God’s Promises Fulfilled

Israel Expected God to Work Differently

Israel in Mary’s day lived under strong religious and political expectations about how God’s deliverance should come.

The Sadducees were the priestly, Temple-centered elite and were deeply invested in maintaining stability with Rome. They denied the resurrection and the reality of angels and spirits (Acts 23:8). The Pharisees emphasized covenant identity, strict obedience to the Law, purity, tradition, and public righteousness.

Together, these groups shaped expectations about how God should act: through recognized authority, accepted religious structures, public proof, and visible national deliverance.

Even Christ’s own disciples showed how deeply those expectations had taken hold. After His death they said, “we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel” (Luke 24:21), and even after His resurrection they still asked, “wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).

The leaders also feared anything that might threaten political stability. They said of Jesus, “If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation” (John 11:48).

This was the world into which the Messiah came.

And the Lord fulfilled His promises in a way almost no one expected.

Mary Received the Promise in Private

The Lord revealed the next step quietly.

Mary did not receive her calling before rulers, priests, or a public gathering. An angel came to her privately and told her that she would carry the Messiah (Luke 1:26–35).

Before there was a manger, before shepherds, and before angels appeared publicly, the fulfillment of God’s promise was hidden inside Mary’s body.

No one around her could verify what had happened.

That placed Mary in a difficult position. She was betrothed to Joseph, and betrothal was binding enough that ending it required divorce. If people learned she was pregnant before the marriage was completed, the obvious conclusion would be sexual sin.

The Law of Moses treated adultery during betrothal as a serious offense, and public accusation could have brought severe consequences (Deuteronomy 22:23–24).

Mary therefore had to obey God while knowing that other people could easily misunderstand what He had asked her to do.

Holiness did not protect her from accusation.

Joseph Also Had to Receive Revelation

Mary was not the only one required to act in faith.

Joseph had to decide what to do with a situation that, from his perspective, appeared to be obvious wrongdoing.

Matthew tells us that Joseph was a just man and did not want to make Mary a public example, so he planned to divorce her quietly (Matthew 1:18–19).

That tells us something important: at first, Joseph did not understand what had happened.

Mary could not simply explain the situation in a way that made it believable. The Lord had to reveal the truth to Joseph for himself.

An angel appeared to him in a dream and told him not to fear taking Mary as his wife, because the child was conceived by the Holy Ghost (Matthew 1:20).

Joseph then accepted Mary and protected her.

The Lord did not remove the trial before it began. He gave the needed witness when Joseph needed it.

The Lord Provided Mary with Support

The Lord also gave Mary someone who could understand what was happening.

Mary went to Elizabeth, and when she arrived, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost and recognized that Mary carried the Lord (Luke 1:39–45).

Mary did not have to convince Elizabeth.

The Spirit had already prepared her.

That gave Mary a place where she could be believed before returning to the uncertainty surrounding Joseph and the wider community.

Even with that support, Mary still had to continue in faith. She had already answered the angel, “Be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).

She did not know how every problem would be resolved before she obeyed.

God Fulfilled His Promise Through What Looked Small

The Messiah did not come through the public expectations of the religious establishment.

The fulfillment began with a young woman receiving private revelation, a righteous man receiving confirmation in a dream, and a small number of people acting on what God revealed to them.

The Law of Moses was fulfilled. The Lamb of God came. The promised Messiah entered mortality. The redemption of mankind moved from prophecy into reality.

Yet the beginning of that fulfillment did not look impressive to the world.

It looked small, private, and questionable to people who did not know what God had revealed.

That is an important pattern.

God can begin a great work through something very small and still be fulfilling promises made long before.

The Lord’s Servants Are Often Misunderstood

Mary and Joseph were not protected from misunderstanding simply because they were obeying God.

From the outside, their situation could easily have looked wrong.

People who did not receive the revelation given to Mary and Joseph would have judged only what they could see.

That does not mean every unusual claim comes from God.

It means that God’s work cannot always be judged correctly by public appearance, social expectation, or what seems normal.

The same principle appears throughout scripture. God often gives revelation privately before the world understands what He is doing.

His servants must therefore learn to obey Him even when others do not understand them.

Joseph Smith Followed the Same Pattern

This helps explain why Joseph Smith’s experience should not seem strange.

He was a young man outside the established religious leadership of his day. He received revelation privately and testified that heaven had spoken to him.

Many did not believe him.

The fact that his calling came outside the expected religious channels did not make it false.

The question was whether God had actually spoken.

That is the same question that has always mattered.

God Continues to Reveal What Comes Next

The Lord has always revealed His work according to His own wisdom rather than according to what men expect.

He may reveal something privately before it becomes public. He may begin with a small number of people. He may call someone others would not have chosen. He may give a commandment that appears unreasonable to those who have not received the same revelation.

That does not mean every private impression is from God, and it does not mean every unusual claim should be accepted without discernment.

It means we should not assume that God must always work through familiar expectations before we are willing to believe Him.

The pattern is consistent.

Mary received revelation privately. Joseph received his own witness. Elizabeth received confirmation through the Spirit. The Messiah came in a way many did not expect. Joseph Smith later received revelation outside the accepted religious structures of his day.

The Lord is still the same God. He continues to fulfill His promises, reveal what comes next, and require His people to recognize His voice even when His work begins in a way they did not expect.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8; Mormon 9:9).