As Israel approaches the anniversary of 70th years of Independence, the country is preparing for a month of celebrations starting mid-April and ending in early May, 2018. Across the city you will find daily festivals, concerts and recreational activities in commemoration of the day David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, read the Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948.

According to the statistic provided by the Israel tourism board, 2017 will reach a record high in incoming tourists to Israel and 2018 numbers will be even higher! For many, traveling to Israel in 2018 will be even more meaningful due to the sacred meaning the number seventy has in the Biblical text. Christian pilgrims will also celebrate with the Jewish people the fulfillment of the prophecy, the return of the exiles from the four corners of the earth, the return of the Jews back to their ancestral homeland.

Seventy is often connected with God’s order of the world. It is a factor of 2 numbers that are very important. The number seven represents in the Bible refection and the number ten reparents God’s law. For many the number seventy characterizes the ultimate spiritual order and even a period of judgment.

Here’s a list of a few of the references of the number seventy in the Bible:

  1. With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all. (Genesis 46:27)
  2. The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. (Numbers 11:16)
  3. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the leaders of Israel went up the mountain and they saw the God of Israel. Beneath his feet was what looked like a pavement of sapphire, as blue as the sky. God did not harm these leading men of Israel; they saw God, and then they ate and drank together. (Exodus 24:9 – 11)
  4. This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. (Jeremiah 29:10)
  5. This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (Jeremiah 25:11)
  6. Terah, the father of Abraham, had his first male child at seventy.
  7. Seventy elders (not counting the High Priest) composed Israel’s great Tribunal (Exodus 24:1, Numbers 11:16)

The number seventy also has significant meaning in the New Testament:

  1. Seventy disciples were sent out by Christ on a ‘training mission’ to preach the gospel to the surrounding area. (Luke 10)
  2. 70 weeks, ‘sevens’, were decreed by God as the period in which Messianic redemption was to be accomplished (Dn. 9:24); Jesus sent forth the Seventy (Lk. 10:1); he enjoined forgiveness ‘until seventy times seven’ (Mt. 18:22)
  3. The Bible records Jesus Christ giving at least 70 parables during his ministry. (37 the book of Matthew, 1 in the book of Mark, 21 in the book of Luke and 11 in the book of John)

If you would like to celebrate Israel’s 70th birthday in the Holy Land, 2018 would be the perfect time! In fact, we have a tour departing on April 18 and returning on April 23, 2018. Click here for more details. Join us on a trip of a lifetime!