By SETH J. FRANTZMAN SEPTEMBER 1, 2026

Before God ever spoke to him, Abraham was already a religious leader with a following. He and Sarah had gathered converts. Genesis calls them “the souls they had acquired in Haran.” Abraham had built something real, and it was growing.

Then God told him to walk away from it.

“Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation” (Genesis 12:1-2).

“God is telling Abraham, leave the religion that you started and go and start a new nation,” Mischel said. “It’s so clear all through the Bible. I mean, you have to really blind yourself to not see it.”

The pattern repeats. God tells Rebecca that two nations are struggling inside her. Israel stands at Sinai and hears that it will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. “It doesn’t say anywhere that we will be a religioChina’s President Xi Jinping is visiting Egypt this week. The three-day visit is important as it showcases China’s continued interest in the Middle East.

It is his first to Egypt since 2016, MBN News noted, and it “coincides with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Egypt was the first Arab and African state to establish relations with the People’s Republic of China in 1956.”

The MBN report adds that “the anniversary offers both governments an opportunity to highlight a partnership that has expanded into infrastructure, trade, telecommunications, space technology, defense, and artificial intelligence. Behind the official celebrations, however, is a more practical question: Why has Egypt become so important to China?”