(4) Priest. Moses having ascended :\ haunt Sinai, to receive the tables of the law, after the ratification of the covenant made with Israel, Aaron, his suns, and seventy elders, followed him partly up. They saw the symbol of the Divine presence, without sustaining any injury ( Exod x xiv t 1). and were favored with a sensible manifestation of the good pleasure of the Lord It was at this time that Moses received a divine command regarding the lIchrew ecclesiastical establishment inc of Aaron and his four sons with the priestly office (B. C. t6471. the functions of which they were to discharge before Jehovah forever (Lev iii .121 (See TAIIFRN sri E PRIEST.) 'nder this new institution the whole tribe to which he be longed that of Levi. was set apart as the carer dotal or learned caste. (See 1.EvirEs.) In Ps. cxxxm :2. the name of Aaron occurs as the first anointed priest.
(5) The Golden Calf. During the forty days that Moses continued in the mount, the people be came impatient, and tumultuously addressed Aaron: "Make us gods," said they, "which shall go before us: for as to this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him" (Exod. xxxii :1 sq.). Aaron desired them to bring their pendants, and the earrings of their wives and children, which, be ing brought, were melted down under his direction, and formed into a golden calf. This calf, or young bull, was doubtless that of the bull-god Apis, at Memphis, whose worship extended throughout Egypt. However, to fix the meaning of this image as a symbol of the true God, Aaron was careful to proclaim a feast to Jehovah for the ensuing clay. On that day in front of this calf Aaron built an altar, and the people sacrificed, danced, and di verted themselves around it, after the fashion of the Egyptian festivals of the calf-ol, exclaiming, "These be thy gods, 0 Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." The Lord having informed Moses of the sin of the Israelites (Exod. xxxii :7), he immediately descended, carrying the tables of the law, which, as he approached the camp, he threw upon the ground and hroke (Exod. xxxii :19), reproaching the people with their trans gression, and Aaron with his weakness.
(6) Repentance and Consecration. Aaron at first endeavored to excuse himself, but afterwards became penitent, humbled himself, and was par doned. The Tabernacle having been completed, and the offerings prepared, Aaron and his sons were consecrated with the holy oil, and invested with the sacred garments (Exod. xl; Lev. viii). Scarcely, however, were the ceremonies connected with this solemn service completed. when his two eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, were destroyed by fire from heaven, for presuming to burn incense in the Tabernacle with strange fire (Lev. x:1-ri).
It is recorded to his great honor that, at the words spoken by Moses, he "held his peace" when this terrible incident occurred. (See Aatxu.) The high-priest applied himself assiduously to the duties of his exalted office, and during the period of nearly forty years that it was filled by him the incidents which bring him historically be fore us are very few. Aaron would seem to have been liable to some fits of jealousy at the superior influence and authority of his brother ; for he at least sanctioned the invidious conduct of his sister Miriam (see AltalAm), who, after the wife of Moses had been brought to the camp by Jethro, became apprehensive for her own position, and cast reflections upon Moses, much calculated to damage his influence, on account of his marriage with a foreigner—always an odious thing among the Hebrews. For this Miriam was struck with temporary leprosy, which brought the high-priest to a sense of his sinful conduct, and lie sought and obtained forgiveness (Num. xii).
(7) Conspiracy Against Moses and Aaron. Some twenty years after (B. C. 1627), when the camp was in the wilderness of Paran, a formidable conspiracy was organized against the sacerdotal authority exercised by Aaron and his sons and the civil authority exercised by Moses. This conspir acy was headed by chiefs of influence and station —Korah, of the tribe of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, of the tribe of Reuben. (See Koamt.) But the Divine appointment was confirmed by the signal destruction of the conspirators; and the next day, when the people assembled tumultuously and murmured loudly at the destruction which had overtaken their leaders and friends, a fierce pestilence broke out among them, and they fell by thousands on the spot. When this was seen, Aaron, at the command of Moses, filled a censer with fire from the altar, and, rushing forward, 'lie stood between the dead and the living' and the plague was stayed (Num. xvi).
(8) Aaron's Rod. This was, in fact, another attestation of the Divine appointment ; and, for its further confirmation, the chiefs of the several tribes were required to lay up their staves over night in the Tabernacle, together with the rod of Aaron for the tribe of Levi ; and in the morning it was found that, while the other rods remained as they were, that of Aaron had budded, blos somed, and yielded the fruit of almonds. The rod was preserved in the Tabernacle (comp. Heb ix :4) in evidence of the Divine appointment of the Aaronic family to the priesthood (Num. to).