The magic sand of greatness never touched the shoulders of Aaron. Older than Moses by several years, he was younger when it came to the genius of character. In Egypt, he was his brother's mouthpiece, the bumper between the elders and the people, between Pharaoh and Israel as well?he did the talking.

He also did the praying. He was the senior member of that distinguished clan of High Priests of Levi, which controlled Israel for 1,600 years. And because of that, Aaron was the instrument of God in most of the miracles of Exodus. He did, however, make several mistakes.

He was eloquent, but unstable. Witness his erection of the Golden Calf and the ridiculous excuse he gave when Moses called him to account?he said he threw the gold into the fire, and out came this calf!

He was weak in times of danger. Pressure would make him mess up. Witness his willingness to let his own sister take all the blame when the people rebelled against Moses.

He was strong as long as he had Moses to lean on, but when left to himself, he was quite apt to fall. Thus, the life of Aaron is a picture of a dressed-up outward show, simply because of the beautiful decoration Moses put on him.

But let us not get hung up on Aaron's weaknesses; we have some too. Or Aaron's mistakes?we make some too. So let's not be too hard on Aaron and miss what's really going on in the message contained in Aaron's clothes.