The four cups of Pesach

Paula Leitner
Apr 1
2 min read

Tonight in the Jewish world the most important meal is celebrated, the Pesach meal, also known as seder. Tomorrow in the Christian world we remember Yeshua celebrating that same meal with His disciples, thus opening the three days of the Easter Triduum. The word Seder literally means Order, pointing to the order of liturgy this meal has. This order of liturgy wasn’t much different in the time of Yeshua from how we know it today, according to the scholars. In this liturgy four cups of wine are drunk. These cups have a significance that is described in Exodus 6:6-7 (the bold is added by me):

Therefore say to the sons of Israel, I [am] the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you out of their bondage. And I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm, and with great judgments. And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God. And

you shall know that I [am] the LORD your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

The first cup: I will bring you out. The Hebrew verb used here is a literal ‘causing to go out’. It is the act of God opening up the Red Sea for the Israelites in order for them to leave Egypt physically.

The second cup: I will rescue you out. The Hebrew verb used has a meaning of peeling off. So, it is the taking away of the mindset of Egypt, the mindset of a slave and the being okay with being okay, as long as the flesh pots of Egypt were available (Ex 16:3).

The third cup: I will redeem you. The verb that the Hebrew language uses here is from the same root word as where the word kinsman-redeemer, that is used for Boaz in the book of Ruth. And what does Boaz do to Ruth? He covers her with his mantle and provides for her. That is exactly what God does for Israel: He dresses her with a garment of salvation (Is 61:10) and provides for her in all that she needs, in the desert for example through the manna and the water, and through clothes and sandals that did not wear out (Deut 29:5).

The fourth cup: I will take you to Me for a people. Here we see God choosing His bride, entering with her into a covenant relationship and becoming her God. At Sinai Israel becomes God’s special treasure (Ex 19:5).

Yeshua, in His death on the cross, has opened this up for all mankind.

I wish us all Blessed Pesach and Easter in Messiah Yeshua!