WORMS!

If you were a worm, what would you say? Ya know, if you could talk. You might say, "Please don't step on me!" or "Man! I sure love rainy days." I've had this strange interest in worms for the past year. Funny thing about worms, they're slippery, slimy and gross. Why should I, or anyone else care for them? They're pretty lowly creatures if you ask me.

Please consider Job 25:4-6 (al a King James)

"How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in His sight.

How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?"

This passage asks how man can be considered pure in the eyes of God when even the purest in His sight is blemished. Several times in the Bible is man considered nothing more than a worm. Have you ever heard of worm theology?

Skim through these (...now please):

Wikipedia, Worm Theology

This makes me sad...

These Jewish kids are happy because they follow worm theology!

There is worm theology, and there's comfort theology. Both sides have the wrong idea because... they don't speak Hebrew! Job, and the entire Old Testament, was originally written in Hebrew. There are TWO DIFFERENT words used for the two instances of the word "worm", here. They both have different meanings.

The first, Rimmah, means maggots... This is symbolic. When do you see maggots? When something is rotting or decaying. In the Bible, mankind is considered rimmah, not because they are the smallest, and most disgusting of all worms, but because of the DECAY that man is constantly undergoing. We start dying from the moment we are born! It does not denote our lowliness, but our mortal sorrow; our ever-present knowledge and fear of decrement, and death from the moment we're born. Let's face it, mankind is decaying because of our sin! The worm theologists only consider its literal translation of 'maggot'. They believe this is how God literally sees us. But wait, aren't we God's favorite creation, made in His image; or does God look upon Himself as a worm? Let's look deeper, shall we?

In Matthew 27 and in Mark 15 we find Christ reciting scripture (as he taught us to do during temptation while suffering. Matt 4, Luke 4) Jesus is on the cross crying out to God, "Why have you forsaken me?!"

This of course comes from the famed, Psalm 22, which parallels Christ's crucifixion so much that many Bible scholars and theologians consider the entire prophetic chapter to be Christ's own words.

Check this out:

Psalm 22	Gospel Account of the Crucifixion
1. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?	Matt 27:46 ...Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
7. All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake their head saying,	Matt 27:39 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads
8. He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him!"	Matt 27:43 "He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now ..."
12. Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.	Matt 27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.
14. I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; ... And my tongue clings to My Jaws...	John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"
16. ...The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;	Luke 23:33 And when they came to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
17. I can count all My bones. They look and stare at me.	John 19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
18. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.	Mark 15:24 And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.

John 19:30 So when Jesus received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Jesus' last act was to sacrifice His life for us. His last words were, "It is finished".

Now consider Psalm 22:6 in particular:

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

If Psalm 22 is supposed to be Christ's own words, why would Christ say that He was a worm? Was Christ a worm theologist? Hardly. Christ would not associate Himself with the maggots that represent a sinful life symbolized by the word 'rimmah'.

Psalm 22:6 has another Hebrew translation for the word worm. "Tola"! It's full name is Tola'at Shani; or Scarlet Worm (Coccus Ilicis.) This worm is actually a scale insect that feeds on the sap of the Quercus Coccifera Oak Tree.

The breed is still alive to this day and can be found in and surrounding the nation of Israel.

They were oftentimes harvested by the Israelites for the worm's brilliant crimson blood. It acted as a potent dye for wool, hence it's name, the Scarlet Worm.

Extracting this dye is a very difficult task, making it extremely valuable. It would have been used only for royal or Holy garments, and palace or temple decorations. In some cases, it has been recorded that it was even used as rent money.

The worm was carefully removed from the tree, taken back home, and they would crush the worm's body over a glass of boiling water.

Have you ever considered the life of a bug? As a child, I used to wonder how a fly could accomplish it's entire life within a month's time. Shoot, I didn't even get three square a day, and this tiny thing must be moving so swiftly through each minute. Well consider the life of this Tola worm. The females are land-locked while the males fly around... uh... we'll call it gardening. During her larva stage, she will do her thing on the ground until maturity, when she climbs a tree, rich with branches and sap. If not harvested she will adhere to the tree without moving until (ultimately eating herself to) death. If left to die, (not to be confused with dye) her body will actually burst right on the tree leaving behind a scarlet stain.

(I hope you see where I'm going with this. Stuck to a tree, dying, spillage of blood?...)

This blood stain actually creates a thick, sticky film. In due time, when the blood finally dries, as weather affects it, it turns as white as E.T. (when he was sick,) and falls off the tree, much like falling snow.

Isaiah 1:18-

"...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Tell me that's not a perfect picture of our saviour! A humble man who should be royalty, leaving a scarlet stain on a tree so that our hearts may become white as snow.

THAT'S NOT EVEN THE COOL PART!

Remember the flying males? When she adheres to the tree, he flies near and... gardens. (What can I say, he likes to plant seeds!) She lays eggs right before she dies. It is her last act in life, as well as her most important! Her sticky spilt blood acts as an incubator for the eggs. Once the pure white flakes fall from the the tree, the eggs are ready to hatch. If she does not die on the tree her children cannot LIVE!!! --Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

After Pilate washes his hands and gives Jesus over to the mob, they assure his innocence in the matter by exclaiming, "His blood be on us and our children!" Little did they know...

This is a picture of a perfect sacrifice. But it doesn't end there. What happens when the burden of guilt spills upon you and your children as the mob promised above? Let me show you some other instances of the Tola translation of the word worm:

-Mark 9:43-48

"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:

(1.) Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

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:

(2.) Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

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:

(3.) Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

The TRUE "Worm Theology", that everyone is missing out on, has nothing to do with our self-esteem or lack there-of. It's a secret message (I like to call it one of God's "I mean it" messages.) to seriously refrain from sin! If this tola worm (Jesus) dieth not; we cannot be resurrected into heaven. --Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. If we reject what Jesus did on the cross for us, that's what Mark 9:48 is talking about! Without the Tola's sacrifice, her children are unable to hatch! Can you imagine burning in Hell, fully understanding you blew it!? You had your chance, but instead rejected your only chance at salvation; a sacrifice of someone else?

Please note, that I have numbered the repetitive statement above... In the Bible, the number three is always used to represent Divine Perfection. You need at least three sides to form a complete shape; Three definitions of completed time (past, present, future); Holy Trinity; Three days in the tomb, Three attributes of God (omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence); Peter denies Jesus three times, etc...

Just when you thought you could take God's word at face-value, you re-read Job 25:4-6

"HOW THEN CAN MAN BE JUSTIFIED WITH GOD? or HOW CAN HE BE CLEAN that is born of a woman?

Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in His sight.

How much less man, that is a MAGGOT? and the SON OF MAN, which is a (TOLA) worm?"

(Son of man, of course, was one of Jesus' names.) Apparently this passage answers its own question.

This section of Job, by the way was Bildad's THIRD attack on Job!

"Go, and sin no more." indeed.

This is why I'm so in love with the Bible, and so in love with Christ. I once tried to explain to an atheist that I believe in God mostly because of Biblical revelations of who He is. He told me that he has seen similar "revelations" when he once believed, but no longer believes them due the possibility that someone might have authored these "mind fucks" after the canonization of the Bible. I've recently been reading about the copying process the early church had for sacred writings. With the recent findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we have 97-99% certainty that our current Bible is accurate to the original manuscripts. You figure this by comparing the oldest manuscript in existence, with the number of copies since then. You pair them together for a probability of authentication ratio. The only other literary work that comes closest yet pales in comparison to the Bible, is Homer's Iliad. It was written around 900 BC, the oldest manuscript is from 400 BC, (500 year span) and there are 643 copies since then that agree. The Bible, (completed with the New Testament) was finished around 70 AD, the oldest manuscript in existence is from 120 AD (50 year span) and there have been 5600 copies since then that agree! The probability factor of an inaccurate copy is far greater in the Iliad's 500 year span than the Bible's 50 year span, but you never hear anyone giving Homer any grief about his work!

Some of the Bible was written 3500 years ago, yet the texts have been EXTREMELY well preserved. Look at the Massoretes! A whole sect of Judaism who's primary doctrine was accuracy of the sacred text! Then we have archaeological finds that corroborate the historical accounts found in scripture... I hate to say it, but the book's pretty sound.

I have one more tid-bit for you about the Tola worm. About it's taxonomic name Coccus Ilicis. Coccus comes from the Latin, coccinus which means scarlet. It was derived from the Greek, kokkos (berry)

Ilicis is Latin

Type ' Ilicis ' in the box and click GO

-Randy

P.S. All pictures taken from the Temple Institute