God called to account both Moses and Aaron for their failure to sanctify God's name at the "waters of Meribah". He further said to Moses: "Go up into this mountain of Ab´a·rim and see the land that I shall certainly give the sons of Israel. When you have seen it, then you must be gathered to your people, yes, you, just as Aaron your brother was gathered, inasmuch as you men rebelled against my order in the wilderness of Zin at the quarreling of the assembly, in relation to sanctifying me by the waters before their eyes. These are the waters of Mer´i·bah at Ka´desh in the wilderness of Zin.â€Â(Num 27:12-14)
These lost the priviledge of entering the land of Canaan or "promised land" in 1473 B.C.E. Both Moses and Aaron, when subjected to the pressure of the quarreling Israelites, lost self-control and rebelliously failed to give glory to God for a miraculous provision of water, for God said to them: "Because you did not show faith in me to sanctify me before the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore you will not bring this congregation into the land that I shall certainly give them.â€Â(Num 20:12)
On the first day of the month Ab (the 5th lunar month of the Jewish sacred calendar, corresponding to part of July and part of August), in the 40th year following the Exodus, the nation of Israel lay encamped on the frontier of Edom before Mount Hor. At God’s instruction, and with all the camp watching, Aaron, his son Eleazar, and Moses went climbing to the top of Mount Hor.(Num 33:38) There Aaron let his brother remove his priestly garments from him and put them on his son and successor to the high priesthood, Eleazar. Then Aaron died. He was probably buried there by his brother and his son, and for 30 days Israel mourned his death.(Nu 20:24-29)
Does this not show that when a wrong in God's eyes is committed that one should not stand idly by while this is done, such as the approximately 12,000 priests of the Catholic church that has been found guilty of pedophilia since 1950 ? Only more recently has any action been taken and only when brought out the "darkness" into the "light". Aaron could have of corrected his brother, but did not. Jesus, on the other hand, set the "tone" for not allowing any unrighteousness, for Psalms 45:7 said prophetically of Jesus: "You have loved righteousness and you hate wickedness. That is why God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of exultation more than your partners." (Heb 1:9) Jesus took a firm stand for righteousness, but consistently opposed any whose thoughts were contrary to his Father's.(Matt 12:1-8; John 9:40,41) He was God's spokeman or the "Word", settling issues on all sorts of matters regarding what is pleasing to his Father.(John 1:1)