Aaron and the Levites
The Old Testament suggests that the priesthood in Israel sprang to life in the form of Aaron and his successors, complete with ritual, vestments and ordination. In fact it probably developed much more slowly as the system of simple sacrifices, offered by the people, turned into something much more complex, which required ‘professionals’ to service it.
Aaron, from the Cathedral of Noyon, France.
Take the so-called “Tabernacle”, or place of meeting with God. Originally it was probably a simple tent – hence its other name, “The Tent” – a perceived sacred space where the people could, as the American Indians would say, ‘pow-wow’ with God. But it then developed into an elaborate kind of mini-Temple, complete with even an outer courtyard, which could not have possibly existed in the desert, still less be portable.
The existence of a priesthood brought with it two dangers (not unique to ancient Israel): power, and a sense of fatigue at performing ‘ritual for ritual’s sake’. The Bible is clear about these dangers. So no sooner is the priesthood described as existing, than we have the story of Aaron, the priest, leading the people astray by making the Golden Calf [Exodus 32], while the Ten Commandments are at pains to stress the dangers of idolatry [Exodus 20].
Additionally it is made quite clear that Moses, the giver of the Law, is superior to Aaron, the priest [Exodus 33 & 34]. The priesthood is confined to the descendants of Aaron, assisted by those known as the “Levites”, members of the tribe of Levi, and these were not allowed to own land [Numbers 18]. They were to live on the people’s contributions, and these were fixed at a tenth, or a ‘tithe’, to prevent extortion.
There was also clearly resentment about priests presenting themselves as ‘more holy’, and we read [Numbers 16:3] of a rebellion led by Levite, Korah, who maintained that all the people were holy. This tension between ‘holy people’ and ‘holy priesthood’ was never fully resolved.