BEN F. VICK, JR.
Mount Hor, according to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "stands at the extreme N.W. boundary of the land of Edom, yet not within that boundary. Above the barrenness of the surrounding plain, this 'large, singular-looking, isolated chalk hill' rises 'alone like a lofty citadel,' 'steep-sided and 'quite naked.'"
It is on this mount the Bible tells us of a sad, sorrowful scene:
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." (Num. 20:22–28.)
Israel had wandered in the wilderness for forty years, and in the fifth month (Av), they trudged up Mount Hor on the first day of the month. The fifth month of the Hebrew calendar corresponds to our July-August; it was a hot day. It had been a generation since the evil report of the ten spies. Moses and Aaron had listened to the gripes and complaints of disobedient people all those years. Moses' heart must have been heavy knowing that he would have to say goodbye to his older brother, who was one hundred and twenty-three years old. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old, but his physical forces were unabated, and his eyes were undimmed as they and Eleazar climbed the mount.
According to Numbers 33, at least 12 stations were between Kadesh and Mount Hor. (Mount Hor is identified at "Moseroth" (Num. 33:30).) E. H. Palmer 1871 published a book on the geography of Israel's wilderness wandering. Of Mount Hor, he wrote:
The mountain rises to an elevation of more than 4000 ft above the sea-level, and is reached by a fatiguing climb of about three-quarters of an hour from the top of the Nagb or Rubai. At first our path lay over a long white limestone block to the east of the mountain; but for the rest of the way we had to scramble up the rugged red sandstone of which the summit is composed. (The Desert of the Exodus, p. 431.)
What were the thoughts that went through Moses' mind as they climbed? The Bible is silent on the matter. He and Aaron had been through a great deal together. He would see his brother no more in this world. We do not know how much he saw his brother when they were young. When Moses was forty, he fled Egypt for Midian because his life was in danger. Forty years later, he saw his brother as he met him leaving Egypt. It was Aaron who was Moses' prophet or spokesman to Israel and Pharaoh (Ex. 4:16; 7:1).
Aaron's rod became a serpent when he threw it down before Pharaoh. His rod, which became a serpent, swallowed the magicians' rods. Aaron's rod was stretched over the waters of Egypt, and the water became blood. His rod was stretched over the streams, rivers, and ponds to cause the frogs to come upon the land. The same rod was stretched out to hit the dust, and then, there were lice throughout the land on man and beasts. Later, it budded, blossomed and yielded almonds and was placed in the ark of the covenant. (Num. 17.) The miraculous power was not in the rod but in obedience to the Lord's commands.
While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the law, Aaron made a golden calf for the people. They had said to Aaron, "Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him" (Ex. 32:1). Aaron had the people break off their golden earrings. From the collection, he fashioned the golden calf with a graving tool. Then, he said, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." How could he do that? How could he attribute the deliverance from Egypt to these gods? Every one of the ten plagues was proof of God's superiority over those dumb idols! God's anger waxed hot. He was ready to destroy the people and raise a nation from Moses. However, Moses pleaded for Israel. When Moses came down from the mount, he, too, was incensed. He saw the people were naked and dancing as they worshiped the dumb idol. He threw down the two tablets of stone, burned the golden calf, ground it into powder, strawed it into the water, and made the people drink it. Three thousand people were slain. God was even going to kill Aaron, but Moses pleaded for his life (Deut. 9:20).
On another occasion, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because he had married an Ethiopian woman. They also said, "Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it" (Num. 12:2). It seems Aaron was a follower. He gave in to the people's demands at Sinai, and Miriam seemed to be the one who led the way in opposition to Moses, having claimed he assumed too much power. But God said to the three: "My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" (Num. 12:7–8.) The anger of the Lord was kindled against Miriam and Aaron. God then struck Miriam with leprosy, and she had to stay out of the camp for a week. The fact that Miriam only was struck with leprosy might indicate she was the leader in opposition to Moses.
Once again, the children of Israel complained because they had no water. God told Moses to speak to the rock before their eyes. Moses took his rod and the people gathered together before the rock. Then Moses said, "and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" (Num. 20:10.) He struck the rock twice. The record says, "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" (Num. 20:12). Because they disobeyed and failed to give credit to God, they were not going into the land flowing with milk and honey promised to Israel. So, the three in the funeral procession climbed to the top of Mount Hor, where the priestly garments were passed to his son, Eleazar. There, Aaron died and was buried.