Let Them Come

From new moon to new moon,

from Sabbath to Sabbath,

let everything that breathes

come to worship Me.

      ---says the Lord.

In Isaiah 66:18 God says, "I am coming to gather every nation and every language."  There follows hopeful verses that promise universal salvation -- until we come to verse 24 which sounds a terrible note of warning.  Rather than end Isaiah on such a dire note, it was the custom in the synagogue to back up and repeat verse 23 quoted above.  I love the custom!  God wants to gather into his warm embrace "everything that breathes."