<p>18:7 <i>As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says: I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see</i>- The image of &quot;luxury&quot; continues the allusions&nbsp;to Sodom in :5 and :9. This all suggests that the latter day Babylon will achieve a striking level of opulence. It's debatable whether Israel's Islamic neighbours have reached such a state at the present time.</p><p>The chief sin of all pagan empires consists in their assertion that their power and their authority derive exclusively from themselves, that they are their own masters, recognizing no superior law. Old Testament prophecies about the sudden destruction of literal Babylon are the basis for the words of Revelation about latter day Babylon. Yet they were never literally fulfilled to completion. They will come finally true in the judgments upon the Babylon system of the beast. Consider:</p><div align=center><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=369 valign=top>            <p>            &ldquo;You who are given to pleasures, that dwells carelessly, that says in your   heart, I am, and none else beside me: I shall not sit a widow, neither shall   I know the loss of children&rdquo; (Is. 47:8)</p>            </td>            <td width=369 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;How much she has glorified herself, and lived   deliciously&hellip; for she has said in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow,   and shall see no sorrow&rdquo; (Rev. 18:7).</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=369 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;But these two things shall come to you in a   moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood&rdquo; (Is. 47:9)</p>            </td>            <td width=369 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,   death and mourning&rdquo; (Rev. 18:8)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=369 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the   monthly prognosticators, stand up&rdquo; (Is. 47:13)</p>            </td>            <td width=369 valign=top>            <p>&ldquo;For by your sorceries&hellip;&rdquo; (Rev. 18:23)</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div><p>Therefore we conclude that the Babylon of Revelation is presented as the reincarnation of the Babylon of Jeremiah and Isaiah, literal Babylon, which awaits her full punishment. This conclusion is strengthened once it is appreciated how the harlot Babylon of Rev. 17, loud, gaudy, decked with jewellery and painted face, is replete with reference to Semiramis, the goddess / mother of Nimrod, and one of the patron gods of literal Babylon.</p><p>Her refusal to accept she is a widow speaks of someone in denial. The dragon is cast down from 'heaven' by direct Divine intervention in chapter 12, and yet goes into the wilderness to furiously persecute the woman. It seems there will be direct judgment from God against Babylon, in order to appeal for her to repent, in the spirit of &quot;take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed&quot; (Jer. 51:8). Truly God does not willingly afflict, but in judgment remembers mercy, and His ultimate aim of achieving His glory. Thus a tenth part of the city falls first (11:13) before Babylon completely falls (18:4). She is given the chance of repentance, but instead goes into denial about her loss and real status. This is the idea behind her insistence that she has not been widowed, and is a queen- when she has fallen from power.</p>