The Seven Lean Years

I'll put these thoughts up today, because no one knows what the  stock market is going to do tomorrow.  How are the markets going to react to the S&P downgrade of the U.S. credit rating?

Here are just some thoughts.  President Hinckley warned us about the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine three times in General Conference, in  1998, 2001, and 2005:

As a backdrop for what I wish to say, I read to you a few verses from the 41st chapter of Genesis.

Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, dreamed dreams which greatly troubled him. The wise men of his court could not give an interpretation. Joseph was then brought before him: “Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

“And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

“And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed. …

“And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: …...

Now, brethren, I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of famine in the future. But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order.

President Gordon B. Hinckley,  "To the Boys and to the Men", Ensign, Nov. 1998, 51

I cannot forget the great lesson of Pharaoh’s dream of the fat and lean kine and of the full and withered stalks of corn. Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Times in Which We Live", Ensign, Nov. 2001, 72–74

Let us never lose sight of the dream of Pharaoh concerning the fat cattle and the lean, the full ears of corn, and the blasted ears; the meaning of which was interpreted by Joseph to indicate years of plenty and years of scarcity ( see Genesis 41:1-36).

http://lds.org/ensign/2005/11/if-ye-are-prepared-ye-shall-not-fear?lang=eng 

“If Ye are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear”  Gordon B. Hinckley, Nov. 2005

I have always wanted to know whether any of those talk signalled the start of the years of plenty.  There are those who think the 1998 talk was the start, but that would mean 2005 was the start of the lean years, and I don’t think that is true.  I am of the opinion that the 1998 talk was just a warning.

I am in the camp of those who think that the 2001 talk was the start of the seven years of plenty.  If I am correct (and I’m nobody, so who cares what I think) then the lean years started in 2008.

In an article I read on Saturday, I discovered that 

"The problems started at the start of the credit crunch four years ago - the unofficial anniversary is this coming Thursday August 9, and it has never gone away despite billions of taxpayers money being channelled into repairing the damage."

Read more:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023101/3-TRILLION-shares-wiped-WEEK-world-economy.html#ixzz1UGgxtpY6

So this author says that August 9, 2007 was the unofficial start of the big financial crisis.  Lets say he is correct, and whatever financial thing happened on Aug. 9, 2007 was actually the start of the lean years (and not the exact day seven years after Pres. Hinckley gave a talk.) (P.S. I found an article explaining what happened that day:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/05/northernrock.banking)

IF we want to assume, for the sake of argument, that the lean years started sometime between 

A) the unnamed financial event of Aug. 9, 2007 and 

B) exactly seven years after Hinckley’s 2001 talk, which would be Nov. 2008, 

then in either case we have been in the lean years for either four years or 2.5 years already.

AND IF we want to believe all that, then that means we’ve got 3 to 4.5 years left to go (of the lean years.)

So lets review some current events to see if our conclusions seem likely.

How is the grain harvest holding up?  Have you seen the news about all the crop failures?  

How are the financial systems of the world holding up?  

Why don’t you read Genesis 47 and see what happens during the seven years of famine.

Gen. 47:15: "And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth."

I don’t know if my conclusions are correct.  I hope they aren’t.  But IF we are in the middle of the seven lean years, and IF our seven years is patterned after ancient Egypt’s seven years, then I think our money system is going to fail.  Not this week perhaps, but soon.

Have a nice day.