[S I M T A N]

Actually the interpretation for lifting Jesus up is not so much about the physical act of Jesus on the Cross being lifted up from the ground but more of spiritual importance lah!  "Lift Jesus higher" is a Christian song I like very much lah! When we mention the name of Jesus we are already lifting Him up from the Earth lah! The golden snake on the pole was symbolic but the Jews began to worship that image just like the Israelites worshipping the golden calf lah!

You could say "lifting up" has a spiritual and symbolic significance in that truth, which is that narrow belief that faith in Jesus is the only way a person can enter into heaven. For the Israelites, a one-time glance at the bronze serpent brought healing while for us today, a one-time belief in Jesus's ability to forgive our sins bring eternal life. Faith is an essential ingredient of the gospel.

I'm enamoured with parables about salvation. Another important spiritual lesson pertains to the shut door of the Ark. Jesus not only opens doors, the Bible also says He shuts doors. (Rev 3:7) What are some of the doors that Jesus shuts? Well, for one thing, He shuts the doors of the floodgates of wrath.

In the days of Noah, the Lord made a covenant with Noah. (Gen 6:18) Noah obeyed God and built the ark. Then the day came when God told Noah and his sons and their wives to enter into the ark for their own safety and preservation. God also told Noah to take two of every kind of bird and animal to preserve God's creation. (v.19)

Evidently others had the opportunity to enter the ark so they'd be safe when the flood came. The Bible calls Noah a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). However, the wicked people of that generation didn't listen or take advantage of the opportunity.

"And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth" (Gen 6:13-16).

God specifically told Noah to build the ark with a door on it. But Noah didn't shut the door of the ark himself; he couldn't. The Bible said it was the Lord who shut the door on Noah and his family. Although the door was a door of salvation to Noah and his family, the door also represented a door of judgment to those without or outside the ark.

"And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: AND THE LORD SHUT HIM IN" (Gen 7:16).

The Lord shut the door on Noah and his family to protect them from the wrath that was coming. By shutting the door, God shut out the wrath from these eight souls who were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:20) When the rain descended and the flood came, that old ark began to float. The water kept rising until it was above the housetops and the treetops. Probably many of Noah's relatives, friends, and neighbors came swimming around that ark crying out, "Noah, let us in! Noah, let us in!"

It was too late. Noah couldn't open the door for them cos he hadn't shut it; God had shut the door. The same door that shut Noah and his family in, shut out those wicked folks. They should have entered the ark of safety when Noah preached and gave them the opportunity (2 Peter 2:5). The shutting of these doors and the inability of men to open doors once it's too late remind me of another door or opening, and that's the gates of hell.