The IncredibleCrimson Worm

Dr. Jobe Martin

www.biblicaldiscipleship.org

www.creationproclaims.com

www.evolutionofacreationist.com

www.slideshare.net (Jobe Martin)

The Crimson or Scarlet Worm

Jesus speaking in the context of the crucifixion in the Messianic Psalm 22:6:

But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

“Worm” Hebrew = “Tow-la-ath” which is not the normal Hebrew word for “worm.” The usual word for worm is “rimmah.”

Tolaath is the name of a specific worm, the Crimson or Scarlet worm of the Middle East.

Jesus equates Himself at His crucifixion with the

Crimson or Scarlet Worm

The Crimson or Scarlet Worm

• The scientific name of the Crimson worm is

“Coccus ilicis” or “Kermes ilicis”• Why is this particular worm somehow

identified with our Lord Jesus?

Crimson Worm Distribution

Israel

The Momma Worm

• When the momma worm is ready to lay her eggs she climbs up a tree or fence post. (She prefers a certain species of oak tree.)

• She attaches herself to the tree and builds a hard red shell around herself.

• Inside this crimson shell she lays her eggs.

• She keeps her eggs under her body to protect them.

• After hatching the baby worms feed on the body of the mother for three days.

• During these three days the mother worm oozes a bright crimson red fluid.

• This red fluid stains the tree and the young worms are covered and permanently stained with it.

• After three days the young worms are ready to leave the shell.

• The mother is still attached to the shell and to the tree and she dies so that she can birth a family.

• On day four the mother worm’s tail pulls up to her head into a heart shape, and the heart is no longer red—it turns into a snow white wax.

The snow white wax looks like a little patch of wool on the side of the tree and begins to flake

off and drop to the ground like snow.

Isaiah 1:18Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall

be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson (“tolaath”), they shall be as wool.

• While the worm’s remains and shell are still red and attached to the tree they are scraped off and used, to this day, to make Royal Red Dye.

• The white waxy material is used to make high quality shellac which is used as a wood preservative in the Middle East.

• The worm’s remains are also used to make a medicine that aids in the regulation of the human heart beat.

The Red Dye

The red dye of the Crimson worm (“Tolaath” of Psalm 22:6, Isaiah 1:18, and Isaiah 66:24) was used as the red in the robe of the High Priest of Israel and most probably in the covering of the Tabernacle in the

wilderness.

Kermes ilicis = Scarlet worm

• Written by The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica • kermes (Kermes ilicis), a species of scale insect in

the family Kermesidae (order Homoptera), the common name of which also represents the red dye that is obtained from the dried bodies of these insects. The dye was often part of the tribute paid to conquering Roman armies, and, in the Middle Ages, landlords accepted it as payment for rent. The oldest known red dyestuff, resembling but inferior in colour to cochineal, it was used by the early Egyptians.

• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/315455/kermes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermes_(insect)Kermes ilicis (Linnaeus, 1758)

• Kermes is a genus of scale insects in the order Hemiptera. They feed on the sap of evergreen oaks; the females produce a red dye, also called "kermes", that is the source of natural crimson.[1] The word "kermes" is derived from Arabic/Persian qirmiz ( , (قرمز which means "red" or "crimson" (probably via Middle Persian, from (ultimately) Sanskrit कृमिज kṛmi-ja meaning "worm-made"[2]).

Kermes ilicis

Jesus said (remember that the whole Bible, OT and NT are His Word):

Psalm 22:6:

But I am a worm (“tolaath”), and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Isaiah 1:18

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall

be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson (“tolaath”), they shall be as wool.

Isaiah 66:24

And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed

against me: for their worm (“tolaath”) shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and

they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

What if the Tolaath did not die?Jesus quotes from Isaiah 66:24 in Mark 9:43f:

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

What if the Tolaath did not die?

If the Tolaath (Crimson worm) did not die it could not give birth to its family.

If a person rejects the Lord Jesus as his/her personal Savior in order to keep living according to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2) the tormenting

worm will never die!

The Lake of Fire is your eternal destination.

Receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and you have a new birth—a birth that is now possible because Jesus sacrificed His life willingly on Calvary’s tree!

Jesus died so that you can live—the mother Tolaath dies so that her babies can live.

Jesus equated Himself with the Tolaath, the Crimson worm.

• The mother Crimson worm willingly climbs onto a tree to die to birth a family.

• Jesus willingly went to the cross to die so that we can live eternally with Him as His family.

• The baby worms are covered with the red fluid of the dying mother worm, just as we are covered with the red blood of Jesus and are washed as white as snow.

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood

is no remission (Hebrews 9:22).

Ephesians 1:6-7

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

Romans 10:9–11That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine

heart that God hath raised him from

the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth

unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Job 25:6

How much less man, that is a worm (Strong’s Concordance--07415

Rimmah)? and the son of man, which is a worm (SC--08438 Tolaath)?

Did Job prophesy the coming “Son of Man” (Jesus, “Tolaath”) Who would shed His blood while attached to a tree to give birth to His

family—the true Christian Church?

Luke 19:9–10

And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a

son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.