Passover in Exodus 12 is a picture of Christ’s future redemptive work. Some amazing imagery if found throughout the four cups at the supper table of the Jewish people. They reveal the complete plan of redemption for believers from the time of salvation to the time of their bodily resurrection, the final redemption.
Four cups are used at the supper table celebrating Jewish Passover Supper and contain a mixing of wine and water. This mix is a prophetic image of Christ, the Lamb of God who died around the same time as the Passover feast. When Christ was pierced with the Roman lance, blood and water came forth from His wound, sealing our redemption (John 19:34). According to Jewish Rabbis, the four cups at Passover correspond to the four promises of God in Exodus 6:6-7.
- I will bring you out
- I will rid (deliver) you out of their bondage
- I will redeem you will a stretched our arm
- I will take you to me for a people
These four promises are the same spiritual redemption promises found in the New Testament given by Christ to every person who accept His sacrificial death and resurrection (Galatians 1:4, Romans 8:15, 2 Corinthians 1:10: Titus 2:14, John 14:3).
The Names Of The Four Cups
1. Cup of sanctification
2. Cup of affliction
3. Cup of redemption
4. Cup of consummation
The Cup Of Sanctification
The first cup drank from. This cup foreshadows Christ’s taking the cup for the first time at the Last Supper and saying “Take this, and divide it among yourself: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. This is my blood of the New Testament (New Covenant), which is shed for many. Jesus went on the prayed: “And for their sake (thr disciples) I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” The cup of sanctification is the first cup that Christ drank with His disciples.
The Cup Of Affliction
Jesus referred to this cup when He prophesied of His sufferings, which were hours later. During the supper, Jesus took His finger and dipped it into this cup and placed a small portion of wine on the table (perhaps representing the blood He sweated in the Garden of Gethsemane). In the Garden Jesus prayer, O’ my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass by me” (Matthew 26:39).
Perry Stone believes the blood Jesus sweat was caused by the pressure of the sins of mankind bearing down on Him (see 2 Corinthians 5;21).
The Cup Of Redemption
This is the cup Jesus drank from after the Last Supper concluded when He announced, “This is the New Testament of my blood, which is shed for you.” ((Luke 22:20)
The Cup Of Consummation
This fourth cup sets upside down at the supper table and relates to the past as well as the future. It is called the cup of Hallel, or praise. Recited over this cup: “Pour out your wrath,” representing the Egyptians experiencing God’s wrath through the ten plagues and His wrath to be poured out in Revelation 16:1. Note: For Christians the fourth cup has a different meaning – consummation to be used at the marriage supper of the Lamb towards the conclusion of the seven-year tribulation (Revelation 19:7-8). Christ and the bride will consummate the marriage when both drink from the final cup of consummation (Matthew 26:28). “But I say to 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.
There is also a fifth cup called “Cup of Elijah” symbolizing an expression of redemption for all mankind upon the return of the Messiah. It sits on the Jewish table filled but never drank from. A child is often sent to the door during the supper to see if the prophet Elijah is in the street announcing the coming of the Messiah.
Taken from: Perry Stone Hebraic Prophetic Study Bible KJV.
From Pity to Praise 