Hinckley's repeated references to 7 yrs of plenty, 7 yrs of famine

(Keep in mind yesterday's post about President Eyring saying that warnings are always repeated.)

The first time President Hinckley referenced Pharaoh's dream was in 1998 ("To the Boys and to the Men, Nov. 1998 Ensign)  when he told about the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine.  "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...There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed... That's all I have to say about it, but I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable."

President Hinckley again referenced Pharaoh's dream just weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in his talk "The Times in Which We Live".  (Ensign, Nov. 2001).  He talked about getting out of debt, paying off our mortgages, setting food aside that would sustain us for a time in case of need.  

He then referenced Pharaoh's dream when he said, "I do not know what the future holds.  I do not wish to sound negative, but I wish to remind you of the warnings of scripture and the teachings of the prophets which we have had constantly before us.  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.  I cannot dismiss from my mind the grim warnings of the Lord as set forth in the 24th chapter of Matthew.  I am familiar, as are you, with the declarations of modern revelation that the time will come when the earth will be cleansed and there will be indescribable distress, with weeping and lamentation (see D&C 112:24).  Now, I do not wish to be an alarmist.  I do not wish to be a prophet of doom."

Then five years later, in the October 2005 General Conference, President Hinckley gave a repeated warning:  "Let us never lose sight of the dreams 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."