Israel and the Church?

"In that He says, 'A new covenant', He has made the first obsolete..." --Hebrews 8:13

The 'Dispensational Theologian' would say his main opponent is the 'Replacement Theologian'. That is because the dispensationalist's number one mark of identification is the belief in a clear distinction between Biblical Israel and the church of the Lord Jesus. The so-called 'Replacement Theologian' supposedly teaches that the church replaced Israel, as God's 'covenant people'. As one who would be thus labeled, I can honestly say, I do not teach that... I do, however, teach that the New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant. Thus, the reason for the descriptive terms "Old" and "New".
Contrary to what dispensationalists as well as many nondispensationalists teach, the church did not have its beginning on the Day of Pentecost. The church received new life on that day... The church was spiritually born (from above) on Pentecost... But just as the individual who receives new life (eternal life) when he or she is is born again, does not mean that individual came into existence at that moment--neither did the church come into existence at the moment she received new life and became the body of Christ. The church actually had its beginning in Egypt as the first 'called out assembly' of God's people convened. The church not only existed, but was referred to as such, even in NT Scripture, prior to the resurrection of Jesus and the Day of Pentecost.
The word 'church' in the New Testament was translated, in every case, from the Greek word, 'ekklesia'. 'Ekklesia' is simply defined as 'a called out assembly'. The implied meaning, or connotation, is not provided in the word itself, but only in the context in which it may be used. The scriptures which equate 'the church' with the 'body of Christ' are very obviously referring to the post-Calvary, Christian assembly of believers. But there were times when Jesus Himself referred to the church in an obvious pre-Calvary context (i.e., Matthew 18:17), and thus, could not have been referring to the post-Calvary 'body of Christ'.
'Ekklesia' is also the word used three times for the 'assembly' of the cult who worshipped the mythological god Zeus, and the goddess Diana (Acts 19:32,39,41). It was the English translators who chose to translate the word using "assembly" instead of "church", but 'ekklesia' equals 'church' regardless.
The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek. And in both cases, the words written were inspired of the Holy Spirit.
Whether the Hebrew word 'qahal', which means a 'called out assembly', was used; or the Greek word 'ekklesia' which has the identical meaning--those who by inspiration of the Holy Spirit penned the Scripture, apparently knew they were one and the same by definition. For example... Psalm 22:22 (KJV) reads, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation ['qahal'] will I praise thee".
When the same is quoted in the New Testament, it reads, "...I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church ['ekklesia'] will I sing praise unto thee" (Hebrews 2:12 KJV).
It was the Holy Ghost who inspired the Hebrew writer of Psalm 22 to use the word 'qahal', and the same Holy Ghost also inspired the writer of the Book of Hebrews, to use the Greek word 'ekklesia' to say the same thing. On the other hand, it was the decision of the English translators, and not the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to translate the Hebrew word 'qahal' with the word 'assembly' or 'congregation'; and to translate the Greek word 'ekklesia', using the word 'church'. Nevertheless, 'the church' had its beginning upon Israel's deliverance from Egypt, and is first mentioned in Exodus 12:6. That same 'church in the wilderness' was referred to as such, in the New Testament (Acts 7:38)... It was also mentioned by Jesus, prior to Calvary (Matt. 18:17), (and the disciples apparently understood what He was saying)... And it was 'the church', the remnant of true Israel, who had come to believe in Jesus Christ, their Messiah--who received new life on the Day of Pentecost and became "His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all".