Nathan Lovell, lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew at George Whitfield College in Cape Town, South Africa is an Australian who has lived in South Africa with his wife for the past ten years. He joins David Capes on “The Stone Chapel Podcast” to talk about his book, The Book of Kings and Exilic Identity: 1 and 2 Kings as a Work of Political Historiography (T. & T. Clark).  Initially, our books 1 & 2 Kings were one book and they share a common theme and concerns. Written from exile this “book” looks back over 400 years of the history of Israel and Judah to ask a single question: what does it mean to be God’s people in exile? With no temple, no land, a broken covenant, and no king how ought they envision their lives as God’s people. In fact, many exiles questioned whether they were still God’s people, yet the book of Kings ends with a glimmer of hope.  The Davidic king is released from his confinement and sits at the table of the Babylonian king.  The Davidic line has not come to an end.  God has not failed his exiled people.