Adam,

Since nobody else has taken the time to answer your questions, I'll take a stab at it.

[quote:eeeacf9666][i:eeeacf9666]Originally posted by houseparent[/i:eeeacf9666]
1) I never, ever was taught that Christ came to set up an earthly Kingdom and the Jews blew it when they had Him crucified. Why do I keep reading this is a "common" belief amongst dispensationalists? None I know believe that.[/quote:eeeacf9666]

You are very fortunate that you were not taught this. I was raised in the Dispensational Baptist tradition and I heard this view presented over and over again, particularly by my last pastor who enjoyed preaching on eschatology. I earned by B.A. from Liberty University and this view was predominant among the faculty and was taught in all the Bible and Theology courses (though there were a few professors who took exception). What has happened, I believe, is that modern day theologians have begun seeing how bankrupt Classical Dispensationalism really is, and many so called Dispensationalists have abandoned certain ideas that were once central to their theology. This idea of the kingdom may be one of those issues.

What is also unfortunate is that many present day Covenant Theologians spend a great deal of time critiquing Classical Dispensationalism, when in reality they should be spending time interacting with the more modern ideas. Ken Gentry, I believe, is one of the leading contemporary Covenant Theologians interacting with today's "progressive" Dispensationalists.

[quote:eeeacf9666]2) When is the time of the Gentiles fuffilled? And how does that not point to two seperate "dealings"? (I have yet to find a good answer for this)[/quote:eeeacf9666]

The time of the Gentiles is the current age in which we live. Paul says in Romans 11 that the Gentiles have been engrafted into the olive tree, and Israel has been cut off. But there is only one olive tree. There is not one olive tree for Israel and one for the Gentiles. There is one olive tree for both. God only has one plan for both Jews and Gentiles, not two plans for each respective group.

Furthermore, the inclusion of Gentiles is not something new to the NT, but this was foretold to Abraham himself when God established his covenant with him. "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed'." (Galatians 3:8) The inclusion of the Gentiles is not a seperate "dealing" from Israel, but this was part of God's promise during his original "dealing" with Abraham.

The time of the Gentiles extends to the end of all things at Christ's second coming. When Paul speaks of the "partial" hardening of Israel until the fullness of Gentiles come in (Romans 11:25), he is not saying that Israel is hardened temporarily, but then one day the hardening will be removed so that every last Israelite will be saved. The point is that the hardening is "partial", not because it is only temporary, but because Israel is not utterly hardened. Paul proves this by pointing to himself as being both a Jew and a believer in the gospel (Romans 11:2). Israel's partial hardening is that most of them are hardened, but there are a few that are not (like Paul). And this will be the case all the way until Christ returns, when the "already" and the "not yet" converge and all Israel is saved (i.e., all of the TRUE Israel, that being believers from both the Jews and the Gentiles).

[quote:eeeacf9666]3) Why are we comanded to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem"? It seems to me that God still has a love for National Israel? And do you all not see the hand of God in the many wars they have had? Just wondering about that.[/quote:eeeacf9666]

The only place I can think of where we are commanded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem is in Psalm 122:6, which of course is during the OT kingdom when Jerusalem was the center of God's dealings with his covenant people. If this verse were to be found in the NT, I might understand why it would be significant.

But even still, the NT speaks of the church as Jerusalem.

Galatians 4:26--"But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother."

Hebrews 12:22--"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem..."

[quote:eeeacf9666]4) When Christ returns, He is going to return to National Israel is He not? The mount of Olives? Does this not make it seem that Israel is important to Him?[/quote:eeeacf9666]

I'm not sure why it logically follows that national Israel is important to God since Christ will return on the Mount of Olives. If Jesus comes back in Orlando, Florida I'm not sure we could argue that it was because America is overly important to him more so than the other nations.

But on the other hand, maybe God does care a great deal about the land of Israel. But I'm not really sure why it would contradict anything I believe.

I hope this helps some. I'm sorry if anything I said is confusing.