1. God Calls the Early Leaders of Israel
The story of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, and Moses

2. Genesis 15:5 Abraham and Sarah
“Look up to the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so … shall you descendants be”
Genesis 15:5
Abraham and Sarah
Book of Genesis tells us that despite humanity’s sin, God chose to stay in a relationship with man, he chose the Hebrew people to call his own.
In Genesis Chapter 12, God calls Abram to serve him. Abram and Sarai are semitic nomads wondering the Near East.

3. Genesis 12:1-8
Covenant – is a solemn agreement between human beings or God and a human being in which mutual commitments are made
God asks Abram to leave everything behind; what does God promise to Abram?
“ I will make you a great nation and I will bless you…” Genesis 12:2
Abram takes Sarai, Lot (his nephew) and all their possessions and move to Canaan.
How would you describe this decision?
Sarai and Abram find their faith tested and strengthened.
How does Hagar’s pregnancy and Ishmael birth show Sarai and Abram’s faith being tested?
God speaks to a 99 year old Abram, and establishes his covenant with him and his descendants

4. Genesis 17:3-7
Sarai becomes known as Sarah and Abram becomes known as Abraham
Sarah gives birth to a son Isaac
Through Abraham God chooses to make his covenant, that he later reveals his law to his people through Moses
God commands that Abraham sacrifice his son Isaac, another test.

5. Genesis 22:1-19 How would you feel if you were Abraham?
If you were Isaac?
Because of his faithfulness and complete trust in God, Abraham and Sarah are blessed with countless descendants.

6. Article 34: Isaac, Jacob and Joseph
Patriarch
the father or leader of a tribe, clan, or tradition.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the patriarchs of the Israelite people.
In Christian tradition, the Twelve Apostles, the Church Fathers, and certain bishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches are considered patriarchs.
Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah
His father almost sacrificed him, God saved him at the last minute
Isaac’s wife Rebecca gave birth to twins
Esau – first born
Jacob – tricked his brother into giving up his birthright and received their father’s blessing

7. Genesis 25:19-34 & 27:1-45
Genesis 25:19-34 – Rebekah gave birth to twin boys –
Esau was a born first, he was a hunter and sold his birthright to Jacob
Jacob was a quiet and peaceful, tricked his brother out of his birthright for a bowl of soup
Genesis 27:1-45 – Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him Esau’s blessing – making Esau his servant
Jacob left because Esau threatened to kill him
Ask for someone to read Gen 25:19-34
Discuss MI
Read 27: discuss MI
Read 27:30-45
What is a birthright?

8. Jacob’s Dream Genesis 28:10-22
The Lord promises to give the land he is sleeping on to him and his descendants – making them “like dust of the earth” spreading to the “east and west, north and south” and in you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed

9. Jacob, Rachel and Leah: Article 34 Renewed Covenant with God
Esau symbolizes Abraham’s descendants who will not live directly under God’s Covenant
Jacob represents God’s plan of a people more numerous than the stars
Jacob becomes a patriarch upon Isaac’s death
Proves to be repentant and successful
Marries Rachel and Leah, has 12 sons through his 2 wives and their maidservants
In 2 dreams God renews his covenant and renames Jacob Israel – making 12 sons and descendants Israelites – Jacob’s large family becomes a large tribe and will become 12 even larger tribes.

10. Joseph; son, slave and patriarch
Jacob’s favorite son
He could interpret dreams
sold as a slave by his brothers
Egypt he becomes second in command to Pharaoh
bothers come to Egypt looking for food
Test his brothers & forgives
His family moves to Egypt, and this is how the Pharaoh enslaves the Israelites

11. What makes a good patriarch?
They obeyed God
Heard God’s word and followed it – aligned with God
They knew God wanted his people to treat all people with justice
Justice =righteousness
All humans have dignity and worth, all God’s children
They lived good, moral lives
Committed to ethical responsibility
They understood that God wanted his People to come back to him with their whole selves
God wanted a “full return of his People” – body, mind, spirit
Leaders were men and women committed to a relationship with God
Spoke on his behalf

12. God invited men and women to share his will
Sacrifice – to make holy, a rite offered to God on behalf of the people, presided over by a priest who leads and represents the community in adoration, repentance, gratitude, and honor.
Was needed for atonement, as a healing rite to restore holiness, cleanse the people from infractions against the Law
At this time (The Sinai Covenant – not entered into) the early patriarchs believed in a specific ethical standard complete devotion and sacrifice to God
God invited men and women to share his will
The invitation or “calling” can be seen in nearly all biblical stories about the early leaders of Judeo- Christian people

13. Directions for start of class
Check for papers in file crates
Turn in “God’s not Dead” movie questions
Student note packets due Friday
Test next Tuesday
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

15. Remind students to continue to working on the vocabulary as the read Articles 35, 36, 37 and 38.
the shadow of Moses stretch through out the OT and into the NT
Is a major contributor to the Israelites’ religious identity – the Exodus, the Passover, and finally the Covenant
Moses and the Exodus
“I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry…I know well what they are suffering” Exodus 3:7

16. Moses’ Early Life Article 35
Joseph and family – the “sons of Israel” are in Egypt
Pharaoh Ramses II, BC – feels threatened by Israelite
Enslaves them – then orders all Israelite baby boys killed
Moses’ sister Miriam floats him down river, where is raised as a Prince of Egypt
He has sympathy for the Israelites, tries to help
Runs from his family, meets Reuel, priest of Midian and marries his daughter
Moses’ Early Life Article 35
The ancient society of the Fertile Crescent is patriarchal – meaning the man rules the women, both the Jews and the Egyptians.
The King/Pharaoh in Exodus has no control over women;
he is trick by 2 midwives when he orders them kill Hebrew baby boys, they lie to him
His daughter finds and raises a Hebrew boy as her own in his palace
He is also unwise and his original plan is a poor decision
He fears the Hebrew thinking they will become to numerous and join forces with a foreign army
He decides to kill all the first born boys – this proves that he is a poor decision maker – the best way to limit population is to limit females – also by limiting males he deprives Egypt of the bulk of her work force. His plan actually backfires because by killing the 1st born sons he creates a reason for the Hebrews to revolt.
The story of Moses’ birth paints a vivid picture of the oppression and helplessness of the Hebrews –
No control over their fate
Suffered at the hands of a stupid and paranoid King
The story of Moses’ also introduces Moses as the one chosen by God

17. God Call Moses Genesis 3:4-17 – Burning Bush
The way God reveled himself to Moses
How does Moses’ encounter begin to change his community’s understanding of God?
God promises to deliver them from their situation and take them to a “land flowing with milk and honey”
God identifies himself as “I am who am” – calls Moses to be his voice of truth and arm of justice
Through Moses, God unleashes 10 plagues on Pharaoh and Egypt
Theophany – God’s manifestation of himself in a visible form to enrich human understanding of him
God calls Moses
Moses is a reluctant leader -he is an average person not seeking power
Does not seek power or promote his own reputation when he confronts the Pharaoh
Even objects to God’s call
This focus the attention to God’s role at saving the Hebrews
It shows that they were not saved by a powerful leader, but instead it was Moses, a person, with little natural talent, therefore their deliverance must be a miracle
Moses is called to be a prophet: an intermediary, a spokesman for God, One who delivered God’s messages to the people
The Hebrews need to be reminded or taught who “this God is that was going to deliver them
In Ex 3:13-17, God has to remind the Israelites that he is “the god that Abraham had worshipped”, at the time it is possible the Hebrews worshipped many gods, so God need to them to reveal his name to them, doing so signifies the personal relationship with this god
This also connect the God of Abraham with the God of Moses, and Canaan & Egypt. Israel's delivery from slavery is actually a delivery to the land of the patriarchs, the land promised as part of the covenant.
Confronting Pharaoh – God tells Moses “So shall you say to Pharaoh: Thus said the Lord: Israel is my son, my first born. Hence I tell you: Let my son go, that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, I warn you, I will kill your son, your first born.” Ex 4:22-23
Why does God deliver all 10 plagues on Egypt, if he already planned to kill the first born? – Many times God reveals his plan to Moses “The Lord say: ‘Pharaoh refuses to listen to you that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt … the Lord made Pharaoh obstinate, and he would not let the Israelites leave his land.” Ex 11:9-10
God’s primary audience was the Israelites, he wanted them to know he was the one, true God.

18. Passover: Exodus 12 What is Passover?
The Lord passes over all houses marked with the blood of the sacrificial lamb, but enters the unmarked homes and kills all first born children and animals
Pharaoh lets the Israelites go, but changes his mind and chases them to the shores of the Red Sea where God defeats the Egyptians
The Passover lamb was sacrifice to save the Hebrews, this symbolizes the sacrifice that Jesus makes for us.

19. 40 Year Journey to the Promise Land
Moses leads the Israelites for 40 years through the dessert region of Sinai Peninsula to the Transjordan lands, west of Canaan
They leave Egypt, first traveling to a holy mountain, Sinai or Horeb.
They stay there for 2 years then set out from Sinai to the promise land. They are fearful of people there. God gets mad at them because of their lack of faith and places judgment against the generation that came out of Egypt.
They continue their journey by heading to Kadesh Barnea – then to Edom and Moab, then finally they cross the River Jordan. According to Deuteronomy, the journey normally took 11 days.
40 Year Journey to the Promise Land

20. Article 37:Building Trust in God
Traveled cross vast wilderness
Forgot how God saved them and promised to protect
Disgruntled by conditions in desert and questioned Moses leadership
God provided manna and water when they were hungry and thirsty
The people are resentful, ungrateful, unfaithful and cowardly.
Moses acts as a faithful and compassionate mediator between God and the Israelites.
During the time they are in the wilderness the Israelites face many challenges:
Kings who oppose them
Rebellion within their own ranks
Temptation to settle with communities they were suppose to march past.
Manna – little flakes that people collected, boiled or baked into bread like substance; from God

21. Covenant at Sinai & the Ten Commandments
Exodus 20
On Mount Sinai is the sacred ground where God forms a Covenant with his Chosen People
The Ten Commandments are the laws and obligations; will govern the people religiously, morally and civically
Moses takes these back to the people – God declares himself “to be their God, a God of fidelity, love and justice”.
I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day. Honor your father and mother. You shall not kill You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
During the 40 years in the wilderness, the most important event is God presenting the plates to Moses.
Moses spends 40 days on Mount Sinai before he comes down with the plates
While up there, the people thought that he had died, so the made Moses’ brother Aaron their leader and created “golden calves” as their God.
God is upset with them, Moses is sent down to pass a judgment on them, and he breaks the plates that God had just given him containing the laws God wanted them to live by.
There are several times during this journey that God presents Moses with laws.
The laws of the Pentateuch – are a complex collection of legal traditions
The most familiar of these laws is the Ten Commandments or the Decalogue – were inscribed on 2 stone plates and given to Moses
There are some differences
They are physically set apart from other laws
Appear in 2 books of the bible: Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21
They are arranged in a certain order: (depends on which version you are reading)
The first 3-4 concern crimes against God
The last 6-7 concern crimes against humans
They are worded differently – the other laws say “if you do this, then that will happen” The Ten Commandments are written as a negative command “You shall not…”
The version on the power point come from the Catechism of the Catholic Church – traditional Catechetical version – found on the Holy See website
Use my notes to explain each particular meaning. – Ask the students their opinion first