The sword that never left his house

Why I wrote "King David: The Gangster Tragedy" (and why it matters before the movie comes out next week).

Howdy. The Parables project is complete. It’s done. Thank you.

Today, we pivot.

I am moving from the stories Jesus told to the history that made him necessary. I am taking the same “unsealed” lens, stripping away the stained-glass mythology to find the beating human pulse underneath, and applying it to the archetypes.

First up? King David.

I accelerated the release of this book because next week, a new animated David movie hits theaters. It will be beautiful, musical, and safe for families.

But you know the actual history of David isn’t safe.

I titled this book KING DAVID: THE GANGSTER TRAGEDY. I know that word (”gangster”) might seem provocative. It is intentional.

Because before the throne, David ran protection rackets in the wilderness. As king, he abused executive power to order hits on loyal soldiers to cover his own sin. He operated in a brutal world using brutal methods.

But this isn’t a cynical takedown. It is a tragedy with a profound spiritual core.

If we only see the Shepherd Boy, we miss the weight of his redemption. To understand the “Man After God’s Own Heart,” we must look at the staggering debt of injustice he accrued, and the devastating way it was paid.

Let us look at the moment the Shepherd realized he had become the wolf.

FROM CHAPTER 7: THE FALL

David told himself the matter was closed. Uriah was dead, killed in battle by Ammonite arrows, just as David had ordered in his secret letter to Joab. Bathsheba was now his wife. The secret was buried.

A year passed. The child of that union was born. David held his son on his throne of cedar and felt relief.

Then Nathan the prophet came to the palace.

Nathan told the king a story about a rich man stealing a poor man’s only lamb. David’s reaction was volcanic. The old shepherd’s instinct for justice flared up.

“As the Lord lives,” David swore, “the man who has done this deserves to die!”

Nathan looked at the king—the giant-killer, the empire-builder, the man with blood hidden on his hands.

“You are the man.”

Three words. Three small stones striking the giant in the forehead.

“You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword,” Nathan pronounced. “Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house.”

The curse poured out. Specific, terrible, inescapable. The evil done in secret would be repaid in public. His own household would tear itself apart.

David slid from the throne onto his knees.

The crown rolled across the stone floor.

“I have sinned against the Lord.”

The shepherd boy had killed lions. The warrior had killed giants. The king had killed an innocent man. Now the sinner learned the hardest lesson of all.

You can be forgiven, and you can still be ruined.

The child died seven days later. The sword had begun its work.

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THE UNSEALED HISTORY

This is the story that G-rated musicals movies have to cut. And it is the story that makes the Gospel necessary.

This new book is a 140-page forensic reconstruction of the man underneath the myth. It doesn’t shy away from his crimes, but it also doesn’t ignore his profound repentance.

It is a story of a man who murdered, lied, and suffered, and yet still found the heart of God in the wreckage.

You will notice the design is different. The tone is darker. I am treating these stories not as children’s fairy tales, but as true crime scenes where grace arrives only after the devastating truth comes out.

The book is live on Amazon today.

1. The Free Option (For Everyone)

I want this story in as many hands as possible before the movie comes out. The Kindle edition is free on Amazon all week (through Saturday). Go grab it, read it, and see the history they had to cut from the film.

2. The Paperback Option (For the Collectors)

The physical paperback just went live this morning. If you want a copy for your shelf or a Christmas gift for someone who appreciates the unvarnished truth, you can get it now.

(Note: It’s Christmas. If money is tight and you don’t have a Kindle, just reply to this email and I will send you a PDF. I’d rather you read it than not).

Thank you for reading. I have some important articles drafted, and I cannot wait to share them with you this week.

I love you.

<3 EKO

P.S. King David is just the first of The Unsealed series. I am releasing the next one, Magi: Extraction Protocol, as soon as Amazon approves its publication.

It’s the story of the wise men, told in a way you’ve never seen or heard before.