During the weekend of 8-9 October 2016, ISIS fighters lost control of the village of Dabiq, not far from the city of Aleppo. The village of Dabiq has been central to the identity of ISIS. The group?s online magazine is called Dabiq, and its news agency, Amaq, is named after the surrounding area of Dabiq. Dabiq had been lauded by ISIS as the center of the final apocalyptic battle between the self-styled caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the Western crusaders. ISIS deduced the importance of Dabiq for its eschatology from an obscure Hadith, or saying of the Prophet Muhammad concerning the end times.

Joseph & his exile to Egypt, at the hands of his brothers; Judah takes a Caananite wife.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam each claim Abraham as central to their heritage: For the Jews, Abraham is their ethnic progenitor and a model of trust in Yahweh. For Christians, Abraham models justification by faith (see Romans 4). For Muslims, Abraham is a key prophet in a prophetic line extending from Adam to Muhammad. He is mentioned in 35 of the 114 chapters of the Qur?an, and is proclaimed as a prophet who early on modeled the singular belief in Allah and who declared allegiance and faith in Allah. To Muslims, his importance is as a prophet, not as the father of the Jews. But the Bible pronounces Abraham a watershed figure in God?s redemptive plan. Before him, God dealt with all of humanity, making no covenant distinctions. But God chose Abraham. . .

Jacob is now a changed man, and God reiterates His covenant to him; the deaths of Rachel & Isaac.

In 2005, historian Paul Johnson published an important article on anti-Semitism in the journal Commentary. He defined anti-Semitism as ?an intellectual disease, a disease of the mind, extremely infectious and massively destructive. It is a disease to which both human individuals and entire human societies are prone.? After the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC and the Southern Kingdom of Judah in 586 BC, the Jews were dispersed throughout the eastern Mediterranean. After Rome?s brutal destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, the final, great diaspora unfolded with Diaspora Judaism becoming the norm. Jews were now dispersed on every major continent and yet were able to maintain a distinct social and religious identity. Over the last 2,000 years, anti-Semitism has continually raised its ugly head virtually everywhere.

After reuniting with Esau, Jacob & his people settle to Shechem, where they have conflict with the Canaanites, and plot a massacre.

Ligonier Ministries recently released a study entitled its ?2016 State of American Theology Study? conducted by LifeWay Research. Among other things, the study focused on six key doctrinal areas and where Americans differ on each theologically. The results evidence confusion, inconsistency and a superficial understanding of basic doctrinal truths. From the ?Executive Summary? part of the report, here is a brief summary of several salient results of the study:

Jacob’s return to Genesis, and his fears of facing his brother Esau.

We live in a world where one of the few constants in life is change. As we contemplate the future for our children and grandchildren, this can trouble us and often cause significant anxiety. The Founders of this nation were very aware of change and perhaps their greatest fear was how government?s power would change over time. They were birthing a republic unlike any that had ever existed. James Madison wrote to Thomas Jefferson that ?Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression.? Benjamin Franklin supposedly explained that ?Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.? They were fearful of the tyranny of the majority and of the power of the central government they were creating.

The account of Jacob & Laban, and the beginnings of Jacob’s family.