Moses’ older brother and Israel’s first high priest. All of Israel’s priests would be taken from his lineage.
At the burning bush, when Moses repeatedly resisted God’s assignment to confront Pharaoh and lead Israel out of Egypt, God promised that Aaron would serve as Moses’ mouthpiece (Exodus 4:14).
He would go on to spend the rest of his days as Moses’ co-leader through the departure from Egypt and the wilderness wanderings. Just as Moses was chosen to lead the people and give the Law, Aaron was chosen to lead the religious life of the nation.
Major events in Aaron’s life include:
his contests with the magicians of Pharaoh to begin the 10 plagues (Exodus 7-8);
his poor leadership in building a golden calf for Israel to worship in Moses’ absence (Exodus 32);
the uprising of Korah against Aaron’s authority and the budding rod by which God confirmed Aaron’s place (Numbers 16-17);
and the sins of joining Miriam to speak critically of Moses and his wife (Numbers 12)
and disobeying God at the waters of Meribah (Numbers 20).
In the New Testament, Aaron’s priesthood is contrasted with Melchizedek’s (Genesis 14, Hebrews 7). Jesus, who was not a Levite and therefore not a descendant of Aaron, could not be a priest in the likeness of Aaron.
But because He was a priest like Melchizedek, a priest-king to whom even Abraham paid tithes, He proved superior (Hebrews 5, 7).
This is entry #30 of 150 from my book Sunday School Catch-Up: The Bible Basics You Need to Know - available at Amazon!
