Ai – The Burnt Offering: Accepted by God 1: 1-17

The Burnt Offering: Accepted by God
1: 1-17

The burnt offering DIG: Why was Leviticus the first book that Jewish children would study? Beginning with Cain and Abel, why do you think God chose animal sacrifice to restore broken relationships? Couldn’t God forgive sins without sacrifice? Why do you think God demanded an offering without spot, defect, disease or deformity? What does the word korban mean? Why the laying on of hands? Why sprinkle the blood? Why complete burning? How does the aroma pleasing to God foreshadow Messiah (Ephesians 5:2; Phil 4:18)

REFLECT: How does the book of Leviticus point the way to Yeshua Messiah? Does it matter if you feel holy, or does it matter that you are declared holy and justified before God at salvation? How would you define sacrifice? Does true sacrifice have to hurt? How do your sacrifices define your value system? For whom do you make sacrifices? What sacrifices have you, or can you, make for God (Romans 12:1-2; Heb 13:15)? How do you draw near to YHVH? In your experience, how has God reconciled you to Himself? By what sacrifice?

Parashah 24: vaYikra (and He Called) 1:1 to 6:7
(See my commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)

The Key People are Moshe, the children of Isra’el, and Aaron’s sons – the priests.

The Scene is the Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai.

The Main Events include YHVH calling Moses and giving instructions for bringing the various types of offerings – burnt, grain, peace, sin and guilt, and more instruction about the duties of the priests and what could be eaten.

Our Torah study now spans two books. Genesis describes the beginnings of the world, mankind, and Abraham’s family. This first book concludes as Jacob’s clan moved to Egypt to survive famine under the leadership of Joseph. Exodus continues our story, as God’s mighty hand delivered the Israelites from slavery and Moshe led them out of Egypt. The Israelites then built the Tabernacle and united as a nation, called to bring all the Gentile nations into a covenant relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Many consider Leviticus a technical and difficult book. Yet a five-year-old traditionally begins his study with this book! The call to priesthood is the child’s first exposure to Jewish education. The Midrash quotes God as saying, “Why do we start the children with Leviticus and not with Genesis? The Holy One, blessed by He, said, ‘Since the children are pure and the sacrifices are pure, let the pure come and occupy themselves with the things that are pure’ (Leviticus Rabbah 7:3).”¹⁹

When Yeshua was five years old, He began to study the book of Leviticus. In the days of the Master (and even in modern Judaism) the formal religious education of a child begins at the age of five. And it begins with the study of Leviticus. It seems like an unnatural place to begin. It would seem that a better place to start would be with the creation narrative or the story of the Flood, or the call of Abraham. Nonetheless, throughout Jewish history, the children begin their studies with the book of Leviticus. If we peer intently into the story behind the story, we can clearly see Joseph the local carpenter in Nazareth leading little five-year-old Yeshua by the hand to the synagogue. We can see Joseph smiling to himself as he stands outside the synagogue listening to the five-year-old boys beginning to chant the recitation of their first lesson. Among the chirping little voices of the school boys was the voice of little Yeshua learning His first memory verse: ADONAI called to Moshe and spoke to him from the Tabernacle (1:1).

The reason for our aversion to Leviticus is largely based upon our revulsion at the thought of animal sacrifice. Within the mainstream of Christianity, there exists an unconscious reluctance to acknowledge that YHVH is a God who not only chose to be worshiped through the sacrifice of animals but, in fact, took pleasure in the aroma of the burning meat rising from the bronze altar. We have so sanitized and white-washed YHVH that the demand for animal sacrifice seems to contradict everything we have made God into. The mitzvot of sacrifice are disturbing to us. When the biblical text begins to teach us about priests throwing blood around and cutting out the fat surrounding the diaphragm and the two kidneys, we tend to become nauseous rather than blessed. We quickly explain the sacrifices were only to teach the Israelites about Yeshua, and we comfort ourselves with the notion that the B’rit Chadashah abolishes such sacrifice.

But this statement is a gross oversimplification. There are five different classifications of sacrifice, each brought for different reasons. There are dozens of types of bread offerings, wine offerings, water offerings, additional offerings, complex ritual procedures and chapters and chapters of text. There are the procedures for ordaining priests and instructions for their satisfaction and purification. The Bible is not stingy on details concerning the ritual sacrifices. But of what value is it for us to profess that Messiah fulfills the sacrifices when we know virtually nothing about those same sacrifices? To simply dismiss it all by saying, “Yeshua fulfilled the sacrifices,” does a great disservice to the text and to the Master Himself. If we truly believe that Yeshua’s death and resurrection fulfilled the institutions of sacrifice, then we as believers are all the more obligated to invest our energy in studying those institutions. Only to the extent that we understand those institutions can we hope to understand the work of Messiah.

As we begin to study the mitzvot of sacrifice, we will do well to remember that the sacrificial service is the method that God chose. Regardless of our own personal preferences, it is the method of worship which has been ordained from heaven. Sacrifice is a universal religious reflex. Humanity is apparently hardwired to recognize our need for atonement in the face of the Divine. The Torah puts form, structure and definition around that God-given impulse. Whether or not we think the rituals are rational is quite irrelevant. YHVH ordained it. Therefore, we should be less concerned about why sacrifices were (or are) necessary and more concerned with what YHVH intends to communicate to us by our obedience to His commandments.²⁰

Only to the extent that we understand the different sacrifices,
can we hope to understand the work of Messiah.

The problem with holiness: The Hebrew text of Leviticus begins with the letter vav, a conjunction indicating continuity with the text that precedes it. In other words, Leviticus is a continuation of Exodus, and Exodus ended with a holiness problem. To understand the book of Leviticus and the sacrifices detailed within it, we must recognize something about the holiness of God. We must appreciate the problem of holiness.

In the last chapter of Exodus, Moshe and Isra’el encountered the problem of holiness. It was the first day of the first month of the year, two weeks short of a full year since Isra’el left Egypt. The Tabernacle had been completed according to all its specifications. Moses lit the menorah. He put out the twelve loaves of the bread of the presence. He lit the incense and even made the first sacrifice (Exodus 40:34-35). It seemed that the Tabernacle had been a success. The Sh’khinah glory had taken up residence within it. Yet, there was a fundamental problem with the entire Tabernacle concept. Even if God could dwell among the Israelites in a holy place, that didn’t mean that the Israelites could have any communion or fellowship with Him. YHVH was still holy. Mankind was still unholy. How could unholy mankind come near to the holy God? This was the problem Moshe faced at the end of the book of Exodus. The Holy One had taken up residence in the Tabernacle, but He was unapproachable. Even Moses couldn’t come near to Him there.

Throughout every age, this has been the passion and frustration of mankind. We have an innate desire to be near to God. We thirst to stand in His presence and to drink from the radiance of His glory. We hunger for communication with Him. We crave His companionship and long for His approval. More than anything, our souls desire to be near to God. The soul of mankind is like an abandoned child crying out for her father.

The riddle of it all is that even though we so greatly desire communion and fellowship with God, every natural inclination of our heart is opposed to God. We are unable to come near to Him. He is life; we are death. He is pure; we are polluted. He is infinite; we are finite. He is holy; we are common. It is impossible to enter into His Presence. This is the plight of mankind in our day, even as it was in the days of Moshe.

The end of Exodus was a cliffhanger. It left us with the question, “How are the Isrealites supposed to approach God? How are they to come near to Him?

And He called: And YHVH (Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay) called Moses and spoke to him from the Tabernacle (1:1). YHVH is known as the Tetragrammaton, which is always the name that the Torah uses when God’s Name is associated with the Levitical sacrifices. We must call attention to the fact that Moshe acts very differently in this book. He is far from being that vibrant and argumentative character that we find in other books of the Torah. In the previous book of Exodus, for instance, we meet a strong person that converses, and even argues with God. But in Leviticus, he takes a back seat, he’s quiet. His words and actions are only in response to what God asked him to do. While his name is mentioned some 86 times in this book, he is always in a submissive position. YHVH spoke to Moses is repeated 28 times. And then we read phrases like: Moses took, Moses brought . . . as YHVH commanded.

The text of Leviticus begins with God calling Moses. Prior to this, YHVH had spoken to Moshe from atop Mount Sinai face-to-face. Now the presence of God was within the Tabernacle, and from within the Tabernacle, His voice sought out Moses. The Hebrew name of this portion is vaYikra (and He Called). God’s call to Moshe was in response to his inability to enter the Tabernacle. Thus, YHVH called to him to explain how He could be approached.

Drawing near: In Exodus, we learn that the Husband (God) built a House (the Tabernacle) to have fellowship with His Bride (Isra’el). But there was a problem. The Bride (Isra’el) was composed of human men and women – sinful at birth. The Scriptures are clear when they insist that sinful people cannot come into the presence of a holy God. Thus, the holy God, out of grace and mercy established a way of approach – through sacrifice. Because sin is the main obstacle for intimate fellowship between God and mankind, God instituted a just way to deal with sin, making it possible for the worshiper to bring a sacrifice, which, if offered in the right spirit, would be the medium whereby people attain nearness to the divine.

He wanted Moses to speak to the Israelites and say to them, “If a man will bring near (Hebrew: karav) an offering to YHVH. The Hebrew verb karav means near. All the verbs that derive from the root of the word qarab (korban, kerev) mean to come near. Right at the outset of the book we see God using a mediator. The plan of redemption that will be revealed begs for a mediator. This can only be the Messiah as He answers all the requirements in Leviticus. Without Him you would sink into despair as you read the demands of the mitzvot in this book. Therefore, the need for such a mediator can be seen throughout Leviticus . . . and it begins right here. From something brought near (Hebrew: korban) from either the herd, the flock or two doves or pigeons” (1:2). All these have something in common. First, they were easy to catch so the Israelites didn’t have to be running all over the place trying to catch their sacrifice, or go out in a boat and fish for it. Secondly, they were submissive, passive animals. These sacrifices point to the Messiah who submitted to the will of the Father as He stood silent before His accusers (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Lj – Jesus Before the Sanhedrin in the Upper Story of Caiaphas’ House).

The word offering is from the Hebrew word korban, which is translated in English as either sacrifice or offering. But neither of those words accurately expresses the concept. The word sacrifice implies that the person bringing it is required to deprive himself of something in order to satisfy someone else’s need or whim, and offering implies a form of tribute or gratuity. However, YHVH gets no satisfaction by inflicting deprivation on His children, and He is not in need of tribute nor gifts. A korban is not merely a sacrifice or an offering. A korban, then, should be defined as something brought near. The reason it is so named is that the person bringing the korban does so in order to come closer to God.

Drawing near to God is the purpose of the Tabernacle sacrificial service. The Hebrew expression to draw near to something implies that there is no longer any distance between the one drawing near and the object. Rather, to draw near is to have arrived at the goal. For example, the declaration in the gospel that the Kingdom of Heaven is near should be understood as the Kingdom of Heaven is now. It is the same with worship. To draw near to God is to enter communion with Him. It implies entering His very presence. In as much as His presence resided in the Tabernacle on earth, the worshiper was able to draw near and enter into His presence through the offering of a korban – something brought near.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your wonderful love that is willing to draw me near You. You are such a gracious God! I love You for Your gracious heart. I love You even during hard times of trial on earth, for my gaze is focused on all how long eternity is rather than the brevity of life on earth. For our trouble, light and momentary, is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison (Second Corinthians 4:17). I look forward to praising You in heaven thru all eternity! I pray in the Name of the One sitting at Your right hand. Amen

Propitiation: A korban is a very different understanding of sacrifice than we ordinarily think of it. We normally think that the Israelites brought sacrifices merely to pay the penalty for their sins. When a man deserved the death penalty, a sacrifice was made for him, and the unfortunate cow or sheep or goat was slaughtered instead of the man. The fact is that Ha’Shem is justified in punishing people for their sin. After all, what one earns from sin is death (Romans 6:23). So God provided a sacrificial system to provide a way for humans to atone for their sin. This is called propitiation, the averting of God’s wrath by means of the substitutionary sacrifice. The sinner brought his sacrifice, the death of the animal appeased Ha’Shem. Of course, all this foreshadowed the sacrifice of Messiah on the cross which satisfied every claim of YHVH’s holiness and justice so that God is free to act on behalf of sinners. In Torah, then, the death of the animal is not only a substitution for the death of the sinner. The death of the animal is also a substitution to bring the worshiper near to YHVH. It is, therefore, a method by which God could be approached.²¹

Therefore, the process to draw the worshiper near to YHVH by means of the voluntary burnt offering, started inside the Tabernacle courtyard. It was the most fundamental of all the offerings. It was a sacrifice from the herd, the flock, or an offering of birds, depending on how much you could spend. But since everyone has a sin nature and is equally guilty of sinning, from the high priest to the common person, each would make an offering. It was usually preceded by a purification and/or guilt offering, and was voluntary for private sin, but mandatory for public sin. The sacrifice was to have no spot or blemish. It was distinct from all the other sacrifices, because except for the skin of the herd and the head of the bird, it was totally consumed, with its smoke continually rising upwards to heaven. And as such, was an expression of total devotion, commitment and surrender to God.

The word Holocaust is derived from the Greek holokauston, a translation of the Hebrew word ‘olah, meaning what goes up, or, the burnt sacrifice offered whole to YHVH. This word was chosen, and gained wide usage, because, in the ultimate manifestation of the Nazi killing program – the extermination camps – the bodies of the victims were consumed whole in the crematoria or open fires, as if they had been offered up as a burnt offering to YHVH.

After sin had been confessed and temporarily covered (Psalm 32:1) through the purification offering (to see link click Al – The Purification Offering) and the guilt offering (see Am – The Guilt Offering), then the worshiper brought his burnt offering to the Tabernacle. Messiah is our burnt offering today. Because we have put our faith in His sacrifice for us, the Father sees us washed of all sin and cleansed white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). All our imperfections and guilt are now hidden forever from His sight, covered by Messiah’s shed blood. Having identified ourselves with Yeshua by faith, we must leave to Him the priestly work of sprinkling His precious blood, as it were, against the bronze altar on all sides, presenting His burnt offering to YHVH on our behalf.²²

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for planning before the creation of the world that Messiah would die in my place to make me holy (Ephesians 1:4), have His righteousness (Second Corinthians 5:21) and come and live with Him in heaven (John 14:1-3). You knew the great pain and shame He was willing to suffer so He could offer Himself as a holy, eternal sacrifice. You even approved of His sacrifice knowing the great cost. For by one offering He has perfected forever those being made holy (Hebrews 10:14). I desire to thank You for Your deep love by living a life pleasing to You in all I do, say and think. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, ADONAI, my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalms 19:15). In Yeshua’s holy name and power of resurrection. Amen 

Explicitly, the burnt offering is mentioned in the B’rit Chadashah in Mark 12:33 and Hebrews 10:6-8, but implicitly, it is seen in Luke 2:23-24 and 17:14.

The burnt offering is the oldest of the five offerings, already found in Genesis 8:20-22. The offering needed to be costly. The rich man had to give more than the poor man. What he brought to sacrifice was determined by his economic status, and a progression of the most valuable to the least valuable, from the herd, to the flock, to the bird, is seen.

As the animal was slaughtered, the priest caught the blood in a pan and sprinkled it on the bronze altar. The animal was then cut up, salted, and entirely burned. Normally, semikhah, or the laying of the hands on the head of the dead animal, and viduy, or the confession of sin, accompanies this sacrifice (although in the case of the bird offering, the semikhah is not performed). The burnt offering must only be offered during daylight hours and must burn through the night. The priest, therefore, needed to be present at the Tabernacle around the clock, tending to the sacrifices and ensuring that the fire would be kept burning continuously.²³ This mitzvah refers only when the bronze altar in the wilderness was actually set up, but not to the time during which it was transported.

If the offering was a burnt offering from the herd, the worshiper was to offer a year old male without spot, blemish, disease or deformity. This is repeated over-and-over in Leviticus, and once again points us to the Master. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Messiah, a lamb without spot or blemish (First Peter 1:18-19). The worshiper was to bring his sacrifice to the entrance of the Tabernacle , so that it could be accepted by YHVH (1:3). It was as if YHVH was there with open arms to accept the repentance of the worshiper. Right from the beginning of the book we find God pictured as the caring Shepherd. As explained in Malachi 1:6-10, blemished animals were less than suitable as gifts to present before the king. This is an important principle of korban substitution. Because the human being is blemished (spiritually and physically) and therefore unfit to enter the presence of the King, an unblemished substitute is sent on his behalf.

At the gate: The worshiper would take their korban to the gate (see the commentary on Exodus Ez – The Gate of the Tabernacle: Christ, the Way to God). Regardless of category, the offering had to be ceremonially clean, usable for food, and domesticated. Wild game was not permissible for sacrifice. It is important to understand that the sacrifices were not for the purpose of salvation. The korban was about life, not death. The righteous of the TaNaKh brought their korban in faith that YHVH would accept it. Without faith it accomplished nothing. The way to a relationship with God was the same in the Dispensation of Torah as it is in the Dispensation of Grace . . . by faith/trust/belief in YHVH.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your steadfast and costly love that accepts our faith, gifts us with eternal life, and cleanses our consciences from sin. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves – it is the gift of God.  It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Praise you that Messiah’s payment was eternal and complete – a costly one time perfect offering. He entered into the Holies once for all – not by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. . . so also Messiah, was offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:12, 28a). I desire to live my life pleasing You in gratitude for Your costly gift of love. In your holy Son’s Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Laying on of hands: Therefore, the worshiper laid his hand on the head of the burnt offering as a means of identification (as well as confession and prayer). As he identified himself with the sacrificial, he symbolically transferred his sin to the animal, emphasizing the concept of substitution. Life for life. And the result was that it would be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him, temporarily covering his sin (Psalm 32:1). It freed the worshiper from the consequences of sin and protected him from God’s wrath. That is why the worshiper personally slaughtered the young bull. Leviticus began with a description of the sacrifice of a bull for a burnt offering (1:4-5a). But the bull was the most expensive of possible sacrifices. The common Israelite was not likely to be able to afford the sacrifice of a young bull. Financially, it would be something like offering up a new truck as a sacrifice. A less expensive alternative for a burnt offering was a sheep or a goat. The procedure for sheep or goats was identical to that of the young bull. It was just a smaller animal.

The blood ritual: How did sacrificing bring the Israelite closer to YHVH? How did the sacrifices work? The worshiper, not the priest, did the actual slaying of the animal. In order for it to be a kosher sacrifice, tradition tells us that the slaying had to be relatively painless. The knife was sharpened to a razor fine edge. A single notch or jag in the blade made it invalid for sacrifice. After inspecting the knife, the worshiper drew the blade across the neck of the animal. In the Torah, blood contains the living soul of a creature. Whether human or animal, we all possess a living essence. The spark of life which animates our flesh. When the blood leaves the body, life leaves with it: For the life of the creature is in the blood, and I have given It to you on the altar to make atonement for yourselves; for it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life (17:11). Thus, it was the animal’s soul that the priests applied to the altar. But because of the laying on of hands, the blood/soul was not identified as the animal’s but as the worshiper’s. That meant that every time a sinner wanted to have their sin temporarily covered, every time they wanted to draw close to God, they had to kill an animal. For their entire life. Thank God that Messiah’s sacrifice was eternal (see the commentary on Hebrews Cd – Messiah’s Sacrifice was Once For All Time).

Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, caught the blood in a bowl and brought it to the bronze altar and sprinkled it on all sides. The only portion of the burnt offering which was not consumed on the altar was the hide of the animal. These were retained by the priesthood (7:8). The ancient holy scrolls were recorded on the parchment mead from the skins of the sacrificed animals. The rest of the animal was cut to pieces so as to make it light enough to be carried to the altar (in several trips) and small enough to be completely burned. Then the priest took the burnt offering, cut it into pieces, and arranged the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood. After washing the inner parts and the legs with water, the priest burned all of it on the altar (1:5b-9).²⁴ Think of the number of animals and birds that would need to be sacrificed for over two million people for forty years!

If the offering to YHVH was a burnt offering of birds, he was to offer two doves or pigeons. The small size of the bird required a simplification of the sacrificial ritual, so the priest did everything. The ritual procedure for a bird was necessarily different. There was, of course, no laying on of hands, but the transfer of identity was understood. The bird was not slaughtered with a knife. Instead the priest performed a difficult ritual called melikah where he used the sharpened nail of his thumb to cut the bird’s nape. With one swift move of his thumb, the priest cut through the bird’s spine and esophagus, nearly severing its head. The blood was not collected, but was drained from the bird’s body directly onto the bronze altar. The crop and skin (with most of the feathers) were thrown aside on the ash pit before the bird was placed on the altar. It was a burnt offering, an offering made by fire. The phrase pleasing to YHVH, literally meant the smell of rest. It emphasized God’s approval and acceptance of the sacrifice. Like Abel’s sacrifice (Genesis 4:4), YHVH looked with favor on the Israelite who brought a burnt offering. God received the bird offering from the poor with the same appreciation as He received the bull from the affluent man, an aroma pleasing to YHVH (1:14-17).²⁵ Philippians 4:18 explains that the fragrant aroma meant the sacrifice was acceptable . . . well pleasing to God. This offering once again points to the Messiah as Miryam could not afford a lamb, so she offered a pair of young pigeons one for a burnt offering and one for a purification offering (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Au – Jesus Dedicated in the Temple).

The Messianic significance: The total devotion, commitment and surrender to Messiah is seen in the fact that the fire was to be kept burning continuously. It was to continue burning on the bronze altar throughout the night, till morning, twenty-four hours a day, except when traveling in the wilderness. It could not go out. The priests were to offer one-year-old lamb on the bronze altar in the morning and another at twilight. This spoke of the fact that the people needed a constant reminder that someone was needed to take their place and that their sin merited death. There had to be the shedding of blood for sin.²⁶ Every morning the priest was to add firewood, arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the peace offerings on it. This was considered one of the five key duties of the priesthood. The first lamb was offered with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering. Thus, the daily offerings contained the basic parts of the people’s daily diet: meat, flour, oil and wine.²⁷ The second lamb, sacrificed at twilight, was offered with the same grain and drink offerings as in the morning. After the morning sacrifice, the priest put on his white linen clothes, with linen undergarments and removed the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire had consumed on the bronze altar and placed them beside the altar. Then he took off his priestly linen clothes and put on regular clothing and carried the ashes outside the camp to a place that was ceremonially clean (Exodus 29:38-41; Leviticus 6:8-12).

For the generations to come, the burnt offering was made continuously on the bronze altar at the entrance to the Tabernacle before YHVH (Exodus 29:42a; Leviticus 6:13; Numbers 28:10). Isra’el was to be reminded day after day, year after year, century after century, that a holy God would accept them only on the basis of the sacrifice of the promised Savior, who was to offer Himself without blemish or defect. Thank God! The fire went out over two thousand years ago. Never again would our Savior suffer.²⁸ Having made one offering, sufficient for all time, He sat at the right hand of God, because His work was finished (Hebrews 10:11-12)

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that Messiah’s sacrifice finished/ completed the payment for our sin so that I could draw near to You. I don’t have to worry if You will remember my sin. For once I’ve repented and chosen to love Yeshua as my Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10), I am saved from sin’s penalty and you canceled my sins as far away as east is from the west. Since east and west are always going opposite directions, our sins will never be remembered. How gracious you are! For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His mercy for those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so ADONAI has compassion on those who fear Him (Psalms 103:11-13). Your compassion and mercy are wonderful! Your deep and tender love is beyond my comprehension. I desire to love You back in deep appreciation for all You have done for me. I pray in the Name of the One sitting at Your right hand. Amen