A certain cedar of Lebanon was the biggest and most beautiful tree around, even bigger and more beautiful than the ones in God’s garden. But God thought it was wicked for the cedar to stand so tall and proud, so he let a ruthless emperor cut it down. He warned the other trees not to grow taller than the rest, or they would die too. Then all the other trees in Lebanon died too. (Presumably because there was always a tallest remaining tree.)

The end.

The moral of the story

Don’t be tall and beautiful.

Interpretation

Assyria… Or was it Egypt? …A certain nation became the greatest in the world. But God thought it was somehow wicked for them to be better than everyone else, so he let them be defeated by Babylon or whoever. Then all the other nations in the world were destroyed too. That’s why there aren’t any nations anymore.¹

---