17:23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a well favoured cedar: and under it shall dwell all {p} fowl of every wing; in the shadow of its branches shall they dwell.
(p) Both the Jews and Gentiles will be gathered into it.
17:23 In the mountain - In Jerusalem. All fowl - All nations. In the shadow - There they shall find peace and safety.
17:22-24 The unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of none effect. The parable of a tree, used in the threatening, is here presented in the promise. It appears only applicable to Jesus, the Son of David, the Messiah of God. The kingdom of Satan, which has borne so long, so large a sway, shall be broken, and the kingdom of Christ, which was looked upon with contempt, shall be established. Blessed be God, our Redeemer is seen even by the ends of the earth. We may find refuge from the wrath to come, and from every enemy and danger, under his shadow; and believers are fruitful in him.
