Num 23:4 and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. And Balaam took up his discourse and said, “From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’ How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him; behold, a people dwelling alone, and not counting itself among the nations! Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”
God spoke to and through someone as obviously corrupt as Balaam. This shows us that spiritual giftedness does not equal spiritual maturity or holiness of life. God spoke through a donkey in the previous chapter and now He put a word in Balaam’s mouth. “Despite the pagan and unsavory actions of this ungodly man, the Lord deigns to meet with him and to speak through him. This is utterly remarkable. We often say that God will never use an unclean vessel. This is not quite accurate. God may use whatever vessel he wishes; the issue concerns what happens to an unclean vessel when God has finished using it for his purposes. It appears that such vessels are tossed aside, dashed on the road.”
When Balaam returned, Balak and all the princes of Moab were ready. They were ready to learn what their money bought them from Balaam. Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel: This was what Balak asked for. He wanted a spiritual curse against Israel so that they could be defeated in battle. Balaam or any other prophet could not curse Israel if God had not cursed them. Balak could not bribe God to curse Israel. Through Balaam God promised to bless Israel by making them a singular nation and blessing them with great size.
Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his! Balaam was one of the many who long to die the death of the righteous yet have no desire to live the life of the righteous. The actual death of Balaam (Numbers 31:8) gives no hope for the fulfillment of this wish. His wish wasn’t wrong, but neither was it enough. (Guzik)
“Behold the vanity of mere desires. Balaam desired to die the death of the righteous, and yet was slain in battle fighting against those righteous men whom he envied.” (Spurgeon)
When a person sees and knows of righteousness and what it means in God’s eyes, it is important that they seek it with more than just curious words.