There is a favorite phrase often spoken in some Christian circles: "God gives power to get wealth so He can establish His covenant." The interpretation suggests that man can help God establish His covenant by attaining wealth. However, the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy holds the context. The first verses speak of how God humbled Israel in the wilderness to reveal what was in their hearts and to know whether or not they would keep His commandments. He allowed them to hunger, then fed them with manna to teach them that man lives by everything that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. He promised them a land of plenty, but warned them to obey the LORD their God, not forgetting Him and His provision, lest they become puffed up. The scriptures tell us that if the Israelites were to exalt themselves, because of all the LORD had provided, they might say in their hearts that it was the power of their own hands that had gotten them wealth. Then they are admonished to remember the Lord their God, for it is He Who gives power to get wealth "that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day." (Deuteronomy 8:18b Amplified). The LORD continued by telling them that if they did forget Him, they would perish in the same way He destroyed their enemies. The emphasis was on the fact that it is God alone who gives power to get wealth, and that He should be acknowledged. The emphasis was not on "getting wealth."

The Apostle Peter told of false teachers who will come, surreptitiously⁵ bringing in destructive heresies and "denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction." Many will follow these false teachers in their lascivious ways, and through them the way of truth will be blasphemed [vilified]⁷. "And in covetousness shall they with feigned [fictitious]⁸ words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not." (2 Peter 2:1-3).