ABSTRACT
The first object the visionary sees in the sky is a throne. In monarchic societies, the throne is the symbol of royal authority… In Revelation, the elders are celestial personages…of exalted rank…and power…forming a core group around the central throne. … The living creatures here, four constellations in animate shape, are common to both Revelation and Ezekiel… Constellations, of course, are constituted of stars, and in the Hellenistic period nearly all constellations were regarded as rational, animate beings, whether in the shape of human beings or animals. … The creatures marked out by the constellations are full of eyes, that is, full of stars in front and behind. … The best candidates for the four are the constellations now called Leo (lion), Taurus (bull), Scorpio (the human face), and Pegasus (the flying eagle)… In his vision, the seer locates a Lamb in the center of the cosmos by the polar opening of the throne of God, at the center of the four constellations on the horizon, and in the center of the twenty-four decans as well. This Lamb is “standing as though slaughtered.” How does a slaughtered lamb stand? This is not just any lamb, but the well-known celestial Lamb, the constellation Aries. … Only a being with a broken neck could have its head turned directly backwards as the celestial Aries does; and yet it remains standing in spite of a broken neck.
