The other day I wrote a post based on women I think are worthy of emulation. Those women were of a lineage that preserved a curse, "Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partkaer of the blood of the Canaanites by birth. From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land." (Abraham 1:21-22) The important thing here is that it's talking about the blood of the Canaanites being passed down through the descendants of Ham. Verse 23 talks about Egypt being discovered by a woman, and then in verse 24 it continues, "When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land." So here it says the curse was preserved- the curse of the Canaanites. It says it was preserved in the land.
The footnote for the Canaanites in the first few verses takes us back to Moses 7:6-8. There it talks about what this curse is. "...and the people of Canaan shall divide themselves in the land, and the land shall be barren and unfruitful, and none other people shall dwell there but the people of Canaan; For behold, the Lord shall curse the land with much heat, and the barrenness thereof shall go forth forever; and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people." Here is where people say the blacks couldn't have the Priesthood because of this curse. This curse says nothing about the Priesthood. Neither does the scripture in Abraham. The curse in their blood passed down a color of skin maybe. And the curse was preserved in the land- Africa is still often thought of as barren and having "much heat". I know there are different parts of Africa, but the association with the greatest desert is there. Nowhere does it say that their skin color was a curse. It says it happened. Period. I don't know if it made them better suited to endure the heat- but I know for me personally, I would likely complain, or burn (and yes I know black people can burn too).
So now for the Priesthood part- Abraham 1 continues in verses 25-27, "Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal. Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood. Now Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry;" Here is where it mentions no Priesthood based on lineage. A few other things I want to point out first. Pharaoh was blessed in the earth- the first leader of Egypt. And we know from history that Egypt became very fruitful and prominent and wealthy. Despite the curse of the land, the Egyptians and others in that continent that we do not have record of were blessed in the land despite the curse OF the land.
Here though it says he was of a lineage that could not have the Priesthood. In Old Testament times the Priesthood WAS by lineage. At the time of Noah they had the Melchizedek Priesthood (the Lord created a lesser Priesthood- the Aaronic "when the children of Israel failed to live up to the privileges and covenants of the Melchizedek Priesthood" (BD Melchizedek Priesthood)). "The Melchizedek Priesthood was first made known to Adam, and the patriarchs and prophets in every dispensation had this authority." (BD- Melchizedek Priesthood). Ham was not the patriarch, so it could be said that Ham, nor his sons, were of the birthright/lineage to randomly be selected as the patriarch and therefore were cursed as to the Priesthood, and were of "that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood".
Regardless of what the curse ACTUALLY means there's a scripture in Abraham 2:9-10, where the Lord is blessing Abraham: "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations; And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father...and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, they Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee" (emphasis added). Here, regardless of whatever the curse was it says that through Abraham's seed that the Gospel will spread and also the Priesthood. That anyone who receives the Gospel will become part of Abraham's seed. Therefore, anyone today can hold the Priesthood.
So why did it take so long? I don't know. But I do know that "all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things"(2 Ne 2:24) Why did God wait til 1820 to restore His Church? (There is a great talk by Hyrum W. Smith called "Why 1820?" on that topic). Anyways, there is a reason- whether we see it or not. If the blood was cursed, it should still be cursed, logically, so I don't know why they had to wait- I just know there must have been a reason for it. I've heard speculations about how maybe it was because there was enough persecution with the early Church, and the United States was still in controversy about blacks gaining their freedom. Whatever the reason, God had one. Every worthy male can hold the Priesthood. Not any worthy white male, ANY worthy male. And I'm glad that for whatever the reason for the wait, the wait is over.
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