Leopard

The leopard was admired and feared for two traits: its blinding speed in the attack and its distinctive spotted coat. It lurked near towns and lay in wait by the roads, striking before its prey could flee.

Jeremiah turned its unchangeable markings into a proverb about ingrained sin: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Habakkuk likened invading cavalry to leopards — “swifter than the leopards” — and Hosea pictured God watching “as a leopard by the way.”

In Daniel’s vision a beast like a leopard, with four wings, represents an empire of astonishing speed of conquest. The leopard thus speaks of swiftness that allows no escape and of a nature so fixed that only God can change the heart — the very transformation the gospel promises.