We have been showing the distinctiveness of each group—Israel and the church, and why they cannot be merged. In my last post we viewed the distinctive of Israel: Jewish people who are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Now we will look at the distinctive of the church.

The first thing I will point out regarding the church is that it has a distinct time period—from Pentecost to the rapture.  Only God knows the length of this period, but it will be the exact time needed to prepare us, His bride, for our union with Him.

Secondly, unlike Israel, the church has a mysterious character.  Whereas Israel was always well known throughout the Old Testament, the church sort of popped out of nowhere.  That is, it was unheard of in the Old Testament, and wasn’t really revealed until Christ came.  But even then, the concept of the church was…