THE FAMILY OF OUR FAITH

THE FAMILY

• Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar
• Ishmael, Isaac and Rebekah
• Jacob and Rachel
• Joseph and his 12 brothers
• Moses

Abraham
He was the 75 year old man called on by God to lead people into Canaan, the Promised Land. He did accept his calling, but had to leave his family behind.

Abraham
As he was leading people to Canaan, the people with him struggled a lot. They complained and even lost their faith. They became polytheistic and started worshiping things, not God.

Abraham
His name started off as Abram.

Sarah
Sarah was Abraham's wife. When Abraham was 86 years old, she told him that she wouldn't be able to give him a child. She told Hagar, Sarah's handmaiden, she could give Abraham a son. She did and his name was Ishmael. God, however, made it clear that he was not to be part of Abraham's inheritance. Ishmael, even though not important to Christianity, is important to the Muslim religion. He was the founding father.

Sarah
Her impatience was what led to Ishmael.

Isaac
Isaac was the miracle child of Sarah and Abraham. Even though Sarah was well past her child bearing years, she still had Isaac.

Rebekah
Rebekah was the wife of Isaac. Together they had 13 sons, Joseph being the oldest and best loved.

Jacob and Rachel
Jacob was Rebekah and Isaac's son. He was known as Israel. This name came to Isaac in a dream. All the descendants of Jacob would become known as the Israelites. The first of these descendants were their thirteen children, Joseph and twelve other brothers.

Joseph and the Twelve sons
Joseph had twelve very envious brothers. He was the most favored by both his mom and dad. Because of this, his parents spoiled him with cloaks and other good stuff. The envy his brothers had of him drove them to the point where they wanted to kill him. Instead of killing him, they decided to sell him as a slave in Egypt. Once he got to Egypt, the pharaohs decided he was too smart so they gave him a leadership role. He was well loved by all the people and was therefore very successful.

Joseph and the Twelve Sons
While Joseph was very successful in Egypt, back in Canaan, there was famine. His entire family was starving. Being the man Joseph was, he forgave all his brothers for what they had done to him and invited his whole family to live with him in Egypt.

Moses
Moses was a man who freed the Israelites from Egypt. After many pleasant centuries, the pharaohs became corrupt and enslaved the Israelites. They lived like this for several hundred years. There answer came with Moses. Moses was the son of Hebrew slaves raised on the Pharaoh's palace. When Moses grew up, he had close encounters with God. God then called on Moses to free the people from slavery. He was the one to lead the Israelites into out of slavery.

Moses
In one of the encounters, God revealed his name to Moses. It was Yahweh or I AM WHO I AM in Hebrew. Moses did lead the people out of Egypt, but the Pharaoh's army was quick to follow. God then saved the Israelites by parting the Red Sea so they could pass safely but the pharaoh's army was not so lucky. They all drowned and the Israelites were free! This event is called the Exodus and whenever the people were losing faith, because it did happen, the Israelites remembered that God saved them and had delivered them into Canaan. They also remembered how God acted directly in there lives and history.

Hagar and Ishmael
Even though they are not very important in Christian history, they still are important. Hagar was the handmaiden of Sarah. Sarah told Hagar she could have a child with Abraham since she was past her childbearing years. What Sarah did not know was that God had a plan for her to have children. Anyways, Hagar ended up having a child with Abraham names Ishmael. He is not important to our faith but he is important to the Muslims. He was the founding father of Islam.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• My Notes
• Understanding Catholic Christianity Book
• Google Images