The story of Israel is mirror image of how God blesses and man refuses to accept His blessings. God creates laws, protects and guides. But we refuse to be obedient, wander away from the protection to seek refuse in worthless idols, and want to assert our will over His. It shows God constant grace, mercy and love in His calling, and it shows man’s utter contempt for the things of God. Eventually Israel was cast out of the land, though God in His mercy brought back a remnant-although they didn’t deserve it.
Though our Father has given to us a new heart to be obedient to His commands, the story of the nation of Israel is a reflection and warning of the evilness of our hearts to stray from God. We are constantly dependent on Him alone.
That makes sense, since “all scripture is useful for... instruction.” If the saga of the Israelites meant nothing to modern Christians then this would not be true. Now some segments of Christendom (and I count myself among them) hold with a view that actually says the literal Jews are coming back into the limelight. Some call it dispensationalism. I don’t necessarily buy into everything that proponents of that view have propounded, but it answers a lot of questions including the question of how could God be woofing to those Israelites and only meaning figurative, spiritualized-out promises and not further literal ones like the literal promises they knew for thousands of years?