future actions of the gods. Priestly specialists believed they could decipher the future by studying and “reading” a dead animal’s entrails. Such practices were absent in Israel. Second, the most distinctive aspect of the Israelite sacrificial system is the way it was linked to the covenantal relationship with God.3 God gave the instructions for Israel’s sacrifices during the last month and a half the people were at Mount Sinai, between the construction of the tabernacle (Ex 40:17) and the departure