Africa and the Middle East Part 4 Ancient Rivalries
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The three prominent religions in the Middle East Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam, all belong to the same monotheistic
traditionthe belief in one main God, the God of ABRAHAM. It is
believed Jews descended from one of his sons named Isaac, while
Arabs descended from another son, Ishmael.
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Father Abraham is an important figure to all three religions.
According to the Bible, he is the 10 th generation from NOAH, and
the 20 th from ADAM.
Slide 4
Abraham was to travel from Ur (Mesopotamia), to the Land of
Canaan or the Promised Land. He was promised innumerable
descendants.
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Abrahams wife SARAH was not able to bear him a child, so she
allowed her servant, HAGAR to also be his wife. She bore him a son
named ISHMAEL.
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There then appears to be some jealousy between the women, as
Hagar begins to act superior because she gave birth to a son for
Abraham. Sarah complains, and Abraham supports Sarah. Sarah then
mistreats Hagar, and according to some accounts flees with her son
Ishmael, while in other accounts she is driven out by Abraham.
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Hagar and Ishmael were saved by an angel in the wilderness. The
descendants of Ishmael are believed to be the ARABS, and he is an
important figure in Islam.
Slide 10
At the age of 99, God is supposed to have reaffirmed his
commitment to Abraham that his descendants would be a mighty nation
of innumerable people. Although Sarah was past her child-bearing
years, she was able to give birth to a son named ISAAC. Some
scholars have wondered if the birth of Isaac led to Sarah wanting
the teenager Ishmael out of the picture, in case he was a bad
influence on Isaac, or perhaps would want to claim Abrahams
inheritance.
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At one point in his life, possibly between his teens and his
30s, Isaac was nearly sacrificed by his father. However, just as
the sacrifice was to take place, an angel stopped Abraham.
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Abraham was to be blessed for his obedience to Gods
commands.
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Later on Isaac marries REBEKAH, who it seems is barren (unable
to have children).
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Eventually, Rebekah becomes pregnant with twins. They seem to
struggle in her womb, and later she has a vision in which she is
told the older son will serve the younger.
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ESAU is born first, followed by JACOB. Esau is a hunter and
outdoorsman, and is favored by Isaac. Jacob is more of a homebody,
and is favored by Rebekah.
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At one point, the wilder Esau sold his BIRTHRIGHT to Jacob for
food and drink.
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Later, with Rebekahs help, Jacob deceives Isaac, who is now
blind, into giving him the fathers blessing to the first-born that
was meant for Esau.
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Understandably, Esau is furious, and threatens to kill Jacob.
Rebekah arranges for his escape, and sends him to the land of her
relatives. There Jacob meets and falls in love with RACHEL. He
works for seven years to earn her hand in marriage, but is given
her older sister LEAH to marry instead. Leahs father, LABAN, says
that Jacob can also marry Rachel if he agrees to work for seven
more years, which Jacob agrees to.
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Later on, Jacobs name is changed to ISRAEL, (to persevere with
God), and with Leah, Rachel, and at least two other wives, has
multiple daughters and 12 sons. Several generations later, the
descendants of these 12 sons would be known as the TWELVE TRIBES OF
ISRAEL.
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Of Jacobs (Israels) sons, his eleventh, JOSEPH was his
favorite. Josephs mother was Rachel, who also gave birth to the
twelfth son BENJAMIN.
Slide 22
Josephs older brothers were very jealous of him, and when he
was about seventeen, sold him to slave traders who were heading to
Egypt. In time, he rose to be the most powerful man in Egypt, other
than the Pharaoh. Years later, he was reunited with his brothers
when they came to Egypt to get food during a time of famine.
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Joseph was eventually reunited also with his father and his
younger brother Benjamin. In time, the descendants of Jacob
(Israel) became numerous, and were enslaved by Egypt for over four
centuries until eventually being led from captivity by MOSES to the
Promised Land.
Slide 25
Christians and Jews look fondly toward Moses as the man who led
the Hebrews out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and received the 10
Commandments. Muslims also look to him as a prophet.
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Over the years, Israel at times was very powerful, and at times
it was conquered by outsiders, with its people eventually being
scattered all over. It was not until 1948, when the modern-day
state of Israel was created, that Jews have had a homeland. It has
been very contentious there ever since.
Slide 28
Since Israels creation, the Palestinian Arabs have been very
angry, and have lost land every time they have had major wars.
