To me, the best place to start in the book of Revelation is by asking Why study it? Of course, there is the obvious answer—because Revelation is part of God's divinely inspired word for His people. But, the reason I'm raising this question is because many people need a motivation to get into the book. Frankly, some people have shared with me that they find the book "scary" or "confusing." That was me.
But, with further study (thank you, DTS), I found that God gave us the book of Revelation as a blessing for our lives. The book is not just for prophecy experts or those who might be obsessed by the mark of the beast. The fact that God wants to bless His church through Revelation's message is highlighted in the open and the close of the letter. In Revelation's opening (1:3) and its closing (22:7) the Lord promises a blessing to those who read and heed its words, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it: for the time is near" (1:3 NASB). The Lord wants to bless us through this book!
If your curiosity has been perked regarding giving the book of Revelation a fresh look, or if you've studied it before and love it, stay tuned for more posts regarding what kind of blessings we receive from the Lord through this message. Also, we'll move into what it looks like to actually read and heed this message, and much more!
Blessings!
Nancy