An illustrative lesson from life science.
No other Psalm describes the
crucifixion of Christ in such detail.
Psalms were written about 1,000
years before Christ.
Crucifixion was invented
approximately 500 years prior to
Christ’s death.
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Verse 1
My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? Why are you so far from
saving me, so far from the words of
my groaning?
Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour
Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi,
Eloi, lama sabachthani?” – which
means, “My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?”
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Verses 6-8
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the
people. All who see me mock me; they
hurl insults, shaking their heads: He
trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue
him. Let him deliver him, since he
delights in him.
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Matthew 27:39-40
Those who passed by hurled insults
at him, shaking their heads and
saying, “You who are going to destroy
the temple and build it up in three
days, save yourself! Come down from
the cross, if you are the Son of God.
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Mark 15:29-30
Those who passed by hurled insults
at him, shaking their heads and
saying, “So! You who are going to
destroy the temple and build it in
three days, come down from the cross
and save yourself.”
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Matthew 27:43
He trusts in God. Let God rescue him
now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am
the Son of God.’
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Verses 14-15
I am poured out like water, and all my
bones are out of joint. My heart has
turned to wax; it has melted away
within me. My strength is dried up like
a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to
the roof of my mouth; you lay me in
the dust of death.
John 19:28
Later, knowing that all was now
completed, and so that Scripture
would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am
thirsty.”
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Verse 16
Dogs have surrounded me; a band of
evil men has encircled me, they have
pierced my hands and my feet.

John 19:36-37
These things happened so that the
scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one
of his bones will be broken,” and, as
another scripture says, “They will look
on the one they have pierced.”
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Verses 17-18
I can count all my bones; people stare
and gloat over me. They divide my
garments among them and cast lots
for my clothing.

John 15:24
And they crucified him. Dividing up
his clothes, they cast lots to see what
each would get.
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This Psalm is regarded as a prophetic
word of the crucifixion of Christ.
Focus for today: Psalm 22:6
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by
people.
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What thoughts does the word worm
invoke?
Depravity
Decay
Lowliness
Ill Health
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When the Israelites were given
instructions to only keep enough manna
for each day we find the following:
Exodus 16:20
However, some of them paid no
attention to Moses; they kept part of it
until morning, but it was full of maggots
(worms) and began to smell, so Moses
was angry with them.
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When God warned the Israelites about
the consequences of disobedience he
said,
Exodus 28:29
You will plant vineyards and
cultivate them but you will not drink
wine or gather the grapes, because
worms will eat them.
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Bildad the Shuhite told Job:
Job 25:5-6
If even the moon is not bright and the
stars are not pure in his eyes, how
much less man, who is but a maggot
– a son of man, who is only a worm!
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Isaiah 14:11
All your pomp has been brought
down to the grave, along with the
noise of your harps; maggots are
spread out beneath you and worms
cover you.
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Isaiah 41:14
Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O
little Israel, for I myself will help you,
declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel
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Isaiah 66:24
And they will go out and look upon
the dead bodies of those who rebelled
against me; their worm will not die,
nor will their fire be quenched, and
they will be loathsome to all mankind.
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Jonah 4:7
But at dawn the next day God
provided a worm, which chewed the
vine so that it withered.

Psalm 22:6
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the
people.
Why would Scripture refer to Christ as
a worm?

The word “worm” in the original
Hebrew
Towla / Tolah’ath / towla’ath
 1) worm, scarlet stuff, crimson
 1a) worm – the femal ‘coccus ilicis’
 1b1) the dye made from the dried
body of the worm, “coccus ilicis”
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Coccus ilicis or scarlet
worm is actually an
insect.
Isaiah 53:2 He had no beauty or majesty
to attract us to him, nothing in his
appearance that we should desire him.
Life Cycle of the
Coccus ilicis
When it’s time to lay eggs,
the insect crawls onto a
tree. It does so willingly.
Luke 22:42
Father, if you are willing, take this cup
from me; yet not my will, but yours be
done.
Life Cycle of the
Coccus ilicis
It attaches itself willingly to
the tree, even though this
process will take its life.
Matthew 26:53
Do you think I cannot call on my
Father, and he will at once put at my
disposal more than twelve legions of
angels?
Life Cycle of the
Coccus ilicis
During the birthing process,
the insect secretes a
crimson fluid or gel which
stains the tree.
Hebrews 9:14
How much more, then, will the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself unblemished to God,
cleanse our consciences from acts that
lead to death, so that we may serve the
living God!
Revelation 1:5b
To him who loves us and has freed us from
our sins by his blood
I Peter 1:18-19
For you know that it was not with
perishable things such as silver or gold that
you were redeemed from the empty way of
life handed down to you from your
forefathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Life Cycle of the
Coccus ilicis
When the eggs are laid,
the mother dies and the
young feed on her body.
John 6:51
I am the living bread that came down from
heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will
live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I
will give for the life of the world.
Life Cycle of the
Coccus ilicis
For 3 days this gel can
be used to make dye.
This is the same dye
used in the tabernacle
and garments of the
High Priest.

Definition of Towla
1b) scarlet stuff, crimson, scarlet
1b1) the dye made from the dried
body of the female of the worm
“coccus ilicis”
The same word, towla, is used in verses
in the Old Testament that say scarlet
or crimson.
Exodus 25-30 Instructions for
tabernacle & priestly garments.
 Crimson / scarlet = towla
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Exodus 28:5
Have them use gold, and blue,
purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.
Life Cycle of the
Coccus ilicis
On the fourth day after
death, the insect’s head
and tail have come together
to form a heart shape, and
it has become like wax.
Psalm 22:14b
My heart has turned to wax; it has
melted away within me.
Life Cycle of the
Coccus ilicis
The wax is no longer
crimson, but is now
white.
Isaiah 1:18
Come let us reason together, says the Lord,
“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be
as white as snow; though they are red as
crimson, they shall be like wool.”
Life Cycle of the
Coccus ilicis
The wax can be
harvested and used to
make shellac, a wood
preservative / finish.
Acts 2:31
Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of
the resurrection of the Christ, that he
was not abandoned to the grave, nor
did his body see decay.
When this insect is
crushed, it is very
fragrant.
2 Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in
triumphal procession in Christ and through
us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the
knowledge of him.
This insect has also
been used to make
medicine.
I Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the
tree, so that we might die to sins and live for
righteousness; by his wounds you have been
healed.

2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness
Every word that is in Scripture is there
for a reason. Will we dig deep enough
to understand its meaning?
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www.templeinstitute.org/tola-at_shani.htm
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www.omegascripture.info/worthystudy/worm.ht
ml
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www.blueletterbible.com
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www.insectman.us/articles/biblical/crimsonworm.htm
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http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/c
occus+ilicis
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This is a list of resources I used in studying the coccus ilisis which also goes by the name kermes vermilio.
www.blueletterbible.com (Look up Psalm 22 then scroll to verse 6. You can then use the C button to find the
concordance and Hebrew / Greek lexicon to find the Strong’s Concordance records for each word in the text.
You can also find all the other references in scripture that use the word towla.)
www.templeinstitute.org/tola-at_shan.htm (There are other things on this site that I found fascinating. It is a
Jewish webpage and the group is working towards rebuilding the temple.)
www.omegascripture.info/worthystudy/worm.html
www.insectman.us/articles/biblical/crimson-worm.htm
http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/coccus+ilicis
http://sourceryforge.org/index.php/Crimson (This is where I discovered that coccus ilicis and kermes vermilio
were the same insect)
www.azerbaijanrugs.com/arfp-natural_dyes_insect_cyes.htm (When on the Temple Institute site, I saw that they
had ordered some of the insects from Turkey. If you scroll down on the Azerbaijanrugs site, you will find a 2)
The Oak Kermes Insect (under the picture of this insect is says formerly coccus ilisis.)
http://stainsfile.info/StainsFile/dyes/75460.htm
On the omegescripture webpage, the author placed a picture of a grub that he claims is the coccus ilisis. After
doing my research, I do not believe that he had the correct picture because the grub that he has on there, does
not match the definition of coccus ilisis nor does it match any other pictures on the web of kermes vermilio
which is coccus ilisis. However, the word study information that he gives is very good. He did claim that ilisis
means “It is finished” in Latin, but I was not able to verify this information, which his why I did not include it in
my presentation. When using an online translator and translating from English (It is finished) to Latin, I did not
see ilicis there.
I hope that you find this information useful.