2A The intrinsic revelation of the history according to the record from Joshua to Esther is to unveil to us how the eternal economy of God was carried out by His elect on the earth—Josh. 1:1-9; 1 Sam. 16:12-13; 1 Kings 2:11-12; 6:1-2.
3B Apparently, the books of 1 and 2 Kings are the history of the kings of Israel; actually, 1 and 2 Kings were written in the inspiration of the Spirit of God in the way of being related to God’s eternal economy—Eph. 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4.
4C David and Solomon, as types, are strong evidences that the history of the kings of Israel is related to the economy of God, which concerns Christ as the embodiment of God and the church as the Body of Christ—Eph. 5:32.
5D Since Solomon and the temple built by him play strong roles in the history of Israel and occupy a wide realm in such a history, they are evidence that the history of Israel concerns very much the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy in the Old Testament in the way of typology—Luke 24:44:
61 That Christ and the church are the centrality and universality of God’s economy is universal in both the New Testament and the Old Testament—Matt. 16:16-18.
8E In reading 1 and 2 Kings, we need to see the link between the Old Testament books of history and the New Testament; this link is God’s economy for Christ and for Christ’s Body—Eph. 1:22-23; 3:17; 4:16.
17Further Reading: CWWL, 1964, vol. 3, “The Economy of God,” ch. 1; CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Economy of God and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” chs. 1-2