The opening verses of the book state that "John"wrote it (1:1, 4, 9; cf. 22:8). >From the first century to the present day almost all orthodox scholars have concluded that this means the Apostle John.1Two noteworthy exceptions were Luther and Zwingli.2Today many scholars who accept the divine inspiration of the book believe the Apostle John wrote it.
Some of the early church fathers (Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, Irenaeus, and Victorinus) wrote that the Apostle John experienced exile on the island of Patmos during Domitian's reign.3They wrote that the government allowed John to return to Ephesus after this emperor died. Domitian died in A.D. 96. Consequently many conservative interpreters date the writing of this book near A.D. 95 or 96.
"Perhaps more than any other book in the NT, the Apocalypse enjoyed wide distribution and early recognition."4
Where did John get the revelation that he wrote down in this book? He said that he received it from Jesus Christ through angelic mediation (1:1). Most of the details of this revelation were undoubtedly new to John. However there are remarkable parallels between this revelation and the Lord Jesus' teaching in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21). The Book of Revelation clearly builds on that foundation.5The apocalyptic sections of certain books of the Old Testament--particularly Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Psalms--contain former revelation that God gave His prophets about the end times.6The revelation that Jesus gave in the Olivet Discourse and later to John on Patmos supplements that earlier revelation.
"Jesus in His [Olivet] discourse was clearly anticipating what He was to show John in much greater detail more than six decades later here on the island of Patmos."7
