As night strengthens its frigid grip around Christmas time, remembering Jesus Christ’s first coming inevitably beckons us back to those familiar ancient prophecies that promised it. The little star of Bethlehem that heralded our dear Savior’s birth reorients us to this one:
I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near;
A Star shall come out of Jacob;
A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And batter the brow of Moab,
And destroy all the sons of tumult.
Numbers 24:17 NKJV
This amazing prophecy came from Balaam, the man renowned for his talking donkey. These divine words did not originate with him though. After Jesus, the Bright and Morning Star, had come, Peter said of men like Balaam: “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2Pe 1:21). So this prophecy ushered forth from the eternal, all-knowing Spirit whose dove’s eye is ever fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Commentators unite this Star coming out of Jacob with Bethlehem’s famous star leading the magi to Christ.
Not so well known are these words: “A Scepter shall…batter the brow of Moab.” What does this mean? May the Holy Spirit unveil the glory of Jesus here that we be changed from glory to glory (see 2Co 3:18).
Moab’s shameful origin came about from incest between Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his daughter. By the time Israel had came out of Egypt, Moab, too, had become a great people. Fearing Israel might do them in, the king of Moab hired Balaam to curse them, setting the stage for this prophecy before us.
The battering of the brow of Moab has had partial fulfillments throughout Israel’s history. Israel’s first judge, the left-handed Benjamite, Ehud, assassinated Moab’s obese monarch, Eglon, and led Israel’s charge against them, slaying 10,000 warriors. King David utterly defeated the Moabites and made them his subjects (2Sa 8:2). Under good King Jehoshaphat the Lord manifestly intervened to war against Moab, first with Elisha (2Ki 3) and again in grand style in 2Ch 20.
The prophets shed light on what about Moab so incited God’s wrath. Isaiah said, “We have heard of the pride of Moab— how proud he is!— of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; in his idle boasting he is not right” (Isa. 16:6 ESV). Jeremiah also bore witness: “We have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud—of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart” (Jer. 48:29). So Moab’s chief sin is pride, which fueled all other sins of idolatry and ease.
Israel’s long awaited Messiah appeared to destroy the works of the devil, especially the pride that infects all of humanity. The name “Jesus” means that He saves His people from their sins, not from Romans or Moabites. The Old Testament often shows spiritual truths in picture form. They often serve as parables whose hidden meanings are disclosed in Jesus, such as Jonah’s three days and nights in the fish pointing to Jesus’ three days in the tomb. If the Star and Scepter of Balaam’s prophecy are clearly seen as fulfilled in Jesus, it naturally follows that the battering the brow of Moab should too. We do see that as our Lord went to the cross.
They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and placed a staff in his right hand. And they knelt down before him and mocked him: “Hail, king of the Jews!” Then they spat on him, took the staff, and kept hitting him on the head.
Matt. 27:27-30 CSB
Battering Jesus’ holy brow happened quite literally. “Batter” in Numbers 24 comes from the Hebrew word mâchats, which has several nuances, such as pierce, wound and crush. Pierce is actually used by Balaam several verses prior: “[God] shall break their bones and pierce [mâchats] them with his arrows.” The Roman soldiers’ repeated beating on the crown of thorns did indeed pierce, as well as wound and crush our Lord’s brow. How precise is the Spirit’s choice of mâchats!
Jesus offered His royal brow to be pierced, beaten and crushed for our Moabite pride. How ironic that the Scepter out of Israel who would batter the brow of Moab would by a scepter of mockery have His own kingly brow battered! Jesus, as sin’s substitute, suffered if He was Moab deserving the fury of God’s righteous wrath.
“Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25 NKJV). The cruelty of the Roman soldiers battering Jesus’ brow again and again was not a random act of brutality; it was Love submitting to what it took to free you and me from the sin of pride. The Christ ought to have suffered by having His brow battered. Having entered into His glory in heaven as High Priest, now He wields His scepter to batter the pride and arrogance still in us. He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him (Heb 7:25). Every time we see Jesus in reality as Star and Scepter, we enter into His glory of crushing our pride by His Spirit who dwells in us. This is how we become a truly humble people, not by trying hard to be humble.
“[Christ] presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway” (Rom. 5:6-7 MSG). We are too weak to overthrow our pride we’re often blind to. We don’t know what to do about it. But Jesus does. He conquered your pride with His crown of thorns. Come by faith to your Scepter who batters the “brow of Moab” in you and those you pray for.
Glory Unveiled: Discovering Jesus 