（出27-30）红花与绿叶
(Exodus 27-31) Red flowers and green leaves
(ChatGPT translation from Chinese, edited by Mijiale, 中文在后面）
In China, there’s a proverb: ‘红花虽好，还需绿叶相扶,’ which translates to ‘Red flowers, though beautiful, still need green leaves for support.’ In the Old and New Testaments, Moses’s name appears more than twice as much as his brother Aaron’s, resembling the dynamics of the more focused red flowers and the less focused green leaves. In Exodus 3, it is recorded that Moses, chosen by the Creator, became the leader of the Israelites, while his older brother Aaron held a prominent position in the family and likely served as the original family leader. Many elder brothers in the Bible harbored jealousy and persecution towards their younger and more favored siblings, such as Cain killing his brother Abel, Esau wanting to kill his brother Jacob, and Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery. However, Aaron not only avoided jealousy but was also delighted for his brother. He even served as a spokesperson for his less fluent brother. When Moses struggled to keep his hands raised during prayer, Aaron personally supported him. No wonder Psalm 133 praises the harmony among brothers and mentions the name of Aaron.
The relationship between Moses and Aaron as red flowers and green leaves is relative. In the reading from ‘Tetzaveh’ (Exodus 27:20 – 30:10), Aaron’s name appears over 30 times, while Moses’s name doesn’t appear once in the original text. This peculiar phenomenon has sparked fascinating discussions among the Jewish people, as seen [here] (https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/5764/moshes-name-is-missing). However, in my metaphor of red flowers and green leaves, it’s apparent that now Moses willingly serves as a green leaf for Aaron. In this reading portion, Aaron appears more like the red flower because the Creator chose Aaron and his family to be priests. Moses extensively studied how to make the uniforms for a high priest and for a regular priest, for his brother and nephews, and how they should perform sacrifices for inauguration, even though these aspects would have no direct relevance to Moses’s own descendants. Perhaps, in the Creator’s plan, each of His people belongs to both the green leaves and the red flowers, distinguished by different roles and occasions. Everyone should learn from Moses and Aaron, cooperate with each other, and work together according to the Creator’s will. In this current age, we might struggle to do this perfectly due to our “old selves”, and cooperating with others may feel like sacrificing oneself. However, after the future resurrection, each person will see the glory derived from the Lord according to their unique characteristics, as metaphorically expressed in 1 Corinthians 15:41: ‘The sun has its own glory, the moon has its own glory, and the stars have their own glory. Even stars differ from each other in glory.‘
（出27-30）红花与绿叶
中国有句谚语，红花虽好，还需绿叶相扶。在新旧约圣经里，摩西的名字出现的次数超过了他哥哥亚伦的双倍，他们弟兄二位的关系，有点像红花绿叶那样。出埃及记第三章记载，摩西被造物主拣选作以色列人的领袖，而他哥哥亚伦是长兄，而且很可能是原来的家族领袖。圣经中很多之前的哥哥们，曾经嫉妒和迫害超过自己的弟弟，比如该隐杀了弟弟亚伯，以扫想杀弟弟雅各，约瑟的哥哥们把约瑟卖为奴隶。然而亚伦不但不嫉妒弟弟，还很高兴；不但高兴，还为不善言辞的弟弟作发言人。当弟弟祷告时高举的手乏力，哥哥还亲手为他托住。怪不得诗篇133赞扬弟兄和睦相处时提到了亚伦的名字。
然而，摩西亚伦之间红花和绿叶的关系也是相对的，在“Tetzaveh你 要 吩 咐” (出埃及记27:20 – 30:10）这个读经进度里，亚伦的名字出现了超过30次，而摩西的名字在原文一次都没出现。对这一奇特现象犹太人有很多精彩讨论，见
https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/5764/moshes-name-is-missing
但是在我的红花与绿叶的比喻中，显然在这里摩西是甘心愿意为亚伦作绿叶，而在这个读经进度里，亚伦更像是红花，因为造物主拣选亚伦和他的家族作祭司。摩西详细学习了如何为哥哥和侄子们作大祭司和普通祭司的礼服，如何教哥哥和侄子们献祭上任，虽然这些和摩西自己的子孙们已经没有直接的关系了。也许，在造物主的计划里，每个属祂的子民都是绿叶，也都是红花，只不过是在不同的岗位和场合才有所分别。大家应该学习摩西亚伦，相互配合，同行造物主的旨意。我们在今世也许因为老我的干扰不能完美的做好这一点，也许觉得配合别人是在委屈自己，但将来复活后会看到各按自己的特征都有从主而来的荣耀，如同新约哥林多前书15:41所说的比喻：“日 有 日 的 荣 光 ， 月 有 月 的 荣 光 ， 星 有 星 的 荣 光 。 这 星 和 那 星 的 荣 光 ， 也 有 分 别 。”