Volody and the Beasts

Memory Gem: “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

What’s that lying there on the ground? Ten-year-old Volody reached down and picked up a book that someone must have thrown away. The cover read: Holy Bible. The Ukrainian boy had never been in a church, but he’d heard the Bible talked about miracles, and supernatural things interested him. He picked up the Bible, a children’s story version without chapters and verses, and took it home.

Over the next few days Volody read portions of the Bible he’d found. Still, the God of the Bible seemed far away, not really someone to whom a 10-year-old Ukrainian boy could relate. Volody set the Bible aside and didn’t think much about it.

One day as Volody waited in line to buy some bread for his mother, a nearby poster caught his eye. What in the world is this about? Volody wondered. On the poster were weird, frightening-looking monsters—some of them with more than one head! Studying the poster more closely, he saw the poster mentioned the Bible! According to the poster, those monsters had something to do with prophecies in the Bible book of Daniel.

I don’t care about the Bible, but I’ve got to learn more about those monsters! Volody told himself. Besides, the speaker was an American. Government officials had warned, “Those Americans are real devils!” Others had said, “They have horns and tails!” Since Volody didn’t have any other way of knowing, he was determined to find out the truth. Volody noted the time and place of the first meeting. I have to see all this for myself! he thought.

When the date arrived, Volody found a seat and eagerly awaited the presentation. What would the American really look like? But when the speaker appeared, he didn’t have either a tail or horns! In fact, he looked a lot like a normal human being!

Volody stayed for the presentation and learned that those beasts represented some important things that would happen in the future. This was called “prophecy.”

As if that news weren’t enough, Volody heard the speaker talk about Jesus. It turned out that hundreds of Bible prophecies related to Him! The American talked about how Jesus loved people so much that He had died for them—including Volody! Even more stunning, he learned that Jesus was coming back to take people to heaven! More Bible prophecies told about this future event. For some reason it seemed that the Bible that Volody had found hadn’t included that part.

Eventually Volody found the Seventh-day Adven- tist church in town and began learning more about prophecy and Jesus Christ. He accepted Jesus as his Savior and promised to serve Him no matter what. There would come times when that wouldn’t be easy, but Volody kept his promise.

Volody learned a lot about the future when he attended those prophecy meetings, but there was something in his own future that he couldn’t see. Eventually Volody became a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and moved to the United States. So far, the only Americans he’s seen with horns and a tail have been at Halloween. They represent the devil, and Volody wants nothing to do with him!*

*Story adapted from Ellen Weaver Bailey, “Volody and the Weird Beasts,” Guide, April 23, 2016.

Think it through

• Why has God sent prophets?
• Can you think of a Bible prophecy? Who delivered the message? What was it about?
• Would you like to be a prophet? Why or why not?

Do it!

Just for fun, write down exactly what you think will be the first words you hear tomorrow anywhere outside of your own home. Listen carefully! Were you right? If so, does this make you a prophet? Why or why not?

Amaze a friend by showing them the prophecy of Cyrus in Isaiah 45:1-3. What was their response? Why do you think the person reacted the way they did?