By the time of Yeshua’s arrival on the scene of human history, the Passover supper had gained in traditional customs. There appears to have been an order to the meal, the remnants of which still survive today. How and why these developed is uncertain. What Scriptural evidence do we have that there was an order to the Passover meal anciently and at Yeshua’s time?

“And you shall observe this thing [Passover] as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which YHWH will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service” (Exo. 12:24-25). Observe, shamar, means to hedge, guard, preserve, protect, attend to, and keep. “Thing,” dabar, implies a word, a matter spoken of, a thing. An ordinance, khoq, is an enactment, an appointment of time and labor, a law. And service, abodah, refers to work, an act of ministering, a worship performance. YHWH commanded Israel to guard over this act of worship in each generation. What did this look like in Yeshua’s day?

From the New Testament, four Passover cups are mentioned, each flowing naturally into the other. A cup of wine began the meal. The family also consumed wine while eating. There is also a cup offered at the end of the meal. And there is a cup that is not drunk but will be at the return of Yeshua. In this blog, I will investigate the Passover meal order and what these cups represent.

First Cup
Luke 22:14, 17 “And when the hour had come, He sat down and the disciples with him,” “And then He took the cup and gave thanks, saying, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves.'” Yeshua began the Passover meal with a cup He had blessed. In Hebrew, the “Cup of Kedesh” (qadash, pronounced clean, pure, holy) signified the meal was set apart (sanctified) from all other meals as were God’s differentiating of and consecration to holiness those called to partake of the meal (Exo. 8:23, Exo. 11:7, Deu. 7:6–8, 1Jo. 2:27, 1Pe. 1:16). The head of the family took the cup, prayed over it, separating and blessing the meal as YHWH’s Passover and all drank. Immediately, it was customary to wash one’s hands and ingest the bitter herbs dipped in salt water (signifying a clean heart). At this moment in the order of Passover, Yeshua girded Himself with a towel and washed His disciples’ feet.

Second Cup
The Cup of Proclaiming sipped during the meal (Exo. 10:2, 12:27, 40, 13:8, 14–16, Deu. 26:4–10).

When the youngest asked, “What makes this day different from all other days? Why is all this being done?” it prompted the story of the Lamb’s blood, their deliverance from slavery to entering the land. By YHWH’s power and mercy, He redeemed, purchased with His lifeblood, Israel. Declaring to each generation YHWH’s faithfulness impressed upon them how His outstretched arm rescued them from death’s servitude and transformed them to holiness to dwell with Him. Their belonging to YHWH extended to them the grace of the covenant blessings (Heb. 11:28, Exo. 24:8).

In Hebrew tradition, the second cup of hagatta, explaining, declaring, or proclaiming, was imbibed with the meal. Just as the cup of proclaiming traced humanity’s exile from God, Abraham’s calling, and his children’s deliverance out of bondage, the cup proclaimed the necessity of Yeshua’s death, the means for our transformation from idolatry to worship Him in Spirit, fully in His Presence. Yeshua’s atoning blood opened the way to dwell in God’s House. To eat and drink Yeshua’s life force transfers us from death to life, proclaiming escape from God’s wrath against all lawlessness. Paul wrote, “When you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1Co. 11:26). Passover anchors in remembering YHWH’s promise to Eve and His oath to Abraham to bring his children out of bondage into an eternal inheritance by His own death. We recognize that we are sojourners in this world, and we recount His watchfulness and His claim on the firstborn, knowing that through the Lamb’s sacrifice, He executed judgment on Egypt’s gods. More than any other name of YHWH, He is the God of the Exodus, who brings each of us out of exile to return to Him.

Third Cup
Yeshua offered a third cup, the “thanksgiving cup” or “cup of blessing.” “He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. Do this in remembrance of Me'” (Luk. 22:20). A meal eaten together ratified a covenant. The Passover third cup was a betrothal cup pointing to the marriage consummation. Foreseen at Mount Sinai, “Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which YHWH has made with you according to all these words'” (Exo. 24:8). “By faith, he [Moses] kept the Passover [in Egypt] and the sprinkling of blood [at Sinai], lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them” (Heb. 11:27–28). Drinking the cup meant agreeing to the new covenant. Paul called this celebratory cup the “cup of blessing” or consecration, giving one access to the intimate union by the purifying and expiating power of Jesus’s lifeblood preparatory to the firstfruit resurrection (1Co. 10:16, 11:25–26, 1Jo. 1:3, Jhn. 17:21–23). Those who drank the cup of blessing became betrothed to Christ, one in body and spirit.¹ In the nation of Israel, all who ate of the sacrifices from God’s table were united, and likewise, all partaking in Yeshua’s bread and blood are joined in one body. So, Paul urged the beloved to flee from idolatry (fornication), from the fellowship of demons, for such a relationship is incompatible with a holy Bridegroom.

Fourth Cup
A fourth cup is reserved for the wedding in the Kingdom (Mat. 26:29, Mar. 14:25, Luk. 22:18). Until that time, the Bridegroom (building a place in His Father’s house) and the bride (becoming arrayed in fine white linen of His righteousness) prepare for the joyous event. Passover is not finished until the consummation of the marriage vows at the appointed time of Pentecost, the Feast of Firstfruits.

Takeaway:
There is an order to the Passover service, defined by the four cups. The first cup sanctified the meal and the participants. While eating and drinking His body and blood, the second cup retraced humanity’s history and proclaimed why the Savior had to die. A betrothal covenant cup of blessing defined Passover’s third cup. And the undrunk fourth cup awaits Yeshua’s return and the marriage consummation. Year by year, YHWH commanded those He has purchased with His life’s blood to protect, shamar, the enactment of a worship service that recounts and renews our new covenant vows.

Fun Factors:
Exodus 12:24-25, YHWH’s command to keep the Passover forever, has a letter sum of 6623, 37 × 179, the 12^th and 41^st prime numbers when added equal 53, the number of the garden. Adding 37 to 179 is 216, and multiplying the letter sum digits, 6 × 6 × 2 × 3 equals 216, the value of “My Word,” and the innermost room of the sanctuary, debiyr, the place YHWH provides by His Word going forth. Also, by adding the letter sum digits of these verses, 6 + 6 + 2 + 3, we get the number of His victory, 17. And 1 + 7 + 9 = 17. If we add 37’s digits, 3 + 7, it equals 10, and if we break 179 into 17 multiplied by 9, we get 153. All these sums relate to YHWH’s creating righteousness in the ten (complete) generations in Abraham by His word going forth from the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies. The value of 216 has the same significance as 2160, the diameter of the moon and the Earth’s Precession of the Equinox month, linking YHWH’s creation of the Earth and moon to His salvation of humanity that flows forth from the inner chambers of His heart (the sun’s radius, 432 multiplied by His grace, 5, equals 2160). Everything created points to YHWH’s power to bring us back to Him…founded on His Passover sacrifice.