Hey Jasper:
Your statement on "grewing up with all the Hal Lindsey's stuff" (and I mean stuff) is also what I did until I started studying the Word of our Lord. I've studied most of the premillennial writings, including Hal Lindsey's teacher, John Walvoord.
I agee with you totally when you say Israel today is just like any other nation. The Messiah Jesus Christ is the ONLY answer to "whosoever" will, regards if they call themselves a Jew or not.
The Lord took the Kingdom away from them and gave it to a nation that would produce the fruit thereof:
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits
A.D. 70 was the climax of the age of the Jewish economy ending, never again to be back as a nation as they were under the Levitical priesthood. The Lord Jesus warned them of the destruction of their nation and He destroyed it through General Titus in 70 A.D. Jesus explained (& warned) the Jews throughly in Matthew 24.
You may see a lot of religious people in Israel, but you will NEVER see it back with the old priesthood it was under.