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...

 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah (1Ki 17:1; Mt. 11:14; 16:14) to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction .” Mal. 4:5–6   See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you So there's this reference throughout the New Testament about this day .  now this day of revelation of Christ, we're going to see that phrase in Luke's gospel and we're going to see it in Matthew's Gospel too, and it's synonymous with what Jesus told the disciples there in Matt. 16:27–28. It's the Son of Man, coming in the glory of his Father and with his angels to render vengeance unto everyone. now with that in mind,  that day we know is the day of the Lord , because we know from reading Malachi, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the...

 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 “...