1 and 2 Kings were written to show that the kings of both Israel and Judah failed to live up to the ideals of the covenant that God had established with the monarchy. Therefore, God was justified in exiling his people. Written while they were in exile, the book of Kings (one writing originally) seeks to explain the spiritual decline of the kingdom through each king’s failure in their own relationship with God. God is just and a gracious lawgiver, and deserves obedience and worship. However, most kings did not honor God or his covenant with them, and even though some kings occasionally tried to turn the tide, the kingdom itself still failed. In spite of this, the book also highlights that God controls both nature and history, and even though humans fail, even human kings in the monarchy He instituted, He will still accomplish his purposes. There is still hope in the end of the book because God’s chosen royal line does not come to an end (2 Kings 25:27-30), and God will always be ready to forgive those who repent (1 Kings 8:22-61). Both of these facts point to the Messiah who was still to come, the True King, who would not fail.