While still red and attached to the tree, the worm’s body and shell are scraped off and used to make what is called “Royal Red Dye.” The waxy material is used to make high-quality shellac, used in the Middle East as a wood preserver. In biblical times, the red dye excreted from the Crimson Worm was used in the High Priest’s robe and probably for red dye used on ram’s skins to create the covering of the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Ex 26:1, 28:5). Isa 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, they shall be as wool. It then begins to flake off and drop to the ground looking like snow. ![]() ![]() On day four, the tail of the mother worm pulls up into her head, forming a heart-shaped body that is no longer crimson but has turned into a snow-white wax that looks like a patch of wool on the tree or fence. Thereby, they are identified as crimson worms. The baby worms remain crimson-colored for their entire lives. After three days, the mother worm dies, and her body excretes a crimson or scarlet dye that stains the wood to which she is attached and her baby worms. When the larvae hatch, they remain under the mother’s protective shell so the baby worms can feed on the living body of the mother worm for three days. The female worm lays her eggs under her body, under the protective shell. It is a shell so hard and so secured to the wood that it can only be removed by tearing apart the body, which would kill the worm. With her body attached to the wooden tree, a hard crimson shell forms. When the female crimson worm is ready to lay her eggs, which happens only once in her life, she climbs up a tree or fence and attaches herself to it. And it points to the work of Jesus on the cross. In the lifecycle of this worm is where the remez is found. The Crimson Worm (scientific name: coccus ilicis or kermes ilicis) looks more like a grub than a worm. And in this crimson worm, we find a hidden meaning of biblical significance. It should be noted that the colors crimson and scarlet are very deep, blackish-red, which is the color of blood. So the word “tola’ath” or “towla” in Psalm 22:6 denotes not only a worm but also identifies it as a crimson or scarlet worm common to the Middle East and predominantly in Israel. Strong’s Dictionary defines this word as “a maggot (as voracious) the crimson-grub but used only (in this connection) of the color from it, and cloths dyed therewith:– crimson, scarlet, worm.” ![]() The Hebrew word “towla” or “”tola’ath”is used 43 times in the Old Testament - mostly as a color but sometimes in reference to man (eg. Psa 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man a reproach of men, and despised of the people. However, in Psalm 22:6, the word for “worm” is “towla”’ or “tola’ath”. The common Hebrew word for “worm” is “rimmah,” and it is defined as a maggot or a worm. So what did the psalmist mean when he wrote, “But I am a worm?” The Worm in Psalm 22:6 And in verse six, it says, “But I am a worm, and no man…” Jesus was certainly a man on the cross. This psalm is prophetic of the cross of Jesus. There’s an interesting remez in Psalm 22:6. (See the list below of many remezes in the Bible.) It’s said to be a “treasure” that is found below the surface of, or behind, the words. In Jewish hermeneutics (interpretation of Scripture), a remez is a hidden message or a deeper meaning. ![]() And they could have remembered the promise of hope in this psalm’s closing words. Had they remembered David’s words, they could have seen and understood what was happening before their eyes. And for those standing at the foot of the cross, His words should have evoked the words of this psalm in their minds. On the cross, Jesus quoted Psalm 22 when He cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mat 27:46, Mark 15:34 Read: Was Jesus Forsaken by His Father?). In great detail, this psalm describes the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus that would take place 1,000 years after the psalm was penned by David. This psalm is also prophetic because it gives a “picture” of the cross from the perspective of our Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 22 is known as one of the three Shepherd Psalms (Read: Following the Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd, Psalms 22, 23, and 24).
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