Lorenzo Snow Receives a Revelation Mid-Sermon in St. George, Saving the Church from Financial Ruin (May 1899)

In early May 1899, 85-year-old President Lorenzo Snow felt impressed by the Lord to travel 300 miles to St. George, Utah without knowing why.

'We can scarcely express the reason why we came,' he told the congregation on May 17, 1899, 'yet I presume the Lord will have somewhat to say to us.'

The Church was in crisis. The federal government had seized over $1 million in Church assets. A financial panic had devastated the West. The Church carried $2 million in debt. Tithing had fallen off dramatically.

Then, in the middle of his remarks, President Snow paused. His countenance filled with light. He began speaking on tithing as if the words were being given to him. He declared the time had come for every Latter-day Saint to obey this law fully.

The next day he said: 'The time has now come for every Latter-day Saint who calculates to be prepared for the future and to hold his feet strong upon a proper foundation, to go and do the will of the Lord and to pay his tithing in full. That is the word of the Lord to you.'

On his way home he stopped in town after town and gave 24 talks in 26 meetings, declaring the same message everywhere. To one congregation he said: 'The Lord commanded me to present these things to the people. We have been educated in the law of tithing for 61 years but have not yet learned to observe it. I never before thought it to be as I know it is now.'

Tithing income rose dramatically. President Joseph F. Smith declared the Church debt-free at April 1907 general conference.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in The Life and Ministry of Lorenzo Snow, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow):

President Lorenzo Snow is perhaps best known for a revelation he received on the law of tithing. In May 1899 he felt prompted to travel to St. George, Utah, with other Church leaders. Although he did not know why they needed to go, he and his brethren responded to the prompting quickly, and within about two weeks they were in St. George. On May 17, after arriving in St. George, President Snow received a revelation that he should preach the law of tithing. The next day he made the following declaration to the Saints: “The word of the Lord to you is not anything new; it is simply this: THE TIME HAS NOW COME FOR EVERY LATTER-DAY SAINT, WHO CALCULATES TO BE PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE AND TO HOLD HIS FEET STRONG UPON A PROPER FOUNDATION, TO DO THE WILL OF THE LORD AND TO PAY HIS TITHING IN FULL. That is the word of the Lord to you, and it will be the word of the Lord to every settlement throughout the land of Zion.” After delivering this message in St. George, President Snow and his traveling companions shared the same message in southern Utah towns and in other communities between St. George and Salt Lake City.