Tradition must give way to the clear statements of the Scripture

 The question respecting the time when the Apocalypse was written affects the interpretation     A majority of the older critics have been inclined to adopt the opinion of Irenaeus , viz., that it was written during the reign of Domitian, i.e. during the last part of the first century, or in A. D. 95 or 96. Most of the recent commentators and critics have called this opinion in question , and placed the composition of the book at an earlier period, viz. before the destruction of Jerusalem .  Better ground has another report, which may be here and there found among the ancients , viz., that John wrote the Apocalypse during banishment to Patmos under the reign of Nero. From A. D. 64 to the time of his death (in June A. D. 68), Nero carried on a furious persecution against Christians, and banishment was a very common thing under the Roman government. It might therefore have been inflicted upon John, the leading teacher of Christianity at Ephesus, the capital of As...

 The New Testament, largely considered, is apostolic witness. As such, it is the witness of Christ. The witness of the apostles is the witness the exalted Christ has appointed and authorized , such that he identifies it as his very own (Acts 1:21–22; Eph. 2:20); it is on par with Jesus’s own words in truth and authority (e.g., 2 Cor. 13:3; 1 John 1:2 and  1 Jn. 4:14 in the light of 1 Jn. 1:2). The New Testament use of “apostle” (ἀπόστολος) varies. My comments here concern those who were apostles of Christ— those chosen and authorized by Christ and having his authority —the original twelve, with Matthias replacing Judas (Acts 1:20–26), Paul (1 Cor. 15:8–9; cf. Rom. 1:5; 1 Cor. 1:1; 9:2; Gal. 1:1, 11–16), and perhaps others.  These are the apostles in view in Eph. 2:20 and listed as first in 1 Cor. 12:28 and Eph. 4:11; see the discussion of this apostolate (“apostleship,” Acts 1:25) in Ridderbos, Redemptive History, 12–15. In distinction are those “apostles” who served as “...

See, I and the sons whom the LORD has given me are to be signs and portents in Israel, sent by the LORD of Hosts who dwells on Mount Zion. Isa. 8:18  Moses’s interpretation of redemptive history will become the normative pattern that later biblical authors embrace. Adam and the covenant of creation are prototypes, molds that shape and give meaning to the future biblical story line. As the Pentateuch develops, we find numerous “seeds” patterned after Adam , what we might call ectypes. Each ectype advances redemptive history and God’s reclamation of humanity from sin while also f alling short of total restoration , usually on account of each figure repeating an Adam-like “fall.”   Thus, each instantiation in the pattern creates further expectation of a coming fulfillment. These repeated patterns and the corresponding promises of eschatological salvation (e.g., Gen. 3:15; 5:29; 12:1–3; 17:1–8; 49:8–12; Num. 24:17–19) show that Moses sees Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Israel as prophe...