (Ex. 1:10), but were still too few to populate the land of Canaan in the days of Moses according to Dt. 7:17-22. Similarly, although the whole land was promised to Abraham, all he managed to acquire was enough ground to bury Sarah (Gn. 23). Jacob purchased a little more (Gn. 33:19), but the Pentateuch ends with Moses viewing the whole land from a mountain top in Moab and the people poised to cross the Jordan to enter Canaan (Dt. 34). The promises are only partially fulfilled within the Pentateuch itself. The five books look to the future for the ultimate fulfilment of the promise. Running through them is the tension between the ‘now’ of present fulfilment and the ‘not yet’ of future complete fulfilment.

From ESV Study Bible:-

Already but Not Yet

The message of the NT cannot be separated from that of the OT. The OT promised that God would save his people, beginning with the promise that the seed of the woman would triumph over the seed of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15). God's saving promises were developed especially in the covenants he made with his people: (1) the covenant with Abraham promised God's people land, seed, and universal blessing (Gen. 12:1–3); (2) the Mosaic covenant pledged blessing if Israel obeyed the Lord (Exodus 19–24); (3) the Davidic covenant promised a king in the Davidic line forever, and that through this king the promises originally made to Abraham would become a reality (2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89; 132); and (4) the new covenant promised that God would give his Spirit to his people and write his law on their hearts, so that they would obey his will (Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:26–27).

As John the Baptist and Jesus arrived on the scene, it was obvious that God's saving promises had not yet been realized. The Romans ruled over Israel, and a Davidic king did not reign in the land. The universal blessing promised to Abraham was scarcely a reality, for even in Israel it was sin, not righteousness, that reigned. John the Baptist therefore summoned the people of Israel to repent and to receive baptism for the forgiveness of their sins, so that they would be prepared for a coming One who would pour out the Spirit and judge the wicked.

Jesus of Nazareth represents the fulfillment of what John the Baptist prophesied. Jesus, like John, announced the imminent arrival of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15), which is another way of saying that the saving promises found in the OT were about to be realized. The kingdom of God, however, came in a most unexpected way. The Jews had anticipated that when the kingdom arrived, the enemies of God would be immediately wiped out and a new creation would dawn (Isa. 65:17). Jesus taught, however, that the kingdom was present in his person and ministry (Luke 17:20–21)—and yet the foes of the kingdom were not instantly annihilated. The kingdom did not come with apocalyptic power but in a small and almost imperceptible form. It was as small as a mustard seed, and yet it would grow into a great tree that would tower over the entire earth. It was as undetectable as leaven mixed into flour, but the leaven would eventually transform the entire batch of dough (Matt. 13:31–33). In other words, the kingdom was already present in Jesus and his ministry, but it was not yet present in its entirety. It was “already—but not yet.” It was inaugurated but not consummated. Jesus fulfilled the role of the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah 53, taking upon himself the sins of his people and suffering death for the forgiveness of their sins. The day of judgment was still to come in the future, even though there would be an interval between God's beginning to fulfill his promises in Jesus (the kingdom inaugurated) and the final realization of his promises (the kingdom consummated). Jesus, who has been reigning since he rose from the dead, will return and sit on his glorious throne and judge between the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:31–46). Hence, believers pray both for the progressive growth and for the final consummation of the kingdom in the words “your kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10).

The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) focus on the promise of the kingdom, and John expresses a similar truth with the phrase “eternal life.” Eternal life is the life of the age to come, which will be realized when the new creation dawns. Remarkable in John's Gospel is the claim that those who believe in the Son enjoy the life of the coming age now. Those who have put their faith in Jesus have already passed from death to life (John 5:24–25), for he is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). Still, John also looks ahead to the day of the final resurrection, when every person will be judged for what he or she has done (John 5:28–29). While the focus in John is on the initial fulfillment of God's saving promises now, the future and final fulfillment is in view as well.

The already-not-yet theme dominates the entire NT and functions as a key to grasping the whole story (see chart). The resurrection of Jesus indicates that the age to come has arrived, that now is the day of salvation. In the same way the gift of the Holy Spirit represents one of God's end-time promises. NT writers joyously proclaim that the promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit has been fulfilled (e.g., Acts 2:16–21; Rom. 8:9–16; Eph. 1:13–14). The last days have come through Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1–2), through whom we have received God's final and definitive word. Since the resurrection has penetrated history and the Spirit has been given, we might think that salvation history has been completed—but there is still the “not yet.” Jesus has been raised from the dead, but believers await the resurrection of their bodies and must battle against sin until the day of redemption (Rom. 8:10–13, 23; 1 Cor. 15:12–28; 1 Pet. 2:11). Jesus reigns on high at the right hand of God, but all things have not yet been subjected to him (Heb. 2:5–9).

The Already and Not Yet of the Last Days

The OT prophets, writing from the vantage point of their present age (the time of promise), spoke of “the last days” as being the time of fulfillment in the distant future (e.g., Jer. 23:20; 49:39; Ezek. 38:16; Hos. 3:5; Mic. 4:1).