Ezekiel 17:23

Consider the sublime grandeur of the church of Christ, to understand that according to the promise of God the word has been realized.… It will become a noble cedar; and under it will dwell all kinds of beasts; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest.

Take the wings of the word of God, and you will be able to repose under this tree that has been planted over a high mountain.

(Ver. 22 seq.) Thus says the Lord (God says in the Vulgate): And I will take from the top of the cedar's highest branch, and I will set it; I will break off a tender one from the crown of its branches, and I will plant it on a high and elevated mountain: upon the lofty mountain of Israel I will plant it. And it shall spring forth into a shoot, and it shall bear fruit, and it shall become a mighty cedar, and all the birds of the air shall dwell under it; every bird shall make its nest under the shade of its branches. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, and exalted the low tree; and have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to bud: I the Lord have spoken and have done it. LXX: For thus says the Lord God: I will take away from the top of the choice cedar tree and will give from the head of its branches, and from the heart of it I will take away, and I will plant it on a high mountain, in the lofty mountain of Israel, and I will set it, and it will bring forth branches, and it will bear fruit, and it will become a majestic cedar, and all birds of every kind will rest under it, and all flying creatures will rest in its shade. And its branches will sprout again, and all the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord who humbles the lofty tree and exalts the lowly tree, who dries up the green tree and causes the dry tree to flourish. I am the Lord who speaks and acts. This is what is read in the Septuagint: 'And I will take from the top of its branches,' which is added in Theodotion's edition. And what follows: 'And its branches will be restored,' should be noted with an obelus, because it is not found in the Hebrew. True Nebuchadnezzar therefore takes from the top of the lofty cedar, from the top of its branches, so that his kingdom may be humble and not exalted. But the Lord God Almighty, who spoke to Ezekiel, takes from the royal stock and from the house of David; and he plants on a high and lofty mountain, which speaks in the psalm: 'I, however, have been appointed king by him over his holy mountain Zion' (Psalm 2:6). For the prince of Judah had failed, and the leader of Israel, until he came who was to be laid up: and he shall be the expectation of the Gentiles. This one burst forth into a shoot, and produced fruit, and surpassed all the cedars with his greatness, so that all the birds of the sky may dwell under him, and all his creatures may be protected by his shade. Of whom Habakkuk says: Horns are in his hands, there his strength is hidden; and he who desires to gather his chicks under his wings, like a hen (Matthew 23): so that all the trees of the region may know that he is the Lord. Speaking tropologically about the believers: This is he who once humbled the prideful Israel and exalted the humble people of the nations, who dried up the green wood of the Jews, flourishing and bearing fruit in the Law and the Prophets; and made the dry wood of the nations sprout: so that he might fulfill with his actions what he always spoke. The same thing is represented by the words of Simeon in the Gospel, saying: Behold, this child is set for the fall, and rising again of many (Luke 2:34). And the grain of mustard seed, though it is the smallest of all seeds, when it grows, it becomes a dwelling place for birds (Matthew 13:32). Some interpret it differently, as the exalted humbled and the humble exalted, referring to the passion of the Lord Savior. Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant (Philippians 2:6-7); and after the resurrection, the same tree was exalted, which was first green, dried up by death, and then revived, regaining its original greenness. Others explain both [adventus] in the context of Israel: that first he will come in humility and be rejected, and second he will be restored to his original state, after the fulfillment of what the Apostle Paul says: When the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved (Deuteronomy 5:9-10).

Some interpret it differently, as the exalted humbled and the humble exalted, referring to the passion of the Lord Savior. Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant (Philippians 2:6-7); and after the resurrection, the same tree was exalted, which was first green, dried up by death, and then revived, regaining its original greenness.

He says, know that it is easy for me both to humble what is lofty and to raise up what is lowly; to make dry what is wet and to manifest what is dry to be in flower.