6
After this I saw, and behold, another, like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon its back; and the beast had four heads; and dominion was given to it.
Daniel 7:6
Isaiah 13
1
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
2
Lift up a banner upon a bare mountain, raise the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
3
I have commanded my hallowed ones, I have also called my mighty men for mine anger, them that rejoice in my highness.
4
The noise of a multitude on the mountains, as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations assembled together: Jehovah of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
5
They come from a far country, from the end of the heavens -- Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation -- to destroy the whole land.
6
Howl, for the day of Jehovah is at hand; it cometh as destruction from the Almighty.
7
Therefore shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt,
8
and they shall be terrified: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, they shall writhe as a woman that travaileth; they shall be amazed one at another, their faces shall be as flames.
9
Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the earth desolate; and he will destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10
For the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11
And I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will make the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will bring low the haughtiness of the violent.
12
I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even man than the gold of Ophir.
13
Therefore I will make the heavens to shake, and the earth shall be removed out of her place, at the wrath of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
14
And it shall be as with a chased roe, and as with a flock that no man gathereth together; every one shall turn to his own people, and every one flee into his own land.
15
All that are found shall be thrust through; and every one that is in league [with them] shall fall by the sword.
16
And their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be rifled, and their women ravished.
17
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who do not regard silver, and as for gold, they have no delight in it.
18
And [their] bows shall dash the young men to pieces, and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb: their eye shall not spare children.
19
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20
It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in, even to generation and generation; nor shall Arabian pitch tent there, nor shepherds make fold there.
21
But beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of owls; and ostriches shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there.
22
And jackals shall cry to one another in their palaces, and wild dogs in the pleasant castles. And her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
Apocalypse Revealed # 574
574. And its mouth like the mouth of a lion. This symbolizes their reasonings based on falsities as though on truths.
A mouth symbolizes doctrine, preaching and discourse (no. 454), here reasoning based on doctrinal falsities, because the head containing the mouth symbolizes irrationality resulting from absolute falsities (no. 568). A lion symbolizes Divine truth in its power (nos. 241, 471), but here falsities in their power appearing as truth as a result of reasonings (no. 573). Consequently its mouth like the mouth of a lion symbolizes reasonings based on falsities as though on truths.
That the symbolic meanings of a leopard, bear and lion are as stated can be seen from the similar beasts that Daniel saw, which are described as follows:
Four great beasts came up from the sea... The first was like a lion, but had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it. ...a second beast (was) like a bear, and it raised itself up on one side, had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and was told, "Arise, devour much flesh!" ...(the third beast was) like a leopard, which had on its back four wings, like those of a bird, and the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. ...a fourth beast (was) dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong, which had... iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet. (Daniel 7:3-7)
[2] These four beasts describe succeeding states of the church, from its first state to its last, until it was completely desolate of any good or truth of the Word prior to the Lord's advent. The lion symbolizes the Divine truth of the Word in the first state, by which the church was established. This is what is meant by its being lifted up from the earth and made to stand on its feet like a man, and its being given a man's heart.
The bear describes the church's second state, a state in which the Word is indeed read, but not understood. The three ribs between its teeth symbolize appearances and misconceptions, and much flesh symbolizes the literal sense of the Word in its totality.
The church's third state is described by the leopard, which symbolizes the Word falsified in respect to its truths. The four wings on its back, like those of a bird, symbolize affirmations of falsities.
The fourth and last state of the church is described by the beast which was dreadful and terrible, which symbolizes the destruction of any goodness or truth. That is why we are told that it broke in pieces and devoured, and trampled the residue with its feet.
Finally the Lord's advent is described, and the destruction of the church at that time and the establishment of a new one, from verse 9 to the end of the chapter.
[3] Daniel saw these four beasts come up from the sea one after another, but John saw the aforementioned three beasts, also from the sea, united in a single body. That is because in Daniel they describe succeeding states of the church, whereas in the book of Revelation here they describe the last state, in which all the prior states are present concurrently. Moreover, because this beast was seen to have a body like a leopard, feet like a bear, and a mouth like a lion, the leopard and bear mentioned in the one place and the other have the same symbolism. However, the mouth like that of a lion symbolizes reasonings based on falsities, because we are later told that the beast used its mouth to speak blasphemies (verses 5, 6), and because its heads symbolize irrationality resulting from absolute falsities.
