God as a bored tyrant puts the Isrealites in "time out"

In the book of Numbers there's a story about the rebellion of Korah, which particularly shows the vengeful side of God. It begins when Korah and a number of his followers question the authority of Moses, asking why it is that he gets to be raised up above all the people. Now Moses says it's because he speaks directly with God, and to prove that he really speaks on behalf of God, Moses asks Korah and 250 of his followers to take censers filled with incense and stand with them in front of the tabernacle. Then God sent down fire and engulfed in flames all those 250 followers of Korah. For the rest of Korah's followers and all those associated with him, the earth opened up and swallowed them whole and they directly descended into Sheol, the land of the dead. The lesson: if you disobey God, He'll take vengeance, and it won't be nice.

I am really struggling with the Book of Numbers (and aptly named I might add). It is a LONG list of edicts and "how-tos". How to sacrifice an animal, which ones and how many to kill, what to do with the guts and blood, how to build a tabernacle, who is to do it, where to sleep, who to sleep next to, how to make robes, how to treat the infirm (sometimes badly I might add), how to discover and "fix" an aldulterous wife (nothing said about an unfaithful husband), what to drink and eat, detailed instruction on offerings, how to light lamps, how to make and blow silver trumpets, how to get killed (just look behind the curtain), how to really tick God off (and likely get killed), how to heal some people and kill others (even unborn children), how to maim others, how to send a really good plague, what clothes to wear, how to blame others for His own indiscretions, while forbidding graven images instructs Moses on how to do it (make a snake and put it on a pole), how to abuse animals, how to get an easy divorce (if you are a man), how to get blamed for something you didn't do, how to get lost in the desert for a really long time, how to lay out a city, determine who can live in it, and SO much more including, apparently genocide.

God appears to be a vengeful, micromanaging tyrant. Someone explain the book of Numbers to me. Does belief in a seemingly vengeful God make us more obedient - even if it out of fear?

Here is an interesting study published in Futurity from the University of Oregon.

A Vengeful God keeps cheaters honest.

Belief in God doesn’t deter a person from cheating on a test, unless that God is a mean, punishing one. On the flip side, undergraduate college students who believe in a caring God are likely to take advantage of a deity’s forgiving nature by cheating.

The full study is at the link. Introductory video below: