Va'era - The Four Cups of Passover
The Torah portion of Va’era has the four expressions of redemption. Each of these four expressions has a correspondence to the four cups of the Pesach seder, and to the Messiah.
Exodus 6:6-7 has the four expressions of redemption:
“Wherefore say unto the children of Israel: I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments; and I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”
Yeshua told us to drink the cups of the seder in remembrance of him. There are four cups in the Pesach seder, and each one points to the four expressions of redemption.
Exodus Rabbah 6:4 says:
“The sages accordingly ordained four cups to be drank on the eve of Passover to correspond with these four expressions in order to fulfill the verse [in Psalms 116:13]: ‘I will lift up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD.’”
The sages refer to all four cups of the seder as the “the cup of salvations.” They made it a necessity that a person drink the four cups on the first night of Passover to fulfill the words, “I shall lift up the cup of salvations.” The rabbis say that the four cups hint at salvation, and teach about the future redemption.
Yeshua made a declaration over “the cup of salvation,” saying, in 1st Chorinthians 11:25, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” He also connected the cups of Passover with the redemption when he said, in Matthew 26:29, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
The Talmud offers several explanations for the four cups. The four cups refer to the four expressions of the redemption, they refer to the four times the word “cup” appears in the cupbearer's dream, they refer to the four nations that ruled over Israel before being overturned, they refer to the four cups of punishment that the Holy One, blessed be He, will pour out over the nations, and finally, they refer to the four cups of consolation that God will give to Israel in the future.
The first cup of the Passover Seder is the cup of sanctification. Here’s what the Passover Haggadah says about it:
“You have given us, O LORD, our God, with love, appointed times for joy, festivals and seasons for gladness, this day of the Festival of Matzot, the season of our freedom, a holy convocation, a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. For you chose us and sanctified us from all the peoples, and you caused us to inherit the appointed times of your holiness, with joy and gladness. Blessed are you, O LORD, who sanctifies Israel and the seasons.”
The cup of sanctification marks the beginning of the holy day, but it also points towards the first expression of redemption: “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” Sanctification involves separating the mundane from the holy. God sanctified Israel by separating it from Egypt. Yeshua is our sanctifier. Just as God took the Jewish people out of Egypt and made them into a holy nation, Yeshua takes us out of our own darkness and transgression and makes us sanctified by him.
The second cup of the Passover Seder is the cup of deliverance. Here’s what the Haggadah says about it:
“Blessed are you, O LORD, our God, who has redeemed us and redeemed our fathers from Egypt and let us arrive at this night so that we may eat [unleavened bread] and [bitter herbs]. O LORD, our God and God of our fathers, let us also arrive at the appointed times and other pilgrimage festivals that are coming to greet us in peace, rejoicing in the rebuilding of your city and gladdened by your service. There may we eat from the sacrifices and Passover offerings, whose blood will favorably reach the side of your altar, and we will give thanks to you, singing a new song about our redemption and the ransom of our souls. Blessed are you, O LORD, who has redeemed Israel.”
The second expression of redemption is: “I will deliver you from their bondage.” Rabbi Akiva wrote this text after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The blessing points towards the promise of deliverance from our oppressors.
The third cup is the cup of redemption. What Yeshua says in Matthew 26:27-29 corresponds to the third cup:
“And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”
The third expression of redemption is: “and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments.” Redemption implies the payment of a ransom to give a person freedom. In the days of ancient Israel, a man who was a slave had to be redeemed from slavery by his family, who bought him into freedom. God promised to ransom Israel from Egypt like a family redeemer, and he will do so again in the future. The third cup reminds us of the price Yeshua had to pay for our freedom from our past sins.
The fourth cup has multiple names. Some refer to it as the cup of praise, because it corresponds to the reading of Hallel, a section of the Bible that is read to give thanks to God at the end of every meal. Some refer to it as the cup of betrothal. The fourth and final expression of redemption is: “and I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God;” This expression alludes to a marriage declaration. In the ancient Near East husbands married their wives with the declaration, “You will be my wife, and I will be your husband.”
At the conclusion of Yeshua’s last Seder, after the Hallel, Yeshua said, in John 14:2, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also.”
The Torah portion of Va’era contains four expressions of redemption, and these same expressions point towards the Passover Seder, and the messiah.
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