Numbers 20:25-29 (ESV)
Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor. And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered to his people and shall die there.” Moses did as the LORD commanded. And they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.
This passage is self explanatory. Aaron was old but was also one of the many Israelites from the previous generation who disobeyed God. He would not enter into the promise land. He was the High Priest, but his disobedience was one that hindered that final earthly blessing. The lesson is easy: God takes obedience seriously. Imagine Aaron’s son there, with him. He is stripped of the High Priest garments and they are laid on his son. That might have been a real time of pride an honor for a father. Aaron is seeing his own son wear the High Priest gowns. But, this is also clouded by a disobedient legacy. The nation would weep over Aaron’s loss. Eleazar, his son, would weep as well, yet he would become the High Priest. It would be imagined that Moses would weep. Aaron was his brother. This entire passage would have possible be voided if Aaron had only obeyed. Disobedience, despite God’s forgiveness, carry tremendous consequences. We need to realize that our day-to-day walk with God is, at the end, reflected at the time of our death. Those who live honorably in their youth will find blessing in their death. Those who disobey in their youth carry that disobedience to the grave with them in their reputation.
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