In the parable, in the riddle, Amaziah (Judah) is the thistle and Joash (Israel) is the cedar. Now a cedar is mighty and strong and the thistle is so weak that a little old forest animal can come by, and would trample and scatter it to smithereens. And so he is saying, he is taunting them, he is saying, "You come up on me and I will step on you like on a thistle, and all the seeds will go blowing all over the place." Well, Amaziah, in his puffed up pride, having just won the battle with the Edomites, says "Heh, heh, I will get you." Well he did not get them. He went to battle against Israel, and he was smashed in defeat, just like Joash said he would be.
