“I am, and there is no one else” (Isaiah 47.8, 10). 

The lover of luxury and those who are secure in their wickedness live as though no one sees them. Only the LORD is the great I AM. He is eternal. Yet, we often live as though there is no one else. We live for the present. I am. We are unconcerned with our past sin and neglect contemplating future judgment. Present luxury and wickedness give us the illusion of security. “I am, and there is no one else.” We live in the illusion of the eternal present.

All forms of Babylon will fall. The kingdoms of this world rise and fall and yet while in power, think they will go on forever. But disaster comes. Devastation happens suddenly and unexpectedly. “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD, and their works are in the dark; they say, ‘Who sees us?’ and, ‘Who knows us?’” (Isaiah 29.15) 

Beware of the way things seem. Luxury and wickedness are hallmarks of the fallen kingdoms of this world. Jesus taught that fools say, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Luke 12.18-20)