The Seven Feast Days and Revelation Compared
by Larry Cockerham

The seven feast days were given primarily to Israel, yet they are a beautiful panorama of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, as well as the Christian experience. The feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits were fulfilled by Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. The Feast of Pentecost, which occurred fifty days later, prefigured the Holy Spirit's coming in Acts chapter 2. Between these four feasts and the Feast of Trumpets was a long interval (four months) in which the harvest was gathered in. This period represents the church age during which the body of Christ will be completed (Rom. 11:25). The next three feasts after this period are the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashana), Day of Atonement (Yom Kipper), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth). When the trumpet sounds the church will be caught up (1 Thess. 4:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-52) and Israel regathered fulfilling the Feast of Trumpets. The Day of Atonement for Israel will be fulfilled when, at the end of the seven-year Tribulation, Christ returns and Israel accepts Him as their Messiah.

Paul states: "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob" (Rom. 11:26). The result of this will be Israel's mourning in national repentance (See Zech. 12:10) and their cleansing (Zech. 13:1). The millennium, which will last for one thousand years, will follow fulfilling the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech. 14:16-19) and completing the Divine program of God for the ages. In these seven feasts exists the chronology of God's plan and program for both the Church and the children of Israel. How does this effect the chronology of the Book of Revelation?

Revelation chapter 1--"the things which thou hast seen," covers the first three feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits) which foreshadowed the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The church age began with the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2) which begins the time period included in Revelation chapters two and three--"the things which are." The Feast of Trumpets would coincide with the catching up of the saints (1 Thess. 4:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-52) and regathering of Israel, with the Day of Atonement being fulfilled for Israel at the return of Christ (Rev. 1:7; Zech. 12:10; 13:1). Therefore, Revelation chapters four through nineteen would cover the period between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. With the return of Christ the millennial kingdom (Revelation 20) will begin fulfilling the Feast of Tabernacles.

The three feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles would include "the things which shall be hereafter" (Rev. 1:19). No matter what starting point one uses for the structural content of the Book of Revelation, it will soon run aground if not anchored upon the "sure word of prophecy" (2 Pet. 1:19a).