Let’s have some fun today with a little quiz.
I’m going to name one by one the cast of characters who appear in 1 Kings Chapter 1.
And then I want you to tell me whether you think they are shady as hell…
Or cool with the Lord.
Ya feel me?
Alrighty, let’s get started.
First up is Evyatar.
He was one of the two High Priests who descended from the priests whom King Saul had slaughtered at Nob.
So was he shady as hell or cool with the Lord?
Mark your answer down.
We’ll go over them at the end of this post.
Next up is Tzadok, the other High Priest.
Shady as hell or cool with the Lord?
Again, write your answer down, and we’ll go over it below.
Next up is Yo’av or “Joab,” as he’s called in gentile land.
He was David’s top general and also had blood ties to David in that he was David’s nephew.
So whaddaya think?
Cool with the Lord or shady as hell?
Write your answer down.
Next up is Nathan.
This man was David’s prophet who appeared on the scene out of nowhere.
In other words, we don’t even have an inkling of a clue how he was assigned…but assigned he was.
Shady or cool?
Jot your answer down.
Onward.
Next up is B’nayah.
He was David’s palace guard.
So whaddaya think?
Shady as hell or cool with the Lord?
Jot your answer down.
Finally, we have the man himself, King David.
So what’s your take on this second king of Israel?
Shady as hell or cool with the Lord?
Alrighty, write your answer down, take a deep breath, and go get a cappuccino or something.
Ya back?
Alrighty, let’s go over the answers.
So whaddaya think of Evyatar?
Well, this homie was shady as all hell.
Why?
Because he was a High Priest without authority.
What do I mean by that?
He descended from Eli (Samuel’s mentor), who came from the unauthorized line of Ithamar.
In other words, he did NOT originate from the God-ordained line of High Priests.
So Evyatar was shady as all hell.
Next up, we have Tzadok, the other High Priest.
Now, Tzadok was cool with the Lord.
Why?
For the exact opposite reason that Evyatar wasn’t.
He descended from the legitimate God-ordained line of High Priests, which was the line of Eleazar.
Now the truth is, we don’t know for sure if David brought him on for that reason.
I say that because throughout his life, David’s fidelity to Torah seemed negligent at best and pure ignorance at worst.
Onward.
Enter Joab.
I think this one is obvious.
Of course, this bad dude was shady as all hell.
Joab was a cold-blooded and ruthless man who manipulated others for his own benefit.
David never did forgive Joab for killing Absalom despite his clear orders to go easy on the young lad.
And killing Absalom wasn’t the first time Joab shed blood to further his own selfish agenda.
Bottom line, Joab was as shady as shady can get.
Next up is Nathan, David’s resident prophet.
Now this homie was cool with the Lord…big time!
He was a legitimate prophet of God who called David out for his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband.
He also correctly prophesied that David’s kingdom would reign for all eternity.
Any man who has the guts to confront the King when he disobeys Torah is cool with the Lord, in my opinion.
Next, we have B’nayah.
Okay, so this guy was cool with the Lord.
He was the long-standing leader of David’s palace guard and had been loyal to David for decades.
B’nayah would naturally support David’s choice of successor.
So this guy gets my vote for being cool with the Lord.
Finally, we come to the man himself: King David.
While we all know David’s behavior was shady at times, at the end of the day, he repented.
So he was cool with the Lord.
Now here’s a thought-provoking question.
What separates those who were shady as hell from those who were cool with the Lord?
I perceive it comes down to two things:
Alignment with God’s Torah…
And alignment with God’s ordained King.
Evyatar was shady as all hell because, based on what the Torah says, he was an illegitimate High Priest.
Joab may have seemed faithful to David on the surface.
But all he cared about was himself and keeping his power as David’s chief general.
He reminds me a lot of Judas, who pretended to be a faithful disciple of Yeshua, but in the end, his own selfish agenda sealed his fate.
And to be honest with you, Joab also reminds me of a lot of the ugliness I have in myself that I need to repent of.
I can be such a selfish, narcissistic manipulator at times as well.
Onward.
Next, we have Zadok.
He was cool with the Lord because, as I explained, per Torah, he descended from the legitimate line of High Priests.
Next, how about the prophet Nathan?
He was super cool with the Lord because he had no qualms about judging the king of Israel based on God’s Holy Law.
Now that takes balls, folks.
Onward.
B’nayah was cool with the Lord because he sincerely supported God’s ordained King.
Finally, David was cool with the Lord because, despite the ups and downs and all of the wicked sins he committed, he always repented and sincerely returned to God.
And that’s your takeaway for today.
You don’t have to live a perfect life to be cool with the Lord.
But at the end of the day, you do have to sincerely desire the things of the Lord…
And demonstrate that through sincere action.
So let me close by asking you this.
Looking at your life up until now…
Would you say you’ve been…
Cool with the Lord?
Or shady as all hell?
If you’ve been cool, awesome!
Keep it up.
If you discern you’ve been shady…
Well, it’s never too late to repent of your shadiness…
And get right with the Lord.
Ya feel me?
Done.
See ya all next time.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Not everyone who says to me,
‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom.
Only the one who does
the will of my Father.”
— Matthew 7:21–23
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’
and do not do what I say?”
— Luke 6:46
“These people honors me with lips,
But their heart is far from me.
In vain they worship me,
teaching human traditions.”
— Matthew 15:8–9
“Judas, would you betray
the Son of Man
with a kiss?”
— Luke 22:48
“Did I not choose the twelve?
Yet one of you is a devil.”
— John 6:70
“Whoever says ‘I know him’
but does not keep
his commandments
is a liar.”
— 1 John 2:4
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