So, if they say to you: look, he is in the wilderness, do not go out. If they say: look, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it. The two specific false messiah scenarios — the wilderness messiah and the inner-room hidden messiah — are the two characteristic models of first-century messianic expectation. The wilderness messiah echoes Moses and the Exodus; the hidden messiah echoes the Jewish tradition of the concealed deliverer. Both scenarios should be rejected.

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