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President Gordon B. Hinckley on Y2K:
"What a Glorious Day"
October 3, 1999
Today in the Sunday Morning session of LDS General Conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley, revered by his fellow Mormon followers as their Prophet and mouthpiece for God himself, addressed the issue that has become nearly an obsessive common focus of the entire planet -- Y2K.
This General Conference marks the last that will be held this century prior to the turning of the clock on midnight of December 31, from the year 1999 to the year 2000, when some computers will interpret the "00" in their still two-digit date slot to mean 1900, creating conflicts of data, locking up of software, malfunctioning of machines controlled by these computers, and secondary glitches in the computers reliant on the errant computers.
Minus some divine revelation, no one will know for certain how widespread the disruption will be from this man-made boondoggle until the clocks actually turn one at a time through the 24 time zones compassing the earth this coming New Years Eve, now just 89 days away.
Huge expenditures of money, time, and resources have been poured into the Y2K problem in order to address the most crucial vulnerabilities. Yet because of the interconnectivity of the world's computer systems as well as the interdependent world, nation, state, community, corporate economy which now rides on the back of the computer, even small glitches can have tremendous rippling effects.
Prognostication as to the outcome has been controversial. On one hand, some have predicted only minor glitches which can be soon fixed but which will not overly disrupt the main flow of society. On the other extreme, there are a significant number of people who anticipate the end of the world as we know it. Still others anticipate prolonged disruption from which we will gradually, with difficulty, recover.
Previously silent on the issue, on the eve of the millennium, the Mormon prophet has now spoken officially on the topic, making it the subject of his remarks to the body of the Church in the semi-annual conference broadcast to all the world.
In Mormon theology, such pronouncements are looked upon as akin to the mind and will of the Lord, binding upon the members of the church and representing the direction of God to them.
What did the Mormon prophet have to say this morning?
He began his talk by acknowledging the presence of Senator Robert Bennett, R-Utah and LDS, who has become famous nationally and even internationally for his incessant yet tempered voice of warning regarding Y2K.
President Hinckley then used this as an introduction to the topic of Y2K, mentioning that it has been the subject on everyone's mind -- a subject he would like to now address.
He then proceeded to overview world history from a religious standpoint. He began by focusing on the life of the Savior, Jesus Christ, who established His gospel here on the earth. That gospel was subsequently lost in its purity from the earth as the early Christian church fell away into darkness, Hinckley continued. This was followed by the long night of the Dark Ages, which haze began to lift with the Renaissance and its introduction of the age of enlightenment. Then with the establishment of freedom of religion in America, the stage was set for the restoration of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith. A new and final dispensation had dawned. The gospel, along with the Priesthood of God and the keys to administer God's kingdom had been restored, no more to be taken from the earth.
Having said that, President Hinckley was now ready to make his point regarding Y2K, which he never mentioned specifically other than at the beginning of his address.
He spoke of "what a glorious day this is" in which we live. He referred to Joseph Smith's restoring the gospel as being in fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy of a stone that would be cut out of the mountain without hands, which would then roll forward and fill the whole earth.
Joseph's day was the day of the stone being cut out of the mountain, according to Hinckley, and this day of tremendous Church growth and favor in the world, coming out of obscurity, is now the day in which it is rolling forward to fill the whole earth with nothing to stop or hinder it in its progress. I think it safe to assert from his context that he intended to imply that this included Y2K.
In the final paragraphs of his talk he spoke of continued growth, continued improvement, continued enlargement, which in the context of addressing Y2K implied that it would not be a significant setback either for the church or for the world.
Quote:
| The stone was small in the beginning, and it was hardly
noticeable. But it has grown steadily and is rolling forth to fill the
earth.
My brethren and sisters, do you realize what we have? Do you recognize our place in the great drama of human history? This is the focal point of all that has gone before. This is the season of restitution. These are the days of restoration. This is the time when men from over the earth come to the mountain of the Lord's house to seek and learn of his ways and to walk in his paths. This is the summation of all the centuries of time since the birth of Christ until this present and wonderful day.
The centuries have passed. The latter-day work of the Almighty -- that of which the ancients spoke; that of which the prophets and apostles prophesied -- is come. It is here. For some reason unknown to us, but in the wisdom of God, we have been privileged to come to earth in this glorious age. There has been a great flowering of science. There has been a veritable explosion of learning. This is the greatest of all ages of human endeavor and human accomplishment. And more importantly, it is the season when God has spoken; when his beloved son has appeared; when the divine priesthood has been restored; when we hold in our hand another testament of the Son of God. What a glorious and wonderful day this is. God be thanked for his generous bestowal upon us. We thank him for this wondrous gospel, whose power and authority reach even beyond the veil of death. Given what we have and what we know, we ought to be a better people than we are. We ought to be more Christ-like, more forgiving, more helpful and considerate to all around us. We stand on the summit of the ages, awed by a great and solemn sense of history. This is the last and final dispensation toward which all in the past has pointed. I bear testimony and witness of the reality and truth of these things. I pray that everyone of us may sense the awesome wonder of it all. As we look forward to the passing of a century and the death of a millennium, let the old year go, let the new year come. Let another century pass. Let a new one take it's place. Say goodbye to a millennium. Greet the beginning of another 1000 years. And so we shall go forward on a continuing path of growth and progress and enlargement, touching for good the lives of people everywhere for as long as the earth shall last. At some stage in all this onward rolling, Jesus Christ will appear to reign in splendor upon the earth. No one knows when that will be. Not even the angels in heaven know of the time of his return, but it will be a welcome day.
May God bless us with a sense of our place in history; and having been given that sense, with our need to stand tall and walk with resolution in a manner becoming of the Saints of the Most High, is my humble prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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Thus he concluded what must have raptured the souls of the devoted Saints. A fitting enough ending to a century of "coming out of obscurity," from being a persecuted people to being a people respected for the most part in today's world.
Fitting also of this paradigm is the fact that this is the last conference to be held in the historic tabernacle, which has long been too cramped and hot.
Indicative of the "growth, and improvement, and enlargement" of which President Hinckley speaks, beginning next April, the conference will be convened at the new massive assembly building, which will seat 21,000.
If President Hinckley has concerns about Y2K, he obviously does not believe the problems that may arise will hinder in any way the already stretched construction schedule, employing 1,000 workers each day, which targets to complete the new Conference Center sufficient by April 2000 to convene general conference there.
"If present plans hold, this will be the last time we meet in this historic tabernacle for General Conference," he said in the afternoon session, celebrating that building's construction, history, and other memories.
The new building, he said, is "designed to the highest construction codes," including seismic considerations.
I wonder how it will fare in the once-in-many centuries earthquake that will eventually (soon?) rock the valley? Will the earthquake spare the structure, even as the recent tornado just grazed the edge of temple square, while toppling the construction crane over the new center?
In light of reams of prophecy regarding latter-day purgings of the Lord's people, such a mild prediction for Y2K and optimism for the brightness of the immediate future is as daring to make as the other extreme of warning of dire calamities.
Many, including myself, believe that the prophecies paint a very grueling picture of what lays immediately ahead for this people, including likely effects of Y2K, thrust on a people who will turn into ravening creatures when the comforts to which they have become so accustomed are suddenly removed.
If these pending chastening destructions (of which Y2K is but one of many) are diminished or even turned away, it will be because of the sincere repentance of the people, not because such destructions never threatened in the first place.
To instill such repentance do we assure people, "All is well. Carry on, higher and higher," or do we point out the pending consequences of man's foolishness, so that they might turn to God and live?
My reading of the scriptures points to the latter.
The beginnings of the kingdom of which Daniel spoke were indeed commenced with Joseph Smith, but that kingdom of which he spoke was not a church, it was a righteous government.
The saints gave up their quest for a government of God as a condition for receiving statehood prior to the turn of the century.
Ever since then, they have called the "church" the "kingdom," which is a misnomer.
Meanwhile, the kingdom of Satan, also called the New World Order, which is international socialism, has gained the upper hand and succored many even within the highest ranks of the LDS and other churches to sympathize with and even embrace its offerings.
Consistent with prophecy about the "Drunkards of Ephraim" "in the head of the fat valleys," even "the prophet" "errs in vision and stumbles in judgment." (Isaiah 28.)
So when President Hinckley implies that Y2K is of no concern, but that the church and even society will continue to climb onward and upward; rather than be consoled, I am more alarmed.
His soothing and reassuring voice will put people to sleep rather than awaken them to a sense of our awful situation, which vigilance is crucial to stirring up adequate repentance so that such terrible calamities might be avoided.
His saying that nothing will happen may very well be the reason why it will happen.
This illustrates the need to place our trust foremost in God, not in man, even if that man be called to serve as the president of his earthly church. If our focus is on God, we can honestly ask ourselves if the immediate future is indeed bright, as he portrays, or if the enemy is nigh unto crushing us, which is what is really the case; and God can confirm to our souls -- independent of any man -- the truth, so that we might awake and put on strength and not be caught unawares.
Does God want a people who will follow a prophet -- one man, who is the arm of flesh -- in this case a blind optimist -- or does he want a nation of prophets.
"Would to God that all were prophets," is the clarion call.
Choose you this day whom you will serve, e.g. follow and believe and support: God or man.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
I'm getting ready for Y2K and am doing the most I can to help others get ready as well, in hopes that by being sufficiently prepared, it will not be the calamity that it would be otherwise.
That was the lesson of Joseph of Egypt -- whose namesake the modern Ephraimites should emulate and against which they should not rebel. The rebellious of Ephraim will be cut off from among the Lord's people in the day of wrath (e.g. when the consequences of our foolishness come to haunt us). (D&C 64.)
May we be each stand independent before the Lord, being responsible for our own salvation with him, and not place our trust in another, lest we fall.
There is one sure foundation upon which man can build, and that is Christ.
I commend this foundation to all.
Sincerely,
Sterling D. Allan
http://www.GreaterThings.com
new scripture word studies
http://www.JosephPrep.com
preparedness in the spirit of Joseph of Egypt
Manti, Utah; October 3, 1999
See also:
 | Feedback: Y2K Fooey -- False Prophets |
| Alphabetics: Year
2000 Foretold in Alphabetics Bible Code "Dangerous, near to falling" (#2000 New Testament Greek lexicon); "Wealth, utter destruction" (#2000 OT Hebrew lexicon) |
| Index: LDS Church
and 666 word-number study with Index of related documents |
| Book: The Man of Sin Revealed |
| Letter: To President Hinckley--Building on the Rock of Christ vs. Man |
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