1. Revelation 1:11 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Who gives John this instruction?

Revelation 1:11 (ESV)

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.”

We are not told. The options are: the angel mentioned in Revelation 1:1 or the “one like a son of man” among the lampstands (Revelation 1:13), i.e., Jesus Christ. As the angel passes on the revelation of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1), it is clear that the instruction comes from Jesus Christ. Whether directly or indirectly is not important.