Do the Jewish Festivals Point to the Time of Christ’s Return?

Do the Jewish festivals point to the time of Christ’s return? Israel’s festivals are prophetically significant. God designed them to point both to the first coming and second coming of the Messiah.

The spring feasts pointed toward Jesus’ first coming:

• Passover—Jesus was the ultimate Passover lamb who died for the sins of the world (1 Cor. 5:7).
• Unleavened bread—Jesus was the sinless one broken for us (1 Cor. 11:23–24). 
• Firstfruits—Jesus was the firstfruits from the dead (1 Cor. 15:20–23).
• Shavuot/Pentecost—Jesus’ death and resurrection are the basis for the new covenant blessing, including forgiveness of sin and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:16–17; 1 Cor. 11:25).

The fall feasts point toward Jesus’ second coming: 

• Rosh Hashanah/Feast of Trumpets—Jesus will return for His bride “at the last trumpet” (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16) and God will begin His final days of awe, focusing again in a unique way on Israel.
• Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement—Israel “will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him” (Zech. 12:10). As a result, “On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for defilement” (Zech. 13:1). 
• Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles—Israel will experience the joy of being ingathered as a nation, and the nations will join Israel in worshiping the Lord (Zech. 14:16–19).

The spring feasts not only pointed prophetically to Christ, they were also fulfilled on the exact date of the Hebrew calendar. Does this mean the fall feasts (pointing to still-future events) will also be fulfilled on those specific days? While that could be possible, we can’t say so with any degree of certainty for at least two reasons. First, Jesus said specifically regarding His second coming, “But about that day and hour no one knows” (Matt. 24:36). If His return were to happen on the exact day of Yom Kippur, it seems people could calculate the date with relative precision. Second, the Bible says the future Antichrist will “intend to make alterations in times and in law” (Dan. 7:25), perhaps to sow confusion or to stop the Jewish people from practicing their faith. In either case, it seems unwise to assume these future events will happen on those exact days.