Old man Noah had three sons; Shem, Ham and Japhet. Of the three, Ham was the youngest. He is the subject of our discourse today.

According to the Bible narrative, Ham was the father of four sons; Cush, Mizraim (or Egypt), Phut (or Libya), and Canaan (Genesis 10:6).
In Hebrew, the word "Ham" roughly translates to "black and warm",  thus this son of Noah is the progenitor of the black (some say the 'Melanin Dominant') race. "Warmth" here, maybe an indication of much physical vigour as is attested to by this people's superior performance in sports, music and dance, and in other areas best left unmentioned! In Kenya, the British colonialists actually had to legislate against "excessive dancing" by the African "natives"! "Warmth" may also be an indication of their bubbly and hospitable disposition (generally as a race) to other human beings, especially strangers.

It is from this melanated race that the world's first civilizations emerged. Genesis gives us the account of Nimrod (Noah's great-grandson and son of Ham's firstborn Cush) as the world's first king (Genesis 10:8). His kingdom was the Mesopotamian civilization of Babylonia. Some historians refer to this geographical polity as the "Fertile Crescent" or the "Land between Two Rivers" (since it was located in the silt-laden basin between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers). It was Nimrod who built up Babylon (as his capital city), and also set up other cities such as Nineveh, Calah, Resen, Rehoboth-Ir, Calneh, Accad and Erech (Genesis 10:8 - 12).

One of Ham's other sons, Mizraim (also called Egypt) settled in the fertile river Nile delta area of Africa and proceeded on to build one of the world's greatest civilizations of all time. Egypt later became a melting pot of culture, scholarship, commerce and industry, medicine and religion. The architectural feats involved in building the pyramids at Gizeh, for example, continue to baffle architects, engineers and scientists to date!
The golden funerary mask of the boy Pharaoh, Tut-Ank-Amun remains the most marvellous and exquisitely beautiful piece of material culture in the  annals of archaeology! The 
Roman general, Julius Caesar borrowed ideas for his "Julian calendar" directly from the solar calendar of Mizraim. 
Pythagoras stole his "Pythagorean theorem" from the advanced mathematics of ancient Egypt. The same can be said for the origins of  chemistry (which comes from the word Khemet, meaning "land of the blacks" or "black land" ie Kham). But then, a lot more was borrowed from these brilliant ancient people, the telling of which will necessitate an entire book! Subject for another day.

Since Cush, Egypt (or Mizraim), and Phut (or Libya) were all descendants of Ham, and they all settled in various parts of Africa, the Bible refers to this continent as "the land of Ham" (Psalm 105:23).

Archaeological evidence also seems to indicate that the ancient civilizations of the Indus Valley, primarily Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, were black. Don't we have a part of India referred to as Hindu-Cush? And did not a member of this black race, Budda Gautama Sidhatra, found Buddhism? This is a fact that the Aryans settling in India, way later after the original black populations have tried to bury (just as they have tried to erase so much of black heritage on the world stage).

Similarly, the Minoan civilization in Crete was a black civilization. In fact, King Minos (or "Menes") is thought to be the same Mizraim of the biblical narrative. This seems to dovetail with the account of Genesis 10:13 - 14 which reveals that Mizraim's sons included the Casluhites (from whom the Philistines were descended)! In fact, the Philistines traced their origins to the island of Crete in the Mediterranean. The late Jesuit priest, Malachi Martin, in his well researched historical novel - King of Kings - obliquely referred to this Philistine nerve centre as Luquwatna. Furthermore, the Cretans themselves were descended from Caphtor, a son of Mizraim (Genesis 10:14).

Notable Greek characters (mythical or otherwise) such as Agamemnon, Andromeda and Calypso, among others are suspected to have been black. As such, the contributions of the black race in the progress of early man is almost inestimable. During that early period, Egypt was the "Mecca" of learning and the Greeks, among other ancient peoples trooped to Africa to quench their thirst for all forms of knowledge gushing copiously from the fountains of African scholarship. This is a fact freely admitted by such early writers as the Greek adventurer Herodotus among others.

More recently, the Moors of North Africa had a huge part in civilising the Iberian peninsula which they colonised for several centuries. Not with the later  brute inhuman cruelty of the European colonizers of non-western societies, but with enlightening ideas, technology and superior ways of living.

The Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, one of the most notable of all Roman rulers, was a black man, implying that there were quite a number of other notable high achievers on the European historical scene. In fact, the so-called "Age of Discovery" in history is a sham since black people had already long discovered lands beyond the Atlantic, the Indian and Pacific oceans long before Christoforo Columbo, Amerigo Vespucci, Ferdinand Magellan, Captain Cook, Vasco da Gama or any other European seafarers! How else do you explain the distinctly negroid stone heads of the Olmec civilization in Meso America?! What about the golden tipped spears, identical to similar spears in West Africa that Christoforo Columbo found in the Caribbean?! How did they get there? Mark you, the similarity was not just physical but also chemical!

In the Bible too, the pride of place of Ham's children is  robustly acknowledged. The patriarch Abraham's concubine Hagar, was of Egyptian heritage. Lot, after separating from Abraham, went to live in the Valley of Sodom. Though it is not clearly spelt out in scripture, it is possible that his wife came from the Sodomites (who were descended from Canaan). If this thesis is true, then Lot's sons, Moab and Ammon, must have had black genes! 
Also, since Ruth (the Moabitess) later married and had children with Boaz (an Israelite), does it not follow then, that Obed, Jesse and King David had black blood flowing in their veins?! This most versatile of Israel's kings was a consummate warrior, statesman, diplomat and organiser. However, we know him best as a musician, the man who wrote the evergreen Book of Psalms! And is not music a field that is dominated by the negroid race even today? Don't we have ample evidence that music, rhythm and dance flow freely in the veins of Ham's children?

Then there is Bathsheba, widow of Uriah the Hittite. The name Bathsheba roughly translates to "daughter of Sheba" (Sheba here being another descendant of Cush, Ham's firstborn son, as is elaborated on in Genesis 10:7). This means that Bathsheba could very well have been a black woman! Bathsheba later became the mother to Israel's wisest and richest king - Solomon! 
Could be this be another reason for the Queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon (a mixed-race son of King David)?!

There's also the question of Yosef (Joseph) the eleventh son of Jacob. This "prince among his brothers", before being promoted to Grand Vizier of Egypt, was first wedded to beautiful Asenatu, daughter of Poti-Phera the priest of On. She was an Egyptian damsel (Genesis 41:45). Since the Egyptians were descended from Ham, does it not follow then, that Yosef's Egyptian wife was black and beget mixed-race children, Ephraim and Menashe (Genesis 41:50-52)?! Please remember, too, that Jacob later blessed the two youngsters and adopted them for his own. He even actually made Ephraim his firstborn! (Genesis 48:12-21). Isn't it a testament, therefore to Elohim's neutrality on race issues that he actually agreed with Jacob's decision on the matter?! For He says: "... because I am Israel's Father, and EPHRAIM IS MY FIRSTBORN SON..." (Jeremiah 31:9,NIV, last part, emphasis mine).

But then, the plot thickens!We surely cannot bypass the interesting case of Yehudah (Judah)! This fourth son of Israel, left his brothers for sometime and settled among some Canaanites (Genesis 38). He married a Canaanite woman who bore several sons for him. Unfortunately, due to their wickedness, Elohim killed them with only the last born, Shelah, surviving. Later, Judah was tricked by his daughter-in-law Tamar into having sex with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to the twin boys -  Perez and Zerah! My point here is that these boys were  half-black, racially speaking. Then we see that Perez is actually listed on Yahshua's genealogical tree in Matthew 1:3-5!

Not only so, but the Canaanite woman Rahab (of Jericho) and Ruth (of Moab), are also listed in this  Royal Line of Judah (Matthew 1:5)!So the iconic House of David would seem to have had plenty of black Hamitic blood in it!

Then there is Hiram, sent by the Sidonian king to help build Shlomo's Heykal. Sidon was Canaan's firstborn (Genesis 10:15). These descendants of Ham were not only famed builders but skilled seafarers as well. They were a dominant seapower in the Mediterranean. They are known to history as Phoenicians. The Bible tells us that the Phoenician King of Tyre, Hiram, jointly with King Solomon built a fleet of ships and stationed them at the Red Sea port of Ezion-Geber (today's Eilat). This fleet was operated by the Sidonians who taught the Israelites seacraft. Much of Solomon's fabled wealth was brought in by this fleet (1Kings 9:26 - 28).

There's also Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian who saved the prophet Jeremiah from the miry well (Jeremiah 38:7-13).   The Bible also talks about Tirhakah, a Cushite pharaoh who allied with the Israelites against Assyrian invaders (2Kings 19:32).

Could skin colour too, be the reason as to why the prophet Zephaniah is called the son of "Cushi" (Zephaniah 1:1)? This may very well be the case since names, in the Bible, are often a description of the person's physical appearance, or character, or destiny.

Ham's children are also clearly spelt out as having some very important roles in the propagation of the Gospel message during these last days. Says the prophet Zephaniah: "From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshippers...shall bring me offerings..." (Zephaniah 3:10). If the prophet was speaking from Israel, then the phrase: "... from beyond the rivers of Cush...", must surely mean he is talking about mainland East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan)! Today, these nations all have big or small numbers of the true Sabbath-keeping worshippers of Adonai. 
Zephaniah's prophecy is buttressed by Isaiah who also prophesied that "... gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers..." (Isaiah 18:7, NIV).
Are not East Africans tall? Are they not smooth-skinned?! Is their land not divided by rivers? One has only to consider South Sudan's Nuer, Dinka, Nuba, Kenya's Maasai, Kalenjin and Rwanda's Tutsis for a very affirmative answer to this question.

In the "New Testament", we meet the African, Simon of Cyrene, chronicled as the only person who did help Yahshua with the burdensome cross during the Passion (Matthew 27:32). In Acts 13:1, we also learn that one of the seven deacons anointed into the Messianic ministry was Simon Niger (or Simon the Blackman).

Finally, we read about the Ethiopian eunuch, treasurer for Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians (Acts 8:27-38). This important black personage happily received the Gospel from Philip and was baptized (Acts 8:36-39). He went home rejoicing and spread the Good News among his people in the Ethiopian Highlands. Ethiopia and by extension Africa, therefore, became the only place where the initial Gospel message found a home where it remained for centuries, unmolested by the pagan influences of Papal Rome. The monolithic stone churches of Lalibela, in Ethiopia's Gondar Province, plus the Ethiopian Bible are testament enough to these assertions.

Let me conclude by quoting from Psalm 87:4-6;
"... I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me - 
Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush - and will say,
'This one was born in Zion.'"

Indeed, of Zion it will be said,
"This one and that one were born in her,
And the Most High himself will establish her."
The LORD will write in the
REGISTER of the peoples:
"This one was born there." (Psalm 87:4-6, NIV, full caps mine). My point here is that the people(s) listed in this Psalm are all descended from Ham.

O HalleluYah! Do you realize the gravity of the above Psalm?! Ham's progeny, the lowliest of humanity (at least in haughty estimation of some members of the "Melanin Deficient" races), have a very high profile in the records of Heaven! Indeed, Yahshua's statement, nay, prophecy, shall come to pass: "...the first shall be last..." (Matthew 20:16)! O such glorious tidings! There shall indeed be many members of Ham's descendants in the great white-robed throng of Revelation 7:9 -10.

Pst Kennedy Chang'andu