Revelation 1:19

19 Write the things which thou hast seen and the things which are and the things which must be after these.

Revelation 1:19 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 1:19

Write the things which thou hast seen
The Alexandrian copy and some others, and the Complutensian edition, read, "write therefore the things" meaning what he had now seen, the vision of one like to the son of man, amidst the golden candlesticks, with seven stars in his right hand, and as above described; this was what he had seen ( Revelation 1:12 Revelation 1:13 Revelation 1:16 ) ; for it does not refer to what he had seen of Christ in the days of his flesh, but to what he had now seen in this representation of him:

and the things which are;
the state of the churches of Christ in the apostolic age, and at that time signified by the Ephesian church, and that part of the Smyrnean which John lived to see:

and the things which shall be hereafter;
from hence unto the end of the world, in successive generations, signified by the rest of the churches, and in the visions of the seals, trumpets, and vials.

Revelation 1:19 In-Context

17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I AM the first and the last,

18 and he that lives and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen, and have the keys of Hades and of death.

19 Write the things which thou hast seen and the things which are and the things which must be after these.

20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven congregations {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones}, and the seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven congregations {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones}.