ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Pulelulu Fepueli 11, 2026

NOMIPA 1-2; 2 TIMOTE 3:16-17

In the beauty of his loving care, God numbers, orders, and prospers his people so that through them all the peoples of earth will be blessed.

‘I he masani ‘o ‘Ene tokanga ‘ofaa, ‘oku lau, tu’utu’uni mo fakatu’umalie ‘e he ‘Otua ‘a hono kakai ke fou ‘iate kinautolu ‘a e monu’ia ‘a e kakai ‘o mamani.

Hear what Paul says to Timothy about the gift of the word of God: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). This means that every single thing recorded for us in God's word is there for a reason. There are no superfluous, throwaway, or needless passages in your Bible. God recorded and preserved every passage in his word for our spiritual benefit. He retained every passage so that you and I would be spiritually complete and equipped to do what is good in God's sight, wherever we live. You will never encounter a passage, whether historical, didactic, poetic, or prophetic, that has nothing to do with you or your life and is therefore a waste of your time.

But your daily Bible reading plan brings you to the first few chapters of Numbers, where the children of Israel are being listed, numbered, designated, and ordered by tribes. You think, "What does this have to do with anything I'm facing or need in my life?" On the surface these accounts seem like unneeded historical detail, not very interesting, and easily forgotten. But the apostle Paul says that they are in your Bible for your spiritual maturation and readiness. So before you conclude that these particular chapters are unhelpful, ask yourself how your loving heavenly Father, who loves you with an everlasting love, wants you to be helped by what seems so distant and unhelpful.

Consider Numbers 2:32: "These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers' houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were 603,550." What do we need to hear from this passage? First, it reminds us of the intimate and specific care God has for his people. He numbers each one of them. God's care is so active and complete that he constantly knows the exact number of those he has taken as his own possession. God loves us so much that he never quits counting us, and he never loses track of one of his children. If a loving father counts his children as they get in the car after a day at the amusement park, how much more does our perfect heavenly Father number each and every one of his own? God's divine attention is constantly on his children.

Second, we learn from this verse that God is not only numbering and ordering his children, but is prospering them as well. This group of former slaves is now a growing nation. Why is this important to you and me? Because the hope of the universe is in the prospering of the children of Israel. Out of them will come the Savior, Jesus, who will provide forgiveness, reconciliation to God, and final renewal of all that sin has broken. It is good for us to know that God's children are always in good hands.