As the gospel spread beyond Israel to the Gentile world, many began to ask important questions about God's promises to the Jewish people. In *Exodus 4:22*, God declares, *“Israel is my firstborn son,”* highlighting Israel’s special place in His redemptive plan. But with the coming of Christ and the message of salvation extended to all nations, we now see Christians referred to as adopted sons and daughters of God through faith. This raises important theological questions: Has Israel’s special status been replaced by the Church? Do Gentile believers now stand in place of Israel as God's chosen people? Or does Israel still hold a distinct role in God's unfolding story? This topic invites reflection on God's faithfulness, the unity of His promises, and how both Jews and Gentiles fit into His plan through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Protestant Dispensational Churches of America use the passage of "*I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you*" in regards to a literal nation of Israel, interpreting it to mean that the current Jewish people must be supported at all costs in their quest to regain their ancestral homeland in Palestine, which naturally implies the ethnic cleansing of the local Arab people who have lived in the region for the last over 1,500 years, many of whom are actually Christian themselves. How should any of the various sects of Christianity respond to this situation today, both morally and from Scripture?

*Let me preface my question by saying that my knowledge of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) position on the future of ethnic Jews is limited. Perhaps that position has been fully fleshed out and explained somewhere, and I just failed to find it. If you can post a link or resource that thus makes answering my question unnecessary, feel free to do so. Likewise, if my understanding of the SDA position on the subject (as stated below) is inaccurate, please feel free to correct it before (or even instead of) answering the question.* Based on my knowledge/understanding of the SDA position on the subject, Adventists believe that: 1. Jews will **not** be saved "as a nation" (although **individual** Jews will be saved, as the Jews irreversibly lost their position as a "people of God" when they rejected their Messiah by giving up Jesus to be crucified under Pontius Pilate and failed to repent of that rejection during the apostolic ministry of the first century, the Jewish nation was consequently rejected by God which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 and scattering of the Jews among the nations in fulfillment of Daniel 9:26); 2. The blessing of being a "people/nation of God" was essentially "transferred" (though a different, "weaker" verb may be used here) to the Church of Jesus Christ where a person's ethnic background is no longer a factor in anything that has to do with obtaining/enjoying any special spiritual blessing or prophetic distinction. In other words, being a Jew (following national Jewish rejection that occurred nearly two millennia ago) makes no difference thenceforth (either now or in the future) as far as God's Kingdom in general and the economy of salvation in particular is concerned. While I can readily see *qualified* scriptural support for the second position (e.g., Paul's words "**There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus**," Galatians 3:28) — "qualified" because I think that most Christians who would quote this verse here would also disagree with the kind of interpretation of this and similar verses that obliterates the distinctions of "biological sex," "social-economic status," or "ethnic background" as such — I'm having a hard time reconciling the first position with the rest of the teaching of the Bible. - For one, the Ap. Paul himself seems to believe in a "reversal" of the rejection of the Jews that is to "follow" salvation of the "fullness" of the Gentiles. Important, he does so by relying on and even quoting some OT prophecies (like those in Hosea and Amos) applying them to "latter days" in the earth's history. In Romans (11:25-31) he writes: >**For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.** - Further, the book of the Revelation — which SDA is usually big on expounding (except perhaps on this point) — that relates, according to SDA own beliefs, many **future** events makes repeated references to both "Jews" and "Gentiles" which would make it at least somewhat illogical to hold that the ethnic distinctions between the two were obliterated to the point of complete obsolescence, as SDA seems to hold (at least as it pertains to matters spiritual). For example, when John records the famous scene of the 144,000, their tribal affiliation is painstakingly included — though the order and the composition of the list differ from other renditions of the list, a separate issue — and, in our view, cannot be simply disregarded as "poetical" or "allegorical" language (Revelation 7:2-8): >**And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.** Not only that, following those verses, when the "great multitude" is described, their "ethnic" (meaning "non-Jewish" in light of the previous verse) background is also explicitly noted (Revelation 7:9): >**After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;** Verses like these in Revelation are in full harmony with eschatological OT passages (like those in Isaiah) that continue to refer to Israel alongside Gentile nations while speaking of what happens in the "end." Needless to say, such references lose meaning if we "spiritualize" the terms "Israel" and "Judah" to mean "multi-ethnic Church." To summarize, it appears that: - Although we can scripturally maintain a certain loss of significance of Jewish ethnic affiliation following the rejection of Jesus Christ and Israel's failure to repent of that act "as a nation" 20 centuries ago, - It seems difficult (if not impossible) to maintain that that loss: a) is permanent and b) has resulted in complete obsolescence of spiritual/prophetic significance of Jewish ethnic background (however we may define it while accounting for the legitimate prospect of a Gentile "becoming a Jew" outlined in the OT scriptures, e.g., Ruth the Moabite) in light of verses that suggest that the rejection of ethnic Jews was to be "temporary" until "fullness of the Gentiles come in" and both "Jews" and "Gentiles" seem to feature (distinctly if not separately) in the future prophetic narrative. I realize that there is a separate issue of "fullness of Gentiles" being come in and "all Israel" being saved that will need to be addressed and reconciled with relevant points of the SDA teaching as well, but I'd leave that for another question. On the final note to this long rendition of my question, I did consult one online SDA resource that seems to acknowledge some of the OT prophecies (obviously relied on by the Ap. Paul) that predict return of the Jews to salvation in the "end days," but such references don't appear to displace the overall SDA belief that goes along with "replacement" theology that the SDA Church (along with many others) otherwise seems to espouse.

I belong to Associate Reformed Presbyterian church and would like to know if they believe in replacement theology . Do they believe in the prophecy and the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth??