Ezekiel 17:24 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

All the trees of the field All the nations of the world; shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree Have subdued and degraded the enemies of my people; have exalted the low tree Have advanced my church, and made it flourish; have dried up the green tree, &c. The same thing expressed in somewhat different words. Although these expressions may partly refer to the overthrow of the mighty Babylonian empire, and the restoration of the Jewish state by their return out of captivity, yet they are so magnificent, that they evidently intend much more than this. The Jewish kingdom did never, after the captivity, arrive at such a pitch of greatness as to give occasion to these magnificent expressions. Some more noble kingdom is undoubtedly here pointed at, namely, the kingdom of Christ, as has been observed above, which will at last be exalted above all the kingdoms of the world, and put an end to them all, while it will continue to all eternity: see Daniel 4:35,44, and Daniel 7:27; Luke 1:33; 1 Corinthians 15:24. It is under Christ's kingdom only that people of all nations, signified here by fowls of every kind, shall be gathered together. And the subjects of that kingdom only have a certain and eternal protection, and a supply of every thing necessary. There is therefore no doubt that this was spoken, in its full sense, of the eternal and all-powerful kingdom to be established in Christ, one of the royal seed of Judah according to the flesh. I the Lord have spoken it, and have done it The prophets often speak of future events as if they were already accomplished, to assure us that they shall certainly come to pass.