Revelation 18:7
How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Babylon’s problem is not merely wealth. It is self glory. She glorified herself. She looked at her power, her pleasures, her influence, her abundance, and said in her heart, I am secure. I am untouchable. I am above sorrow. That is always the language of pride.
She says, I sit a queen, and am no widow. In other words, I have lost nothing. I need nothing. I fear nothing. There is no hint of humility there. No trembling. No dependence on God. Just smug self confidence wrapped in luxury and ease.
And then comes the chilling phrase, and shall see no sorrow. Not that sorrow does not exist. Not that sorrow is not coming. But Babylon refuses to see it. She is too consumed with her own comforts, her own delicacies, her own material world to notice the grief all around her. She has the means to see, but not the heart. She has eyes, but they are blinded by indulgence.
That is the danger of a system built on self worship. It does not just become proud. It becomes numb. It loses the ability to weep. It stops noticing the broken. It ignores the wounded. It turns away from the poor, the oppressed, the empty, the dying. Babylon keeps eating while others are aching. She keeps celebrating while judgment gathers at the door.
There is something very modern about that spirit. A culture can be drenched in entertainment, comfort, and consumption and still be spiritually bankrupt. A people can boast of abundance and still be blind to the sorrow in their own streets, their own homes, even their own hearts. That is Babylon’s disease. She confuses prosperity with safety and pleasure with peace.
But the Lord sees differently. He is not dazzled by glitter. He hears the cries Babylon ignores. He sees the sorrow she refuses to acknowledge. And because she glorified herself so greatly, torment and sorrow will answer her in equal measure.
There is a warning here for all of us. The flesh always wants to drift this direction. It wants comfort without compassion. Ease without awareness. Pleasure without repentance. But Jesus never walked that way. He saw sorrow. He touched lepers. He wept at graves. He noticed the widow, the blind man, the outcast, the hungry crowd. He was not insulated by heaven’s glory from earth’s pain. He stepped right into it.
Beloved, be careful of any version of life that makes you less able to see sorrow. Be careful of anything that makes you more impressed with your comforts than concerned for souls. Babylon says, I am fine. I see no sorrow. Jesus says, Blessed are the merciful.
A heart close to Christ does not become hard in abundance. It becomes tender. So do not let the spirit of Babylon train you to look away. Ask the Lord to keep you humble, awake, and soft. Better to be poor in spirit and rich in mercy than seated like a queen and blind to the sorrow all around you.