God's Great Book

Part 1 | Lesson 1

Written by Ellen Bailey
Illustrated by Raman Bhardwaj

plane flying

We’ll have to make a forced landing," said the pilot to his helper, "and there is nothing but jungle and the enemy and dangerous natives below us."

The plane came to a jolting halt in a little ravine. The men were badly shaken but not seriously hurt. They left their plane and began to creep through the jungle. The men were afraid. Surely someone had seen their crippled plane come down and would be out looking for them. Suddenly, the men saw before them a little opening in the jungle surrounding a small village. They did not know where to go to be safe, so they decided to remain hidden and watch the village. It was clean and neat, not like the villages on the other islands where the men had been stationed. The people who were in the village were clean, too.

Finally one of the men said, "Let’s go in and give ourselves up. We’ll die if we stay in the jungle."

When they walked into the village, the natives came to meet them, but not with clubs or guns. They came smiling. They greeted the fliers and took them to a clean house. They gave them food to eat, and then the natives showed the men the Book.

men with bible

How happy the fliers were when they saw the Book! They were not afraid any more. They could trust these people who loved the Book. The natives were almost like brothers to the aviators, as they fed and cared for them. After days of planning and waiting, the natives helped them to reach their own forces again.

What was this wonderful Book that turned wild savages into kind people? It was a Book that is very precious; it is called the Bible. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, even before Columbus discovered America, people loved this Book. At that time only a few people had a copy of the Bible, for it was all written by hand, copied letter by letter. There were so few copies of the Bible that only a small number of people ever had the opportunity to read it.

People paid a great deal just for the privilege of coming to the house of someone who owned a Bible in order to read it.

A farmer who heard that someone had a Bible, gave him a large load of hay for permission to read it for an hour each day.

The people who paid so much just to read the Bible actually risked their lives when they read it. Soldiers went through the towns and country looking for the Bible. If anyone was found with one in his home, he would be put in prison or even killed, and the Bible would be burned up. Even though it was so dangerous to be caught, people continued to read the Bible in secret places and in their homes with the shades tightly shut.

men reading bible

In the front of an old Bible this prayer was written: "God grant us to know and to keep well the Holy Writ and to suffer joyfully some pain for it at last." People who read the Bible really knew what pain was because they were hunted like wild animals and had to live in lonely mountain valleys and in caves. Many who were caught lost their lives. After hundreds of years a man named Gutenberg found a way to produce books on a printing press. The first book he printed was the Bible, but people were still forbidden to read it. All the copies that could be found were burned.

Some good men who loved the Bible went about the country as peddlers, selling needles, pins, buttons and cloth and secretly carrying copies of the Bible with them. When they came to a home where people were hungry to hear the Bible read, they would bring out a copy of it and read it to them. Sometimes they would leave a Bible with the family, and they would share it with others.

A lady who had bought a Bible from one of the peddlers was in the kitchen one day baking bread. A neighbor came running to her house and told her that the king’s soldiers were coming. "Hide your Bible," she said. The lady looked for a good hiding place and she suddenly thought about the bread sitting on the table. She quickly wrapped the Bible and hid it in an unbaked loaf.

When the soldiers came to her house they looked and looked but did not find the Bible.

In most countries today people are free to read the Bible, although in some places it is difficult to get a copy. Here in America and many other countries too, anyone who wants a copy may buy one in almost every bookstore. You will want to read this precious Book that so many people have loved.

The next lesson is a story from the Bible. It is a story about God’s great clock.


On the Bible Trail

Are you good at finding things? In each Adventure you will see how quickly you can find certain books in the Bible. This will help you to find the stories and verses that you will want to read.

Our First Adventure

Open your Bible. What is the name of the first book? How many chapters are there in this book?

Find the first book in the second section of your Bible, the New Testament. Which is the last book in your Bible?

Turn to the longest book in the Bible, the book of Psalms. The longest chapter is Psalm 119. Find the eleventh verse.

Treasure Chest Verse

Psalm 119:11 is our first Treasure Chest Verse. Every week we shall find one verse in the Bible that we will remember. We shall call this our Treasure Chest Verse.

"Your word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You."
Psalm 119:11 | NKJV

treasure

Adventures in the Holy Bible: Quiz 1

Please answer all the questions below. All questions must be filled out correctly!

Quiz Key

Symbol Meaning
You're on the right track! Keep going!
Correct answer!
Wrong answer. Look closely at your answer and try again!

Section A

1. Our Treasure Chest Verse is found in the longest chapter in the Bible. It is Psalm .

2. How were the Holy Scriptures first written? Select the correct answer. 

Section B

1. People were forbidden to read the .

2. The first book to be printed on the printing press was the .

3. Do you have a Bible in your home that you may read?

4. The man who invented the printing press was named

Section C

Unscramble these letters to find other names for the Bible.

Section D

Take the number of the chapter in Psalms that contains the Treasure Chest Verse
Add the number of chapters in the book of Psalms
Add the number of verses in Psalm 119
Subtract the number of letters in the first word of the first verse of Psalm 1
Add the number of hills mentioned in Psalm 50:10
Add the number of men chosen to be disciples of Jesus. See Matthew 10:1
And you will have the YEAR that Gutenberg discovered how to print with movable type.

Section E

All done! Please send us your name and email address to receive the link for lesson 2.