NOAH'S FAMILY included his wife and their 3 sons... Shem, Ham and Japheth. After many years passed, from these sons and their wives, the whole world was populated after the great flood, and the nations were divided in the earth. (Genesis 10:32)
     *from Shem, came the Jews and the Arab nations. These are found in Genesis 11:10
     *from Ham, came the black and brown skinned races, some of which are the Egyptians,Ethiopians and Lybians. Genesis 10:16-20.
     *from Japheth, came all the rest of the original Gentile nations. They are found listed in Genesis 10:1-5.

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ABRAHAM'S FAMILY included:
     *HAGAR, the Egyptian slave girl/concubine and her son Ishmael. Genesis 16:1-16.
     *SARAH, his wife, and their son Isaac. Genesis 21 :1-8.
     *KETURAH and her 6 sons, who are listed in Genesis 25:1-4, and 1 Chronicles 1 :32, 33.
Also see Unger's Bible Dictionary, page 629 for additional information about when her sons were born and whether she was actually his wife or his concubine while Sarah was still living.
     When Abraham was 75 years old, the Lord promised him that he would have a son from his wife Sarah. He would be the father of many nations, and all the families of the earth would be blessed by ONE who would eventually come from his seed. (Genesis 12:1-3) Ten years went by, and Sarah had no child, so she suggested that Abraham have a son by her Egyptian handmaid, Hagar. Rather than waiting for the Lord to provide a son from Sarah, Abraham listened to his wife, and Ishmael was born of Hagar. (Genesis 16:16)
     When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and again told him that Sarah would have a son. (Genesis 17:15,16) Sarah was listening behind the tent flap, and when she heard the Lord say she would bear a child, she laughed within herself. After all........... she was now 90 years old and way past the normal child-bearing age. (Genesis 18:12) The Lord asked Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Sarah, your wife shall bear a son about this time next year, and you will call his name Isaac." (laughter) (Genesis 18:14)
     When Isaac was two years old, Abraham made a great feast to honor his son. Thirteen-year old Ishmael made fun of Isaac during the festivities because his name meant laughter, and Sarah was so displeased that she asked her husband to send the boy and his mother away. Their household was a very unhappy one. (Genesis 21 :8-10) Abraham was grieved about the idea, but the Lord told him to do as Sarah suggested, because it would be through Isaac, and not Ishmael, that the promised ONE would come. (Genesis 21 :11 ,12) Abraham obeyed the Lord, and there was peace in their home.
     The greatest test of Abraham's faith came when Isaac was a young man. The Lord told Abraham to take Isaac to a place which He would show him and offer his son as a burnt offering. (Genesis 22:1,2) Abraham did not tell Sarah what he was about to do, but he got up very early the next morning, took Isaac and two of his servants along with wood for the offering. After three days, they came to the place in the land of Moriah where the Lord led them. Moriah was a mountain range, and the Lord had chosen a specific place for the sacrifice to be offered. (Genesis 22:3,4)
    It is interesting to know that in Genesis 22:14, 'Moriah' means manifestation of Jehovah.  Also, according to 2 Chronicles 3:1, the temple built by king Solomon was constructed there. The place where Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, may very well be the place where Jesus was crucified. By carefully comparing John 19:16,17, Matthew 27:33 and Mark 15 :22 you will see that the place where Jesus was crucified was called the place of a skull.  It was also called Golgotha in the Hebrew, and Calvary in the Greek language. (Luke 23:33)
     Abraham told his young men to wait while he and Isaac went up into the mountain to make a sacrifice unto the Lord, and that he and the lad would return to them.   It is evident that he knew that even if Isaac died, the Lord was able to raise him from the dead. (Genesis 22:5) (Hebrews 11:17-19) When the Lord saw Abraham's faith whereby he was willing to sacrifice his precious son, He provided a ram for the offering instead of Isaac, and again stated the promise of his seed to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. (Genesis 22:15-18)
     Abraham lived 175 years. (Genesis 25:7,8) Abraham was called 'the friend of God' in 2 Chronicles 20:7, in Isaiah 41 :8, and again in James 2:23.

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ISAAC'S family included his wife Rebecca and their twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was his father's favorite, but Rebecca loved Jacob. (Genesis 25:27,28)
      *ESAU was a skillful hunter
      *JACOB was a farmer
     One day Esau came into Jacob's tent after a day of hunting, and he was very hungry. Jacob was preparing some lentil soup, and when Esau asked him for a bowl of it, Jacob said, "I'll give you some if you will sell your birthright to me." Apparently, Esau was more interested in a bowl of lentil soup than he was in retaining his birthright, as the scripture says, " Esau despised his birthright." (Genesis 25:29-34) Because Esau was the eldest of the twins, he should have inherited the blessings of the firstborn, so when Isaac was old and nearly blind, he sent for Esau and asked him to hunt for a deer and prepare some tasty venison for him after that he would bless him before he died. Rebecca heard the discussion between Isaac and Esau, and she sent for Jacob, and told him how they could deceive Isaac so that Jacob would receive the blessing of the firstborn son instead of Esau. (Genesis 27:26-29)   Their scheme was very successful, but when Esau found out, he was determined to kill Jacob as soon as their father was dead. Then, to show more disrespect for his parents, Esau married a Hittite woman, and both Isaac and Rebecca were displeased with that marriage.
     Knowing that Esau now hated his brother, Rebecca said to Jacob, "I know your brother is planning to kill you as soon as your father dies. You must go' to my brother Laban in Haran for a few days until Esau's anger is turned away. (Genesis 27:41-44)
     Then Rebecca said to Isaac, "I'm very concerned that Jacob will also marry a Hittite girl like Esau has done, and that will be more than I can bear!" (Genesis 27:46) Isaac sent for Jacob and blessed him saying, "My son, you must not marry a Canaanite woman. Therefore, I will send you to Padan-aram where your mother's father and brother Laban live, and you may choose one of Laban's daughters as your wife." (Genesis 28:1-5)
     After Esau saw how Jacob obeyed their father and was going to Padan-aram to find a suitable wife, Esau again displeased Isaac and Rebecca by going to Ishmael and marrying two of his daughters. (Genesis 28:6-9)
     On his way toward Haran, the Lord spoke to Jacob in a dream and confirmed to him the promise (covenant) He had made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, in Genesis 13:14-18, and repeated a third time in Genesis 15:1-21. The promise was passed on and confirmed to Isaac in Genesis 26:1-5 and now is given to Jacob in Genesis 28:10-16. Through these three .....
     Abraham, Isaac and Jacob......  would come the nation known as Israel.

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JACOB'S FAMILY consisted of 12 sons that came from 4 wives. When he left Laban's house, Jacob had 70 children.
      *LEAH was Jacob's first wife, and she was Laban's eldest daughter. Her 6 sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issacher and Zebulun. She also bore 27 daughters for Jacob, making a total of 33 children. (Genesis 46:15)
      *RACHEL was Jacob's second wife and also his favorite. She was Laban's youngest daughter. Her sons were Joseph and Benjamin. She also bore 12 daughters for Jacob, making a total of 14 children. (Genesis 46:22)
      *ZILPAH was Leah's handmaid. Her sons were Gad and Asher. She also bore 14 daughters for Jacob, making a total of 16. (Genesis 46:18)
      *BILHAH was Rachel's handmaid. Her sons were Dan and Naphtali. She also bore 5 daughters for Jacob, making a total of 7 children. (Genesis 46:25)
     These sons inherited their father's deceitful ways. Even though Reuben was Jacob's firstborn, the Lord chose Judah and his seed to be in the line of Jesus Christ. Jacob's favorite son was Joseph, and because Joseph trusted in the Lord through many years of persecution and adversity, the Lord blessed the whole family because of their association with him.
     Lying and deception were weaknesses in the family. Twice, Abraham lied and said Sarah was his sister in order to save his own hide. (Genesis 12:13 and Genesis 20:2)  Isaac did the same thing, and we read about it in Genesis 26:7.   In Genesis chapter 27, we read how Jacob and his mother Rebecca deceived Isaac. Her brother, Jacob's uncle Laban, deceived Jacob into working 7 years for his youngest daughter Rachel, and instead gave Jacob his older daughter Leah. Then Laban gave Rachel to Jacob and had him work another 7 years without wages. (Genesis 29:20-28)
     After fourteen years, Jacob asked Laban to permit him to leave and go back to his own people. He also asked for his wages. (Genesis 30:26) Laban promised to give Jacob cattle, sheep and goats that were striped and speckled, and then he had his own sons take away the flocks that were promised. When Jacob found out about it, he used deception against Laban and became more wealthy than his father-in-law. (Genesis 30:27-43) Then the Lord told Jacob to leave Haran and go back to Canaan. (Genesis 31 :3)
     Let's look at the characteristics of the six sons's of Leah:
        *REUBEN was the eldest, but not reliable. Pages 921 and 922 of Unger's Bible Dictionary give some of the details of Reuben's life. Genesis 35:22 tell about his act of incest, and the record of how he tried to deliver his brother Joseph from the other brothers who wanted to kill Joseph. (Genesis 37:21-29)
        *SIMEON and LEVI were involved in an unusually cruel and unjust act of deceit and lying when they paid back a wrongful act of rape and kidnap against their sister Dinah. (Genesis chap. 34)   In Genesis 49:5-7, we see Jacob's attitude toward those two sons for their action.
       *JUDAH suggested selling Joseph to the Ishmaelite traders rather than leaving him in a dry well to die. (Genesis 37:26,27)  He acted more responsibly and honorably than his brothers on several occasions one of those incidents is found in Genesis 43:3-10. When Jacob was dying, he pronounced a blessing on Judah that placed Judah in the line of Jesus Christ. (Genesis 49:8-12)
        *ISSACHAR was not very prominent in the scriptures, but Page 543 of Unger's Bible Dictionary tells about his children.
        *ZEBULUN was not well known in the scriptures, but page 1181 of Unger's Bible Dictionary tells about his children.
     The greatest of Jacob's 12 sons was JOSEPH. Beginning with Genesis 37 through the end of the book the details of his interesting life are recorded.
     The 49th chapter of Genesis records Jacob's prophecy regarding the outcome of each of his 12 sons. When Jacob was 130 years old, he, his sons and their families went to live in Egypt where Joseph had become Prime Minister. Jacob spent his last 17 years in fellowship with the Lord, and was 147 years old when he died. The pharoah who ruled at that time treated them kindly, but after Joseph died, the next Pharoah placed the Children of Israel into bondage. After 400 years of slavery, the Lord raised up a man called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt and take them to the land of Canaan. When they left Egypt, there were about two million men, plus their wives, their children and their animals now they were a nation through which God the Father would eventually bring His son, Jesus Christ, into the world.

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There were 14 generations between Abraham and David, who was to become the greatest king ever to rule God's people Israel. David was the youngest of eight sons in the family of Jessie, the Bethlehemite. His family considered him to be the least important member of that family, but the Lord had other ideas about David's future.

     When David was 17 years old, God sent His prophet Samuel to anoint David to be king over Israel. (1 Samuel 16:1) However, 13 years elapsed before David actually occupied the throne. A number of spectacular events took place during those years. One of them revealed the bad attitude of David's eldest brother Eliab, when David offered to fight Goliath, the Philistine giant, who was threatening the army of Israel. (1 Samuel 17:28-30) Saul was king at that time, and he became so extremely jealous of David that he tried to kill him. Finally, David ran away from Saul and hid in a cave. When his brothers and other men of his father's family learned where David was, they joined him. Others in Israel who were in distress, in debt and discontented also joined David in the cave, making a total of about 400 men. (1 Samuel 22:1,2)
     David had two opportunities to kill Saul, but would not do so, because he knew that the Lord had placed Saul on the throne of Israel. After David spared Saul's life the second time, Saul promised that he would no longer attempt to kill him. (1 Samuel 26:21) A few years later, Saul died in battle and David became Israel's king.
     David became king of Israel when he was 30 years old, and he ruled for 40 years. David was a great king, but he created a number of problems that affected his whole family during those years because of his sexual arrogance. David knew that God said kings should not have more than one wife (Deuteronomy 17:17), but he took more than twenty wives for himself, and his entire family suffered because of his disobedience.
     David had many sons, but he was not a good father until Solomon. Because David neglected to properly train his other sons in the ways of the Lord, there were many problems in the family. David's eldest son, Amnon, deceived and then raped his half-sister Tamar. (2 Samuel 13:1-22) Two years went by, and David did not punish Amnon for his crime, so Tamar's brother Absalom executed Amnon and then ran away to Geshur. (2 Samuel 13:23-39)
     David apparently missed Absalom very much, but he waited three years before sending his nephew Joab to Geshur to bring Absalom back home. When Joab advised the king that Absalom had retumed to Jerusalem, David said, "Let him go to his house, but I do not want to see him." (2 Samuel 14:21-24) Another two years went by before Absalom saw his father face-to- face (2 Samuel 14:28), and because of David's half-forgiveness, Absalom became very bitter and made plans to set himself up as king. (2 Samuel 15: 1-12) He formed an army, and the rebellion was so successful that David was forced to leave Jerusalem.
     David and his men fought against Absalom, but David gave strict orders that no one was to kill his rebellious son. However during one of the battles when Absalom's mule took him under a low branch of an oak tree, and left him hanging there, Joab and his men executed AbsaJom. (2 Samuel 18:9-17)
     Then David's son Adonijah saw that his father was getting old and, thinking he was next in line to be king, began to gather an army. He was able to convince Joab and several other men who had served David faithfully through the years to join in his rebellion, and they gathered together to make Adonijah king. (1 Kings 1 :5-9)
     When God's prophet Nathan learned of the rebellion, and knowing that the Lord chose Solomon to be king after David, he appealed to Bathsheba to go with him to the king and advise him of Adonijah's treachery. (1 Kings 1:10-27) As soon as David understood the report, he asked to have Bathsheba brought before him, and he confirmed to her that her son Solomon would be the next king over Israel. After assuring Bathsheba, David made arrangements for Solomon to be declared king that very day. (1 Kings 1 :28-40) After that, David spent a great deal of time instructing Solomon about his responsibility as ruler of God's people Israel. (1 Kings chapter 2) David told Solomon how he had wanted to build a house for the Lord, but the Lord said, "No, you may not build a house for Me, because you have shed much blood during your lifetime. However, you will have a son who will be a man of peace, and I will give him and Israel rest from all their enemies. His name will be Solomon, and he will build a house for My name." (1 Chronicles 22:7-10)  David also told Solomon that out of all his sons, the Lord had chosen him to be the next king of Israel. (1 Chronicles 28:5)
     Solomon began to rule when he was 30 years old, and he reigned 40 years. Solomon loved the Lord and asked Him for wisdom to rule His people. The Lord was very pleased with that request, and granted to him not only great wisdom, but also fantastic riches and power such as no one before or after Solomon would ever have. (1 Kings 3:7-14)
     Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, and when he was old, his wives turned away his heart from the Lord. (1 Kings 11 :4) Solomon was out of fellowship with the Lord for many years, during which he wrote Ecclesiastes telling in that book about how he went on a frantic search for happiness without God. Then in the 12th chapter he wrote about the importance of obeying the Lord and getting to know Him early in life. After he confessed his sin and was back in fellowship with the Lord, Solomon recorded Proverbs. Many of the Proverbs reveal David's wisdom, and the last chapter records some good advice given to Solomon by his mother Bathsheba, who called him 'Jedidiah', which means 'beloved of the Lord'.
     It is extremely important for us to understand that God sets up and also removes kings. Many kings ruled in both Israel and in Judah throughout the years after the kingdom was divided during the reign of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. Some of those kings were believers and some were unbelievers. In the two books of Kings, we have a historical record of those kings, and in 1st and 2nd Chronicles, God gives us His viewpoint of the kings who, after David and Solomon, ruled the nation of Judah and were in the line of Christ. In Chronicles, the Lord identifies even some of the worst of them as believers by the frequent use of the phrase, 'the Lord his God'. A few of the kings in 2 Chronicles are classified as 'Godly men, because they walked in the ways of David and did not get involved with idolatry'. Those kings were: ASA (chapters 14, 15 and 16); JEHOSHAPHAT (chapters 17,18,19 and 20); JOASH chapter 24); UZZIAH (chapter 26); HEZEKIAH (chapters 29, 30, 31 and 32); and the last one, JOSIAH (chapters 34 and 35) Of course, like all of us, each of them had a sinful nature, and when they were out of God's will and were controlled by the area of weakness in their sin nature, they failed. We can learn many lessons for our own lives as we study about their failures.

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The life of one of the most evil kings of Judah is recorded in 2 Chronicles 33 his name was MANASSEH. He became king when he was only 12 years old, and he ruled for 55 years. During most of his lifetime he was responsible for the people worshipping idols and becoming worse than the heathen nations around them. The Lord sent many prophets to them, but they refused to hear the Word of God. Finally, the Lord brought the Assyrians into the land, and the people and their king were taken as prisoners to Babylon. When Manasseh was in chains and suffering in Babylon, he prayed to the Lord his God, and the Lord brought him back to Jerusalem and restored his kingdom to him. (2 Chronicles 33:11-13) The last few years of his life were spent in honoring the Lord. (2 Chronicles 33:14-20).

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The last evil king to rule in Judah was a man who is called JECONIAS (Greek spelling of the Hebrew name JECONIAH) (Matthew 1 :11). In 1 Chronicles 3:16, he is included in the kingly line of David, and his name means 'Jehovah establishes'. In Jeremiah 22:24-30, the prophet called him by his nickname, CONIAH, and tells about the curse the Lord pronounced upon all the descendants of Coniah that none of them would ever sit on David's throne. Although none of Coniah's sons ruled after him, it is important to note that Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is in the line of Coniah. (Matthew 1 :16) He was also called by a third name, which was JEHOIACHIN, and that means 'Jehovah has established'. (he is called by that name in 2 Kings 24:6 and also in 2 Chronicles 36:8) All three names refer to this man.
     Even though Coniah spent the remainder of his life in captivity, the Lord was very gracious to him, as in the 37th year of his captivity, in the 12th month and 27th day of that month, he was released from prison and was treated kindly by Evil-merodach, king of Babylon. Evil-merodach placed Coniah above all the other kings that were in Babylon, gave him beautiful garments to wear, fed him at the king's table, and gave Coniah a generous monetary allowance every day the rest of his life. (2 Kings 25:27-30)

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All these kings in the line of David were blessed not because of who they were, but because of God's promise to David, which was, "Your family and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever." (2 Samuel 7:16)
     There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David; fourteen generations from David to the Babylonian captivity; and fourteen generations from the Babylonian captivity to Christ. (Matthew 1 :17)
     The Lord Jesus Christ will be the next Person to occupy David's throne when He comes back to this earth to set up His kingdom.. HE IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:16)
     The scriptures shows some interesting glimpses of those members of Jesus' family. After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph had four sons and at least two daughters. The sons are identified by name in Matthew 13:55-57: James, Joseph Jr., Simon and Jude. His brothers did not believe in Him until after He had been resurrected and ascended into heaven. (John 7:5) Later, James and Jude wrote the New Testament epistles that bear their names. Luke 8:19-21 records a time when Jesus was teaching multitudes in Galilee, and his mother and brothers came to see Him, but because of the crowd, they were unable to reach Him. Someone told Jesus His family wanted Him, and He pointed to those who had come to hear the Word of God and replied, "My mother and my brothers are these who have come to hear the Word of God and obey it."