1 Kings

The story begins with the death of David and the rise of his son Solomon. Under Solomon, the nation reaches its peak of wealth and power. He is best known for asking God for wisdom rather than long life or riches. His greatest achievement is the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem. This building replaces the portable Tabernacle from Exodus and becomes the permanent center for worship. For a brief time, there is peace and tremendous prosperity in the land.

However, the situation deteriorates rapidly in the middle of the book. Solomon marries many foreign women for political alliances, and they influence him to worship other gods. This unfaithfulness has a heavy price. After Solomon dies, the kingdom splits in two. Ten tribes in the north form the kingdom of Israel, while two tribes in the south form the kingdom of Judah. This division changes the political landscape permanently.

The rest of the book chronicles the history of these two rival kingdoms. While there are a few good kings in the south, the northern kings are uniformly corrupt. To counter this corruption, God sends prophets. The most famous figure is Elijah, who boldly confronts King Ahab and the prophets of Baal. The book ends on a grim note with Ahab's death, leaving the reader to watch the slow moral decline of both nations continue in the next book, 2 Kings.