22:20 The prophet spoke of Jerusalem as a young woman in this oracle. He called on her to go up on the surrounding mountains to bewail the loss of her lovers (political allies and pagan gods). The Lebanon mountains were to the north, Bashan was to the northeast, and the Abarim range was to the east of Jerusalem (cf. Num. 27:12; Deut. 32:49).
22:21 When Jerusalem was prosperous, in the days of David and Solomon, the Lord had appealed to the people to obey His covenant, but she would not listen. That had been their practice since early in their history as a nation.
22:22 The Lord would remove her nobles and leaders, and all the people she had trusted in to supply her needs would go into captivity. Then Jerusalem would feel ashamed because she had behaved wickedly. This happened in 597 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar deported many of the nobles (2 Kings 24:22-25:7).
22:23 The cedar paneling of the people's houses demonstrated their trust in Lebanon, since it came from there. Their homes were like little nests made of cedar (cf. Ezek. 23:14). In this sense they dwelt in Lebanon, even though their homes were in Jerusalem. Yet these comfortable surroundings would not be able to protect Jerusalem from the pain that was going to come on her, pain as excruciating and inevitable as the agony of childbirth. Jerusalem was a city in the mountain heights enthroned in Lebanon and nested in her cedars. God would bring her down.
