The reward of humility and fear of Adonai
is riches, honor and life. Proverbs 22:4, TLV
Yesterday, a dear friend passed on. Today, he reaps the reward of riches with the honor of eternal life with his Heavenly Father, because he accepted the redemption of His Son and Messiah. Rabbi Scott Sekulow was an amazing man of God who loved Jesus and spread the Good News around the world. He and his wife, Judy were quite a team and I can’t imagine what her and their daughter’s world is like this morning.
I met Scott and Judy, before he was a rabbi back around 2000 at a conference held in Grantham, PA. Hubby and I oversaw the marketplace and the Sekulows had a booth there. Because Scott bore a strong resemblance to my brother, I was drawn to him. Like my brother, his dry humor kept me laughing. When things were stressful while running the marketplace, I headed toward Scott and Judy’s booth and received a charge of encouragement, wisdom, and laughter.
Because I worked within the Messianic community, I saw Scott and Judy off and on at different events. When we moved to Georgia, I had hope for more great fellowship, but something happened that prevented that.
A divine appointment
Then, as our Heavenly Father so graciously does, another dear friend, also a Rabbi of a congregation in Florida, contacted me early this year and asked hubby and I to pray about helping to form a new congregation in our town. We enthusiastically prayed. When I learned later that God had placed on Scott’s heart — independently of my friend — that a new congregation was needed in our town, we knew God was doing something.
The last time I saw Rabbi Scott he gave a strong, enthusiastic exhortation to our new congregation Beth Shalom. He came to lead a service, but God changed the order of service and what Scott has planned to preach. Rabbi Scott encouraged us to be bold and to not be intimidated with this great undertaking of forming a new congregation. He shared testimony of how our miracle-making Father had worked in other congregations and to believe that the same could happen with us.
The other rabbi and Scott were best friends. This has been a great blow to congregations around the world, as well as family and friends. My friend in Florida said it beautifully, “My faith in ADONAI is strong, but my heart is broken.”
