In the podcast Heiser refers to Restoration Theology in a PDF extracted from the Logos software library that he posted on the website. It’s about 16 pages long, and it is by no means light reading. It requires that you focus and keep track of references in the Bible and in various Second Temple documents.
It is well worth your time if you can handle it. I spent an hour or so plowing through it and making mental notes of things I recognized.
In particular, it has been my contention that the ANE outlook includes an insistence on seeing the world on multiple levels at the same time. There are threads of consideration that must be held in tension in order to find your way through moral issues. If you can grasp that approach, then you should be able to follow this extract. It calls on the reader to understand how Second Temple Judaism was not all one school of thought.
The authors refer to a Deuteronomic school of thought that held Jews must repent in order to restore the nation to its former glory. They explain it rather well, if in a condensed form. You must pay attention as you read it. Then they point out how this is a core element in Pharisaism, and thus part of what Paul was thinking about when he wrote.
And it is quite obvious that Paul wrote on multiple levels. If you cannot keep track of his references, you’ll get lost. It’s downright silly and irresponsible to attempt to squeeze Paul’s writing into a single level of consideration. Especially foolish is viewing it on a literal level.
This extract concludes with opening up a fresh understanding of what Paul seems to be saying about how “all Israel will be saved” in the end. I recommend you read this thing. Keep in mind that there is a repeating block of text on the bottom of each page identifying the source, and it can at times appear to be part of the narrative.
Feel free to ask for clarification, in particular on how we can incorporate this material in our own teaching. Later on I’ll take a look at the second PDF posted on that page.
