Dathan and Abiram, didn’t you know? Being wrapped up in yourself makes a very small package.
As Numbers 16 continues, Moses clarifies the issue. These rebels weren’t fighting against Moses! “You and all your company are gathered together against the Lord” (Num 16:11). He then called to meet with “Dathan and Abiram” (v 12) but they refused. “Is it a small thing,” they said, using his own phrase, “that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness?” (v 13). They blamed HIM that they hadn’t received their “inheritance of fields and vineyards” (v 14). Inheritance? This is the insufferable problem of people wrapped up in themselves. Selfish people are unhappy because they always think they deserve more than they receive. An inheritance means it’s your right. But the land would only be theirs by grace, not law. Remember the lawyer who asked Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25). It was a trick question, so Jesus tricked him back. What does the Law say? The lawyer responded, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself’” (v 27). Right, answered the Lord. “Do this and you will live” (v 28). If you love God and your neighbor perfectly every moment of your life with all your being, you have a right to eternal life. But no, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). If the Israelites would have Canaan, and if we would have Christ, it will not be by demanding our rights—we deserve to be in hell! It can only be by God’s grace. Thus Moses was right in saying to the Lord, “Do not respect their offering” (Num 16:15). All religious efforts by self-righteous people are a sham. Only Christ’s offering can meet our need.