He was to record what he saw and send it to the seven churches of Asia (cf. Revelation 1:4). Each of these seven churches was to receive a complete copy of what John was to write down. What is written is permanent (see Isaiah 30:8) and so can be referenced after the fact to demonstrate God’s faithfulness to his promises and his ability to carry out what he said he’d do (see Isaiah 41:21–24).
11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”