I was taught that the verses in the Bible that referenced the Jews are now meant for the Church, since they rejected Jesus Christ. We are the spiritual Jews, the chosen people. If that isn’t so and verses like Jeremiah 29:11 have no application to me personally, why read them? When I need verses to hold onto in times of trouble, verses to commit to memory to comfort me in the dark hours of the night, I want the ones that apply to the Church. Why hasn’t there been a Bible written with just verses that apply to the Church?
Your confusion might stem from the fact that whoever taught you that the Church is Spiritual Israel was wrong. This is a false teaching called replacement theology that cannot be supported by a literal interpretation of Scripture.
We are to read the Old Testament because by doing so we can learn a lot about the character of God through His interaction with Israel, and because most of the prophecies about the 2 comings of Jesus, the End Times, the Millennium and other matters of importance to us can only be found there. For example, if you had known what the Old Testament says you wouldn’t have been fooled into believing replacement theology.
The part of the Bible that applies to the Church is the New Testament and it contains plenty of comforting verses.