Revelation 1:19

Jesus Christ repeated His instruction to John to write down the things God was revealing to him (Revelation 1:11). The repetition of ’write’ from Revelation 1:11 indicates that the ’therefore’ is resuming the earlier command where it left off. [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 113.] Now Jesus gave John more specific instructions.

This verse provides an inspired outline of the Book of Revelation. Some of what John was to record he had already seen, namely, the Man standing among the seven golden lampstands with the seven stars in His hand (Revelation 1:12-16). Some had to do with present conditions in the churches as exemplified by the seven churches (chs. 2-3). Some had to do with revelations about the times after conditions represented by the seven churches ended (chs. 4-22). [Note: See idem, "John’s Apocalyptic Outline," Bibliotheca Sacra 123:492 (October-December 1966):334-41.] Beale, who described himself as an "eclectic idealist," held that all three clauses refer to the entire book. [Note: Beale, pp. 48, 168.]