And the Stranger said: "Nay, but as Captain of the Lord's Host am I now come." Then Joshua fell on his face and worshipped, for he knew that this was the Lord Who was speaking to him, and Who had taken the Supreme Command! No wonder that when Joshua was old, and knew he was going to die, that he called all the Israelites together, and rehearsed all the wonderful doings of the Lord; and that he begged them with all his strength to serve and obey the Lord with all their hearts. [Illustration: CHOOSE YE THIS DAY.] And Joshua set up a great Stone to be a Witness to them, that they had promised to love and obey God; and he said the Stone would remind them, lest they should forget their promise and turn back from serving God. So the Israelites promised to be faithful, and while the elders who outlived Joshua were alive, they did follow the Lord. But after a time they began to forget, and this brought a great deal of sorrow upon them. Perhaps you think within yourselves, "I should like to obey God, and follow Him! I wonder how I could begin?" Think of Joshua. He followed the Lord wholly—which meant with all his heart. That was the first thing. So you can pray, "Take my heart, Lord Jesus, and help me to follow Thee!" Then he obeyed whatever God told him to do. And whatever Command you find in the Bible, as shewing you God's Will—do it! [Illustration] [Illustration] XXVIII. THE FIERY FURNACE NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S dream of the Great Image had been explained to him by Daniel and his three companions; but the king soon forgot the wonderful interpretation which God had sent him, containing such an unfolding of the future which, in due time, has come to pass. One great dynasty after another—Babylon, the Medes and Persians, Greece, and Rome, have arisen and passed away, till at length, up to now, only the Feet of the Vision of the Great Image wait to be accomplished. And when history shows us that all has been fulfilled except the Feet of iron and clay, we know that we must be very near to the coming of the Wonderful Stone, which by and by is to fill the whole earth. You will some of you understand what I mean when I say that this is Symbolical language. That means, that it is a picture of Heavenly Things which is to teach us about earthly things. That Stone is a symbol of our Lord Jesus Christ when He comes back from Heaven to reign over the whole earth. We read in the seventh chapter of Daniel these words: "I saw in the night Visions, and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of Heaven . . . and there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." King Nebuchadnezzar remembered the part of his dream of the Great Image that applied to himself—he knew he was the head of gold.