572. 13:2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard. This symbolizes their heresy destructive of the church, being founded on the Word's truths falsified.

Animals in general symbolize people in respect to their affections (no. 567), and a leopard symbolizes an affection or penchant for falsifying the Word's truths. Moreover, because it is a fierce beast and slaughters harmless animals, it also symbolizes a heresy destructive of the church.

A leopard symbolizes the Word's truths falsified because of its black and white spots, its black spots symbolizing falsities, and the whiteness between them symbolizing truth. Consequently, because it is a fierce and savage beast, it symbolizes the Word's truths falsified and so destroyed.

A leopard has a similar symbolism in the following places:

Shall an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Then you also can do good who have been taught to do evil. (Jeremiah 13:23)

...a lion from the forest slew (the great men), a wolf in the fields shall devastate them; a leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out... shall be torn in pieces, because... their apostasies have become mighty. (Jeremiah 5:6)

A leopard lying watching their cities is to ambush doctrinal truths - a city being doctrine (no. 194).

(Because) they forgot Me... I have become to them like a lion, and like a leopard by the path I will watch them. (Hosea 13:5-7)

A path, too, symbolizes truth (no. 176).

The wolf shall tarry with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat... (Isaiah 11:6)

The subject there is the Lord's kingdom to come. The young goat is genuine truth in the church, and the leopard is that truth falsified.

(The third beast that came up from the sea) was like a leopard, which had on its back four wings... (Daniel 7:6)

On the four beasts seen by Daniel, see no. 574.

7884. 'You shall keep it as a feast by an eternal statute' means worship of the Lord in keeping with the order of heaven for those belonging to the spiritual Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'an eternal statute' as the order of heaven, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'keeping a feast' as worship of the Lord, as just above in 7882. And since the children of Israel are the ones who are told to keep it as a feast, those belonging to the spiritual Church are meant. The reason why 'an eternal statute' means the order of heaven is that all the statutes which the children of Israel were commanded to observe were the kind that flowed from the order of heaven, and therefore also represented the things of heaven. By worship in keeping with the order of heaven one should understand all the good that is performed in keeping with the Lord's commandments. By the worship of God people at the present day mean primarily worship of the lips in church, and also morning and evening. Worship of God does not however consist essentially in that, but in a life of performing useful services; this worship is in keeping with the order of heaven. Worship of the lips is also worship, but it achieves nothing whatever without worship in the life one leads, since this is worship of the heart. If worship on the lips is to be true worship it must spring from this.