Numbers 20:22-29

the death of aaron

v. 22. And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came unto Mount Hor, the exact location of which cannot now be determined, although it was probably near the place where the city of Petra was later built, southeast of their last camping-place.

v. 23. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, at the station called Moserah, Deuteronomy 10:6, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying,

v. 24. Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, be joined to the number of those that had gone before, to await the great resurrection; 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; both he and Moses had at that time become guilty of striving with the Lord.

v. 25. Take Aaron and Eleazar, his son, and bring them up unto Mount Hor;

v. 26. and strip Aaron of his garments, the special garments distinctive of the high priest's office, and put them upon Eleazar, his son; and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people and shall die there.

v. 27. And Moses did as the Lord commanded; and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

v. 28. 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, probably after attending to the proper burial of Aaron.

v. 29. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, his death having taken place on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the departure from Egypt, Numbers 33:37-Zechariah :, when he was one hundred and twenty-three years old, Exodus 7:7, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel. All believers have the comforting assurance that their death, though a consequence of sin, takes place according to God's will, the grave being the body's resting-place until the great day of the final resurrection.