Book excerpt: Violence on the streets. Military expansion. Consumerism. Policies exploiting people and natural resources. Harassment and abuse: 1 & 2 Kings could hardly be more relevant. In the thirty-fourth volume of the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, Old Testament scholar Lynn Jost claims 1 & 2 Kings were written to form a community that would embrace the Ten Commandments and the Great Shema and would champion righteousness and compassion. Jost traces the characteristics of royal justice, with its systems of excess and indulgence, as well as the court intrigue, succession politics, interfamily rivalries, and prophetic judgment that mark the books. Through it all, Israel remains in a covenant relationship with a delivering God. Through it all, God calls the leaders and the people to practice justice, protect shalom, and live righteously. In vivid and accessible prose, Jost invites pastors, scholars, and lay readers to read 1 & 2 Kings as books of promise—ones that gesture toward a faithful God who rescues, judges, commands, and provides. About the Believers Church Bible Commentary series This readable commentary series is for all who seek more fully to understand the original message of Scripture and its meaning for today—Sunday school teachers, members of Bible study groups, students, pastors, and other seekers. –From the Series Foreword