The Curse of God

Today I read Alma 3. Mormon spends most of this chapter actually talking about the curse of the Lamanites and all those who fight against God and against the Nephites. He mentions that the people were marked with a marking so that the Nephites would know who had the curse upon them so that they would not mix with that people.

The mark and the curse itself gets confused by people I think, I know I was confused as a child and did not understand the truth of the matter until I was a teenager. The curse that the Lord inflicts upon them is they are not allowed to have the Priesthood. The same curse Ham, the son of Noah and whose descendants founded Egypt, was cursed with. The mark of the curse to distinguish them from others, is dark skin.

From what we have read in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible, those without the curse are white skinned people and those who have the curse are dark skinned people so that there would be no mistake about who was afflicted with the curse and who was not.

Now the question begs being asked, why is denial of the Priesthood such a bad thing? To understand that, you must first know why having the Priesthood is such a blessing. I could just state that without the Priesthood it is impossible to return to live with our Heavenly Father and that would be sufficient. However, there is more that can be expounded upon.

Without the Priesthood, we do not have the proper authority to perform the ordinances of salvation. Temple blessings, baptism, even the ordinance of the sacrament cannot be performed without the Priesthood. So, in essence, denying a people the priesthood of God is in fact denying them salvation itself! That is why the curse of God is so potent.

In our day, all worthy males are eligible to hold the Priesthood and exercise it in accordance with revealed and correct principles. However, we can negate our Priesthood by our own actions as laid forth in the Doctrine and Covenants section 121. We must each of us be worthy to hold and use the Priesthood if we are male, and support those who do hold it if we are female. May we each be worthy of the Priesthood blessings in our lives and the saving ordinances that accompany it. Until tomorrow.