Faith Wages War Against Self-Sufficiency

The LORD said to Gideon, "The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'
Judges 7:2

All nations strengthen themselves by increasing their armories, their defense budget, and their international alliances. But Israel's ideal king limits these well-known sources of national strength (Deut. 17:16-20).

True faith works. As the stories of Rahab and Achan illustrate, faithful obedience is the prerequisite for success in [salvation history]. As instructed, Rahab gathers her household into her house and hangs the scarlet cord from the window, but Achan dishonors the Warrior by keeping some plunder for himself. The moral Governor of the universe will not place greedy people at the head of the nations. He blesses the Israelites only as they sanctify the earth in keeping with the covenant obligations he imposes on them.

I AM aims through holy war not only to judge his enemies, but to train his king and his people to fight the fight of faith (Judg. 3:1-4). David proves to be that ideal king as his psalms teach. When David counts his troops, God disciplines his son, and David repents in his song for the dedication of Solomon's temple (Ps. 30).

Deuteronomy calls for restraint in the king's accumulation of power, a principle shared by Agur who is well aware that he cannot handle much wealth without denying I AM as the true Reality (Prov. 30:7-9). The Bible does not specify how much is too much, because it is a matter of the heart--the inner witness of conscience--not of legislated percentages. Living by faith, however, is an alien notion in the world--almost as bizarre as running circles around the walls of Jericho.

In the economy of God's kingdom, one must be weak to be strong (2 Cor. 4; 12:10). Israel misses seeing the Messiah because they are looking in the wrong direction. They expect a Messiah that will rival Rome in pomp and power, not a crucified Messiah hanging on a Roman cross. They want human wealth and power for their security and significance, not the heavenly wealth and power that come from martyrdom and that alone endures and ultimately triumphs over evil.

--Bruce Waltke, An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach, p. 397.