1 AND 2 KINGS
Here we have the reign of Solomon, the
establishment of Israel in peace, and the building of the temple, the figure of
the great Son of David. This fails, looked at historically, in Rehoboam; and
then the book of Kings is the history, not of Judah, but of Israel, with
sufficient notices of Judah to carry on the history. You get the intervention
of God by prophets in Elijah and Elisha, in mercy, in the midst of Israel, who
had left the temple, one being a testimony to Israel on the ground of their
responsibility, the other in resurrection-power.
First and Second Kings continue the history in Judah till the captivity, and then Lo-ammi was written on the nation. There are, of course, many details - various characters of faith, etc., as Hezekiah of faith, Josiah of obedience, Jehoshaphat of piety, but never, through association with the world, for success.