Isaiah 33:1
Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
Isaiah was given this word while prophesying during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah in crucial times for Judah. It belongs to that section of his prophecies that looks especially forward to the last days and to God's judgments upon the earth. It stands within prophecies concerning Israel in which Israel typifies conditions in the Christian age, and relates almost wholly to the days of the Christian dispensation. It belongs to the prophecy of the closing days of this world of sin and of the bringing in and setting up of the kingdom of Christ which shall not be destroyed.
It describes one who plunders without having been plundered and deals treacherously with those who have not dealt treacherously with him, declaring that when he ceases plundering he shall be plundered and when he makes an end of dealing treacherously they shall deal treacherously with him. In the closing years of time that treacherous dealing means fraudulent dealing of men with one another, showing that venality born of greed will be a dominant characteristic sin, seen in the notorious prevalence of bribe-taking under the name of graft with its attendant perjury in political and commercial life. Its judgment on the spoiler and treacherous one assures that Christ will reign in righteousness to fully put down and eradicate sin, bringing evil to its end with just recompense. As part of its chapter it testifies that the elements shall melt with fervent heat till the earth becomes as a fiery oven, a furnace of fire, a devouring fire, a lake of fire on this earth, an unquenchable fire where the wicked shall be consumed, devoured, burned up root and branch, and cease to live, furnishing retribution adequate for the ungodly.
It addresses as a warning a cunning aggressor who would attempt a surprise invasion of the United States by Louis Napoleon, in which concealed execution as a trap would make the prophecy appear to be fulfilled, with the invader then suffering plunder and treachery in turn. It warns the United States over slavery that continued violation of the rights of enslaved people, together with failure by the church and ministry to oppose that wrong, brings divine retribution and possible violent consequences when the oppression ends.