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Ezekiel 17:22–24
After human kings break oaths and great powers fail, the LORD promises to take a tender shoot from the cedar’s top and plant it on Israel’s high mountain, where it becomes a noble tree sheltering birds. This is a serious Davidic-kingdom trajectory: God himself will establish the future ruler and publicly reverse what proud empires have done.
Great-tree imagery sheltering birds is associated with kingdoms and peoples in Ezekiel and Daniel. Jesus' mustard plant radically miniaturizes that imperial/tree imagery while preserving expansive shelter.
Large kingdom/empire trees sheltering birds/nations provide a plausible prophetic image background to the mustard plant becoming a bird-sheltering tree-like plant, but direct dependence is debated.
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