THE RULES for consecrating the Aaronic priesthood were very specific, and many of those rules were a repudiation of rituals the pagan neighbors of ancient Israel practices for their gods.

We discuss the purposed of the blood shed by the bulls and rams sacrificed during the ritual, the reasons for burning their livers and kidneys, and the restricted use of holy anointing oil. (In other words, we shouldn’t use the recipe in Exodus 30 to make our own.)

We also follow a rabbit trail back to our discussion of the Ark of the Testimony two weeks ago and its possible origin along the lines of an Egyptian sacred bark. We note the connection between the ark, the sacred boats of the Mesopotamian gods, and the pagan belief that the Amorite moon-god Sîn and the Egyptian sun-god Re (or Ra) traveled across the sky in cosmic boats.