The Crimson Worm
“But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men,
Psalm 22 v 6
and despised of the people.”
When our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, as He hung there, He called out; “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
Most people think He was crying out to His Father, Almighty God – feeling cut off and abandoned, His intimate link with Him broken. But actually, this was not the case. Those words are the first line of Psalm 22, and just as those of us hearing the words; “The Lord is my Shepherd,” from Psalm 23 would consider the whole of the Psalm, this was the intention of Our Lord’s cry – not to His Father in Heaven, but to bring OUR attention to this Psalm.
Psalm 22 was written by David, King and Prophet, a thousand years before the crucifixion – and indeed before ever the awful punishment of crucifixion was brought into being by the Romans. The Psalm perfectly describes the effects of being crucified, and in fact prophesied the suffering of Our Lord – so much so that there can be no doubt that Jesus was indeed Who He was – the Son of Almighty God.
Pastor Bill McMurdo, a BI preacher in Glasgow, recently spoke on this subject and indeed you can hear his words for yourself on the internet. I was so amazed at his words that I wanted to share them with you.
I will leave you to read the whole of the Psalm, but wish to concentrate on the quotation above. David writes this Psalm as though it was Jesus Himself speaking, and in verse 6 He says; “But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised of the people.” Now why would Our Lord wish to bring this to the attention of all who witnessed His crucifixion, and all reading of it ever after? Well, it is all about the worm – the Crimson Worm – which is quite a remarkable little insect, and one the Lord Himself created to be a perfect symbol of our dear Lord Jesus Christ.
The Hebrew word for worm is rimmah, defined as maggot or worm. But the word for Psalm 22 v 6 is towla or tola’ath. This Hebrew word towla or tola’ath is used 43 times in the Old Testament – mostly as a colour, but sometimes in reference to man (Job 25:6 Isa 41:14 & 66:24). Strongs defines the word as maggot (as voracious), the Crimson Grub – but only used in this connection of the colour from it.
The Tola or Towla denotes not only a worm but also a crimson or scarlet worm common to the Middle East and predominantly in the land of Israel. The colours Crimson and Scarlet are very deep – a blackish red – the colour of blood – and herein lies it’s hidden meaning, So to unravel this we need to look at the life cycle of the Crimson Worm. Its scientific name being coccus ilicis or kermes ilicis.
When the female Crimson Worm is ready to lay her eggs, which only happens once, she climbs a tree (or wooden fence), and attaches herself to it. Once attached a hard shell forms. It is a shell so hard and so well secured to the wood that it could only be removed by tearing it apart, which would kill the worm. She lays her eggs under her body – under the protective shell. When the larvae hatch, they remain under the mother’s protective shell and there the baby worms feed on the living body of the mother worm for 3 days. Then the mother worm dies and her body excretes a crimson or scarlet dye that stains both the babies and the wood to which she is attached. The babies remain crimson coloured for their entire lives – thereby identifying them as Crimson Worms.
As the body decays over the next 3 days, the scarlet red colour turns to a snowy white waxy substance that looks like a patch of wool on the tree. It then begins to flake off and drop to the ground like snow.
Jesus Christ Our Lord was attached to a tree, and died for His Offspring – all who follow and believe in Him. His blood was spilt for our sakes – for without the shedding of blood there is no remission from sin. All we who are His, say we are covered by His precious blood. To be stained with blood is to be sealed by Covenant. The Last Supper provided the image of the New Covenant between God and His people. The bread and wine of the communion is a reflection of Jesus giving His Life – His Body – to be sacrificed; “I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6 v 48 – 51
“And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is My body. And He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And He said unto them, This is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many.” Mark 14 v 22-24.
It is interesting also that after the crimson blood coloured liquid has spilt from the Worm to cover its children, the Worm itself turns a snowy white colour. This again links in with Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Redemption for us all. Isaiah in Chapter 1 verse 18 says; “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, they shall be as wool.”
This little worm’s life cycle, created by the Lord God Almighty has a mighty big story to tell! The little mother worm protects its babies under its protective shell, gives its very life to sustain them, and they are covered with her crimson mark for all their life, signifying they are hers. Jesus Christ looked after those disciples that His Father had given Him; “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy Name: those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” John 17 v 12
Finally, the crimson dye that is produced by this little worm has been used over many years going back to Biblical times – used to dye yarn that was used for clothing, which was a symbol of wealth, so highly regarded. And used in the garments of the Israelite Priests as well as the coverings for various sections of the tabernacle and Temple, in fact God embedded this whole process and story of the sacrificial mother worm into the very fabric of the whole Priestly process – the means of God’s dwelling with man on earth and the means of man’s communing with God.
In fact we should consider that the scarlet thread placed on the wrist of the baby Zarah at the birth of Tamar’s twins was coloured using this dye, and the scarlet cord hung in the window by Rahab whose house was built into the walls of Jericho likewise. Both of these speak to the sacrificial blood of the Holy Lamb of God – Jesus Christ , promised from the beginning.
The Word of God dwells in everything – His pattern, His numbers, His story. Even in a humble little worm – that by its very existence tells us the story of the most wonderful gift ever given. That of forgiveness of sin and Everlasting Life.
“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me” – the first line of a remarkable Psalm by King David that proves beyond all doubt that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of the Living God.
