Are the Biblical Feasts Prophetic?

The biblical feasts, as they’re described in the book of Leviticus, were indeed originally prophetic in that God used them as a way to make His plan for salvation logical and understandable for humanity. However, the meanings of some feasts have become reality since Christ’s first coming, while others are still waiting to be fulfilled.

In the book Wake Up, we divide these feasts into spring and fall feasts. In addition, we differentiate between the shadow meaning of these feasts and their real meaning in Christ Jesus.

All the Spring feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost) look back at the deliverance out of Egypt and the covenant that God made with His people on Mount Sinai.

In this context, these are feasts of remembrance, and as such, they do not have prophetic meaning.  But the deeper layers of the feasts show us the role they played at the time they were established — they pointed towards the coming of Christ and His establishment of the New Covenant. Thus, they used to be prophetic, but have become vehicles of remembrance, also for Christians. Moreover, these feasts contain meaning that can (and should) be applied in the life of every disciple of Christ. Every believer who has died and risen in newness of life has access to the New Covenant. This is partly in remembrance (Passover/Pesach), but mostly it is a matter of daily application. This is why Paul said that he died daily and that Christians needed to become unleavened dough on a daily basis.

On the other hand, the Fall feasts are still primarily prophetic in meaning because they are yet to be fulfilled in Christ. When Jesus returned to His Father in heaven, these feasts had not yet been fulfilled and only would be around His second coming. This is true for the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Although the Day of Atonement has not yet been entirely fulfilled, in Wake Up, we describe in great detail how Jesus Christ serves as our High Priest in heaven, interceding in the heavenly temple for believers who confess and repent of their sins. This role is in line with the shadow image of the Day of Atonement and is thus in this sense partially fulfilled but it is also work in progress. However, this feast is still also prophetic as it calls us towards the future reality of Christ, the heavenly High Priest, Who will leave His heavenly realm to return to earth. Then every eye will see and every knee will bow, and the Feast of Tabernacles will become reality as Christ begins His reign of peace.

As we can see, the biblical feasts are multi-dimensional. They have all been prophetic in nature, but some are fulfilled in Christ (Pesach, unleavened bread, first fruits, Pentecost) while others are still waiting their fulfillment (Feast of Trumpets, Tabernacles, Day of Atonement ) or are still work in progress (Day of Atonement). However, all the feasts are applicable to the lives of today’s Christian due to the fact that Christ Himself is the focal point of them all.