(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Numbers 20:22–29, “And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.”
The Lord chose Aaron to be Moses’ prophet (Ex 7:1, “And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.”) Aaron was no different to Miriam, his sister, in that he had to die as well. He was older than Moses so he could be expected to die before Moses. Aaron needed to die so that his son Eleazar, would be free to take over the role as high priest without interference from his father. Often, when one person takes over a role from the previous incumbent, the old leader will interfere and not let the new person do the job in their own way. Everyone is different and everyone needs to grow into their leadership gifts without having to be a different person. Aaron was also involved in the rebellion at Meribah (see Num 20:9–13, “And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.”) and, like Moses, was prohibited from entering the Promised Land. The Lord always works for good (see Deut 8:16, “Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;” and Rom 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”). This was part of the Lord’s good plan but the people respected Aaron and they mourned his death for thirty days before they moved on.
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