The books of First and Second Kings are the story of Israel’s decline. While First and Second Samuel document Israel’s shift from corrupt judges to the righteous leadership of David, the books of Kings show that Israel divides and falls into the hands of her enemies.
The history in these books begins where Second Samuel left off: Israel is united under the godly King David, who appoints his son Solomon to rule after him. Solomon is blessed with wisdom, and charged with building a majestic temple to the Lord in Jerusalem. Although God instructs Solomon to follow his father David’s example, Solomon is unfaithful to God in his later years, and God divides the kingdom after his death. The northern ten tribes follow Jeroboam, Solomon’s former warrior, while the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remain loyal to the throne of David. The rest of these books document the way these kings led God’s people to worship, with some leading Israel to worship God in Jerusalem, while others worship idols elsewhere.
Neither the Northern Kingdom of Israel nor the Southern Kingdom of Judah, consistently keeps the Law of Moses and worships God at Jerusalem. These leads to each being taken captive by enemy nations. Israel is taken by Assyria (2 Kings 17:6–23) and Judah falls to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1–26), just as God promised should they disobey His law (Deuteronomy 28:36–37).
Many think that the books of Kings were written during the time of Judah’s captivity in Babylon, after the temple of God was destroyed. The tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and some of Levi were serving a pagan king in a faraway country.
The kings are evaluated by how they worshiped the Lord God. Good kings served the Lord in the temple at Jerusalem, while the others did evil in His sight. Two kings set examples for the rest of the nation: David and Jeroboam. David honored God and upheld His law. Jeroboam disregarded God and His temple, and instead set up two golden calves to worship.
Every king of the North followed Jeroboam’s example. Although some good kings of South (Judah) followed David’s example, most of them worshiped pagan gods, too. We see the full spectrum of God’s dealings with Israel in the books of Kings, ranging from extreme blessing under Solomon to utter desolation and captivity. These blessings and curses were all promised to Israel in the book of Deuteronomy.