Kathryn O:
the four animals, a bird, a lion, a man, a bull come actually from the old interpretation of the zodiac. Imagine the earth in the center surrounded by the zodiac like a ring which was the old way or perceiving the universe. There are four constellations: Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus and Leo. Each has four of the brightest stars making a cross with the earth in the center. Taurus is a bull with a star as his eye. Leo a lion with a star for his heart. Aquarius is a man pouring water into a fish's mouth (the bright star is his eye). Scorpio has a star for his heart but in the ancient zodiac, he was an eagle. all four stars are red giants incidentally. these are also the same four beast on the four thrones in Revelations singing 'holy holy holy'.
I'll go along with that. I think Revelations is the restoration of the heavens.