Carrie, I told you I studied under the Zola Levitt ministries for a while and I really found it helpful to understand God's relationship to His people the Jews. Their ministry and the ministry of a lot of Jewish Christians are invaluable to fill in the gaps that only studying and speaking on the Church as a separate entity causes. Jews, Jewishness, and Israel is in our history and as a student of prophecy Israel is the central theme of Revelation. It is how God redeems the nation of Israel and sets up His kingdom and our eternity in Him. We will be with Him at His return and we the raptured church have some very special promises to us. But God is faithful to the Jewish people too and will end up redeeming His people as well.

Jesus came unto His own to give to them the sayings of life. "He came to His own and His own did not receive Him." (John1:11) In several passages He stated that He only came to the Jews.

An interesting thing was revealed when a woman came to Him and asked that her daughter be cleansed from a demon,

"But He answered and said, "I was not sent, except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Then she came and worshipped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" But He answered and said, "It is not good to take bread and throw it to the little dogs." (Matt. 15:24-26)

The woman knowing what He meant, that His ministry was to the Jewish people and through them the world, replied, "Yes Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table." Jesus, seeing that she had faith in Him and was ready to receive it in any way the Master so chose to give it, noted her faith. "Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith. Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour."

The Jewish disciples were to go into all he world and preach the gospel to all nations. The Jews were to be the distributers of the word to the whole world. Indeed for years the church was made up of mainly Jewish converts, giving rise to many arguments with the Judahizers. These were folks that were sure that one had to adopt the law and covenant agreements of the Jewish people to be Christian. Paul argued with the Judahizers all the time and said that Christians need not adopt the Law to be saved.

Paul made it his custom to start with the synagogues and then go to the gentiles. He did that so the original model that Christ intended could still be in place. However, he found that he was not going to be able to reach them himself, so Peter continued to go to the lost sheep of Israel.

The Judahizers did get to even Peter for a time and Paul withstood him to his face. (Galatians 2:11-17) He had bought into the separation of Jews and Gentiles and going back to be under the Law.  Paul did not want to see him and his ministry to the Jewish folks to be harmed and simply had had enough. Finally God gave Peter a vision that said to "not call unclean" what God had said was clean. (Acts chapter 11)

The world today has many Jewish folks that are still showing forth the light of God's Word to the world, as Jesus wanted them to. Sadly, the nation of Israel does not receive it well and there is persecution of the church in Israel.

But Jesus fortold a time when He would redeem the nation of Israel to Himself. This will happen during the time of Jacob's trouble that God will divide the world into two camps. The anti-christ and the World on one side and His people Israel and their converts to the returning Messiah on the other. This is the "time of Jacob's trouble" but it is also a time to remove the "tares" and a time for salvation of other souls and to set up an end times that will be the utimate good against evil.

There will be 144,000 Jews from all tribes of Israel to lead in the witness to the nations. Jesus then says that He will return and will touch the mountain and it will be split in two.

"And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zechariah 12:10)

"And every eye shall see Him, (the whole world including Israel - one purpose for the whole battle to offer Himself one last time to the whole world but the world rejects Him we know) and they also which pierced Him (Israel - the other purpose to redeem His people)." (Revelation 1:7)

Eventually the battle ends and Israel is redeemed but many will side with the anti-christ. Even the one (false prophet) that causes all to worship the anti-christ is of Jewish descent. (more forthcoming). The Lord brings His people through the ordeal and sets up a Millennial Kingdom and sits on the throne in the temple judging the nations.

I hope this helps and I will give you more to chew on later, ok? Love ya bunches.