Two covenants have been running through the entire Old Testament.

The suzerain-vassal treaty is conditional: obey the Great King and receive rest, prosperity, rain, protection, and covenant presence. Walk away and lose access to those blessings. Drought, military defeat, exile follow.

The covenant of grant is unconditional: the Great King swore by himself to Abraham and David that the land, the seed, the blessing, and the dynasty would hold, even through the covenant community’s worst failures. The suzerain-vassal treaty explains why the story goes up and down.

The covenant of grant explains why the story is never finally over.