The Cups of Passover

The Passover Seder includes drinking four cups of wine throughout the Seder. The four cups reflect the four "I will" promises that the LORD made to the Israelites in Ex. 6:6-7:
"Therefore say to the children of Israel: "I am the LORD; I will bring you our from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians."

God identified Himself to Moses in Ex. 3 as Jehovah, LORD, "I AM WHO I AM". Again, in the verses above, God ties His promises to this same Name and identity: "I am the LORD." In Hebrew, this name is represented by four letters: Yod, He, Vaw, He. After the yod and the vaw, He gives the he. He means to look, to see, to be revealed, to behold. It is a pictograph of a man holding his hands up. See he below:

 So it is: yod, BEHOLD!, vaw, BEHOLD!. He gives emphasis after each of those two letters. Yod is the arm and hand. It is about power and strength, work and creation, a finished work, a leader. See yod below:
 Vaw is a tent peg, to secure, to nail, to join. It is about completion, redemption, and transformation. So, according to the meanings of the four letters, His Name can also mean "Creator Behold! Redeemer Behold!" See vaw below:


The four cups of Passover also memorialize the four-lettered Name of the LORD revealed at that time to His people, who were in bondage.

In the Seder, the first cup is the Cup of Sanctification, or Kiddush. This reflects the promise of the LORD to bring His people out from among the Egyptians, out from under their burdens. Sanctification means to be apart from, or separated from, in order to be holy. This same call is to us today:
"Such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."   1 Cor. 6:11 and
"Therefore
"Come out from among them
And be separate says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you."                             2 Cor. 6:17, Isa. 52:11
The first Hebrew letter of His Name, Yod, is the hand and arm by which He brings us out, and creates the sanctification of His people.
The second cup of the Seder, is the Cup of Judgment, Makkot. The LORD promised "I will rescue you from their bondage." The LORD did this through the ten plagues, and through the drowning of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. Jesus said to us,
"Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out."    Jn. 12:31
"...fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water."      Rev. 14:7
The second letter of the LORD's name, He, is revealed in Ex. 14:13, when the Israelites are physically and permanently separated from the Egyptians at the Red Sea:
"And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still and see (behold) the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever."
That is a hands in the air (He) "BEHOLD", statement! Hallelujah!
The third cup of the Seder is the Cup of Redemption. It celebrates the promise of the LORD,
"I will redeem you with an outstretched arm...". To us, Jesus is the work of the LORD, who redeemed us from the bondage of sin and death, even as the LORD redeemed Israel from bondage of slavery:
"And they sang a new song saying:
You  are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth."            Rev. 5:9-10
The third letter of His Name, Vaw, is a peg, or a nail, as Jesus was nailed to the cross. Jesus referred to this cup that He would be drinking (Mt. 20:22). The vaw also means, completion, redemption, and transformation. That nail of His Name, joined us together again with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The fourth cup of the Seder meal is the Cup of Praise, Hallel. It represents the promise of the LORD, "I will take you as My own people." We also have the promise that Jesus made to us to "take us" to  be with Him:
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."     1 Thess. 4:16-17
The fourth letter of the LORD's Name, the last He, is the BEHOLD! of praise that is revealed as God tabernacles with His people:
"And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God."        Rev. 21:3
This BEHOLD, or He, is a fulfillment of that fourth cup and promise of God, "I will take you as My people, and I will be Your God."

The four cups of wine that we share in the Passover Seder, reminds us of the LORD's four promises to the Israelites and to us. They were promised in the Old Covenant, and fulfilled in the New Covenant in Jesus's blood (Lk. 22:20, Mt. 26:28). At the same time, as we take the cups, we lift up the four letters of His great Name!

Prepare the Passover

                                     

On the night that Israel was delivered from their slavery in Egypt, as told to us in Exodus 12, the LORD instructed them to prepare (make ready) the Passover. Every household would prepare to sacrifice a lamb without blemish. The blood of the lamb would be applied to the door posts and lintels of each home, in order to protect that household against the last devastating plague against the Egyptians. The LORD would pass over the door of the house, not allowing the destroyer to enter. To a believer in Messiah, this is the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, who redeems us from death, saves us from the wrath to come. He was crucified on Passover, and raised from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits.
Along with these preparations, each person should be ready to leave quickly. Their shoes were to be on their feet, and their loins girded. This means pulling up the robes between the legs and tucking them at the waist, in order to be able to run. Your walking staff was to be held in the hand while eating the Passover. This would be a quick deliverance.
Their bread was to be unleavened, the sacrificed lamb was to be roasted, and the bitter herbs were to be eaten with it.
This Passover was an ordinance to be observed by that generation and future generations forever (Ex. 12:24).
Jesus observed the Passover with His disciples (Lk. 22).
The Apostle Paul taught the churches about the depth of meaning in the Passover:
"Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed, Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."               1 Cor. 5:7-8

Today, purging, or cleansing the house of all leaven is part of the Passover preparation. Leaven represents sin in our lives. A candle is used to light the search for any leaven, and a feather is used to sweep away any crumbs that might be left behind. Any leaven found is then burned. The candle used represents the light of the LORD that searches the hearts of men:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my thoughts;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting."                   Psalm 139:23-24
                        And
"The spirit of a man is the candle of the LORD,
Searching all the inner depths of his heart."         Prov. 20:27

Paul taught us above, that we are to use this time to examine ourselves by the candle of the Lord, and to rid our lives of old leaven (sin) as we prepare for the Passover. In the same manner, the Bride also prepares herself for the coming marriage supper of the Lamb:
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready (prepared)."                        Rev. 19:7

We are looking for the same miraculous Passover deliverance that comes in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye! (1 Cor. 15:52).

Let us prepare the Passover, and share it together.
                                                                        

If you would like to celebrate the Passover Seder*, the following links will have some information you will need:



Messianic Passover Haggadah
"Dayenu" Passover Song
"Let My People Go"

*You can also join our Seder, Sat. 4/23/16 at 2 PM, via Skype.

Where There's Hope, There's Life

 

The usual expression used is, "Where there's life, there's hope". The expression has been turned around here for this entry title in order to express a truth in scripture, and to find out more about both hope and life.

We are looking at a familiar passage from Ezekiel 37 regarding the prophet's vision of the valley of dry bones. This vision sent by the LORD to Ezekiel can speak many things to us today. If we study the Hebrew word meanings within the verses, we can find needed truth for the Church.

The condition that Ezekiel is shown by the Spirit of the LORD in the valley, is of a great many bones laying about on the ground. These bones were so dry, that they had separated one from another. No flesh or sinew was left to hold them together. One could not tell what bone had been joined to another.

The LORD asks Ezekiel if these bones of the valley can live again. Ezekiel could not see life anywhere. In order to answer the LORD, he said, "O LORD God, You know." (v. 2)

The LORD God begins to speak to the bones, and He instructs Ezekiel to also prophesy to the bones.

As the prophet began to obey and speak to the bones, they began to come together bone to bone (v. 7). Flesh and sinews began to form to cover, join and hold the bones together. The LORD then told the prophet to prophesy the winds of breath to come and breathe upon the bones to give them life. The rejoined bones then stood, alive, to become a great army. The LORD identifies this army as the whole house of Israel.
However, after this great army is given the breath that makes them live again, the LORD tells the prophet that this army is saying something to Him:
"...behold they say, "Our bones are dry and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts."
                                                                                   Ez. 37:11b
Although the bones are re-joined and living again miraculously, their cry is one of being without hope, and they still feel that their condition is like dry bones missing parts.
If we look at the Hebrew meaning of the words used in this verse above, it is telling us something very deep, and it explains why the LORD promised them two things in the verses that follow.
According to the Hebrew meanings of the key words of the verse above, this mighty bone army is saying to the LORD that though they are numerous and vast, they are without vital strength. They are ashamed and confused. They still feel like the disjointed bones they were, because there is no cord of hope that binds them together and gives them strength. (The Hebrew meaning for the word "hope" includes the idea of a cord that ties member parts together to make them stronger than they were as separate units). The bone army still feels divided and separated one from another. Needed parts are missing or still separated one from another. This was the Hebrew meaning of their cry to the LORD. There was yet a greater work that needed to be done to strengthen, unify, and make them whole again.
Having heard the bone army's cry, the first promise the LORD made to them was the unifying cord of hope that they lacked. It is the hope of resurrection:
"...Thus says the LORD God, "Behold, O My people (to overshadow and darken because of a huddling together, to collect together, to join together) I will open your graves, and cause you to come up from your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I AM the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people and brought you up from your graves."                                          Ez. 37:12-13

The New Testament tells us that we have that hope that the dry bones were looking for, that same unifying hope that binds us together with one another like a cord, so we can stand stronger together than if we were just a single individual. That essential, life-giving and unifying hope is found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."                                                             1 Peter 1:3
Titus 1:2 tells us that this hope of eternal life was promised by God before the world began. Is it possible that the prophet Ezekiel was taken by the Spirit of the LORD, back to a time before time, and to a place before places were formed, where this promise by the Father was first made, even before the world began? That would be an awesome thing!
This same prophetic promise of resurrection means that even the Church, though seemingly divided into many separate parts, is united by that cord of hope created through the resurrection of Christ from the dead unto eternal life. This is the hope that defines us and holds us together. It is this hope that, though we see the sometimes frightening events of this age, we can "Look up, lift our heads, and see our Redemption drawing nigh" (Lk. 21:28). We can give an answer to others in every circumstance for the hope of the resurrection that is within us (1 Pet. 3:15). It is by this sure and steady promise of hope, that we have the assurance and confidence that we can enter behind the veil into His holy presence (Heb. 6:9). It is this uniting cord of hope that changes us from corruptible into incorruptible (1 Cor. 15:53).
The second promise made at that time by the LORD God in answer to the cry of this revived bone army is a promise of uniting Judah, Israel, and Joseph/Ephraim (added to, doubly fruitful). This is in answer to the statement made by the bones that they are still "cut off (divided, separated) for our parts."
The LORD God promises through the spoken word and action of His prophet to unify two sticks as one (Ez. 37:15-20), to bring back together, to restore, the missing parts that had been cut off. According to the LORD's instructions to Ezekiel, one of the sticks represents Judah and Israel, and the second stick represents Joseph and his son, Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel that are half Gentile.
Again, this concerns the Church, as well as Israel. We are both missing essential parts, those missing parts being each other, that have been cut off and separated from us. We, like the army of living bones, are incomplete without each other.The promise of God is for our unity. By His prophetic Word He has commanded the promise that the two sticks will become one in His hand through the hope found in the resurrection of our Savior and Messiah, Jesus.
This cord of hope in the resurrection of Christ making us a vast, numerous people of God will not, and cannot be broken.

 

 

Ezek. 37- Two sticks become one in His hand