God Kills 14,700 People for Protesting

Dan McClellan Hey, everybody. I'm Dan McClellan. And

Dan Beecher I'm Dan Beecher.

Dan McClellan And this is Data Over Dogma, where we increase public access to the academic study of the Bible and religion, and we combat the spread of misinformation about the same. How are things today, Dan?

Dan Beecher Rocking and rolling, man.

Dan McClellan All right.

Dan Beecher It's a, it's a, it's a good day to be alive and, uh, a bad day to be-

Dan McClellan There is a heat advisory where we are, but, uh, yeah. Yeah.

Dan Beecher I mean-

Dan McClellan Still

Dan Beecher a good day to be

Dan McClellan alive and indoors.

Dan Beecher Yeah, and indoors, and f- far away from that nuclear fusion ball that's- ... in the sky trying to ruin everything for us. We had a, we had a patron comment something about, uh, you know, "It's, it's cold here, here in Australia," and I was like, "Okay. That's, that's true." That, that can be true. You're on the other side of-

Dan McClellan It's winter-ish. Yeah. Yeah, over there.

Dan Beecher Yeah. Um, all right, so here we are. We're, we're gonna be talking, we're gonna do a chapter and verse today, and the chapter and verse is, last week, uh, at some point you'll recall we talked about Numbers 17- Mm-hmm ... which was Aaron's rod budding. Budding, yes. I think it's... And, and, and his lineage chosen for priesthood- Hmm ... therefrom. Uh, but there's some stuff leading up to that. We hinted at it. We chatted. We, you know, we mentioned it. Uh, but I, but we also mentioned that it would make a good segment on of, of, on its own, so that's what we're doing. Uh, so I think we should just dive straight into chapter and verse. And the chapter and verse, okay, we're in Numbers 16 now and- Yep ... uh, it, this is kinda crazy. This is the, I mean, it's like the Battle of the Levites. It's the, it's- ... it's, there's a bunch of grumbling happening, and it- Yeah ... is, it's nuts. Uh, so the consequences of grumbling are, I'm just going to say, extreme.

Dan McClellan Little harsh. Yeah. Uh, you know, uh,

Dan Beecher last, last week when Aaron became, uh, the priest o- over everybody, it was, it was done through a nice way. It was like, "Look, your stick- ... is prettier than everyone else's stick."

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher And that I think is a lovely way of indicating who should be in charge.

Dan McClellan Yeah. It's, uh, following after the Korah episode, however. It is, it, it, it, the juxtaposition- ... is a little jarring.

Dan Beecher It's extreme. Yeah. Uh, so we should just talk first about who Korah is. Uh, we've, we've got, we've got Korah, um, that's K-O-R-A-H. It's not like- Yeah ... uh, K- C-O-R-A. Yeah. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

Dan McClellan Well, we've also got On.

Dan Beecher Yeah, that's true.

Dan McClellan So if, if we're starting in Numbers 16:1, and, and here's where we're gonna start to see that something peculiar is going on here because verse one says, "Now Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, along with Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, son of Reuben." On disappears from the narrative.

Dan Beecher Yeah, On just goes away. Yeah,

Dan McClellan there's no more On. We are off. It is, um, which, which suggests in the mind of a lot of scholars the composite nature of this story, that we've probably got different traditions that were woven together or separated out. And so we are looking at the end result of the accumulation and redaction and editing of a few different stories, and we're gonna get it, and we're gonna highlight places where we seem to be getting one story and not another. So- Yeah ... so yeah, re- take note of that right off the bat. On son of Peleth, son of Reuben seems to be there to kind of indicate a connection with Reuben, but then, boop, is, blips- Yeah ... uh, right out of the story. So this is one of the, the only one of the Israelites that Thanos, uh, snapped away- ... was On.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan Just, he was like, "I don't feel so good," and then just dust. So- Yeah ... that's what we get at the end of verse one. But, um, yeah, these, these gentlemen, these brethren- Yeah ... took 250 Israelite men, leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men, and they confronted Moses.

Dan Beecher So-

Dan McClellan Because we-

Dan Beecher So that's a, that's a mob. 250- Yeah ... is not a small number of people. Yeah.

Dan McClellan It's not like Steve, Bill, Tom, and I think- Yeah ... this is unfair. No, this is pitchforks and, uh, uh, and what are- Torches ... not lamps. Torches, that's what they are. Um, and not the British flashlight, but actual fire torches. Um-

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan And they come to Moses, and they confront him, and, and this is coming right after Moses is basically rattling off a bunch of legislation.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan And I think right before this it was like, "Yeah, put fringes on your garments." And at this point, these guys were like, "That's it."

Dan Beecher I, you know what?

Dan McClellan "Fringes on the garments." I'm,

Dan Beecher I was fine until you fringed, you told me I have to fringe my garments.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher I'm not into that new-fangled fashion.

Dan McClellan So they, they assemble against Mos- Moses and Aaron and said, "You have gone too far." Now, whether this has to do with fringes on the garments, it's not clear. Remember, this is composite. "All the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. So why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?" And this is related kind of to what we have later on with Aaron's budding rod.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Where they're like, "Wait a minute. We're all holy."

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan "The Lord is among us all. Why do you get to be in charge?"

Dan Beecher Yeah. Why, yeah, so this is a, this is a question of, like, well, why aren't we also valid priests or whatever.

Dan McClellan Right, and, and they're- This may be a relic of kind of an early confrontation between different priestly schools- Mm ... because Korah could have been the spokesperson for another priestly school, uh, a, a, another Levitical priesthood. So we have the Aaronide, but we have another, um, Kohathite, uh, line that descended from Levi that might be asserting the priesthood. And-

Dan Beecher Yeah, because- ...

Dan McClellan there are-

Dan Beecher be- because, yeah, Ko- Korah is of the, of the Levite line just as Moses and Aaron are.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan And, um, Moses hears the challenge, falls on his face, then he spoke to Korah and all his congregation. Now, notice it's Korah and three other dudes- ... and now it's only Korah and his congregation.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan So, like-

Dan Beecher It, it has whittled down significantly.

Dan McClellan Yeah, that, I, I picture Moses being like, "Where'd everybody go?" And Korah's like- ... "What? I had- I had-" "I had

Dan Beecher 250 dudes" "...

Dan McClellan I swear I had three other guys here." Yeah. Um, and, uh, he speaks to the congregation and says, "In the morning, the Lord will make known who is His and who is holy, and who will be allowed to approach Him. The one whom He will choose will be allowed to approach Him." So this is basically like, "Look, our, our priests are the one who, ones who are allowed to approa- approach God, so God is gonna let us know." And as we talked about last time, it feels kinda like cheating to, to be like, "Hey, I'll go talk to Him."

Dan Beecher I'll ta-

Dan McClellan "He'll, he'll let us know if I'm right or if you're right." Right. "You can't come see, though." This is, this is all happening.

Dan Beecher I'll, I'll go talk to God, and He'll tell you how we're gonna determine this- Yeah ... through me exclusively.

Dan McClellan And so Moses says, "Here's what we're gonna do. Take censers." Not, uh, not like, um-

Dan Beecher Not like the Hebrew- ...

Dan McClellan television censors.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan No. But, uh, but the, the metal things to carry fire in, Korah and all your congregation. "And tomorrow, put fire in them and lay incense on them before the Lord, and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. You Levites have gone too far." And this is evidently what, what Moses is saying to, uh, Korah and his congregation.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan Um-

Dan Beecher Yeah, it-

Dan McClellan And then, yeah ...

Dan Beecher it, and I don't thi- Here's the thing. Okay, so everybody's gonna bring their, their little fire holders to the tent, and that all seemed like, okay, we're, we're, we're, we're prepping for a miracle. I did not have any idea how Game of Thrones this was about to get.

Dan McClellan Yeah, 'cause he doesn't really say, "Here's how it's gonna be done." He's just like-

Dan Beecher No, it's

Dan McClellan just like- ... "Oh, you'll know- Bring

Dan Beecher the stuff- ...

Dan McClellan when it happens" ...

Dan Beecher and, and, uh, and, and by the time whatever happens, happens, we'll all know who, who has been chosen. Yeah,

Dan McClellan which does not bode well. If you're watching this on TV, you're like, "Ooh-

Dan Beecher Yeah ... it is

Dan McClellan coming for them." You know what's, what's happening now. Then Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you Levites, is it too little for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to allow you to approach Him in order to perform the duties of the Lord's tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation and serve Him? He has allowed you to approach Him and all your brother Levites with you, yet you seek the priesthood as well. Therefore, you and all your congregation have gathered together against the Lord. What is Aaron that you rail against him?" And now we have this thing where it says, "Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, but they said, 'We will not come.'" They were there.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan According to verse one, they, he, Korah grabs the other guys, and they all, they are chosen along with these guys, took 250 Israelite men. They assembled against Moses, but now they're not there. And-

Dan Beecher See, I took- ...

Dan McClellan Moses had only been talking to Korah ...

Dan Beecher I took this, I took that to mean that we are f- a little further along in the story, and everybody's gone back to get their censers or whatever. And then, and then these guys are like, "You know what? I've seen Game of Thrones." "I'm not coming."

Dan McClellan Yeah. The, uh, it is, it is peculiar, and there, there are scholars who have, uh, who have accounted for this in a variety of ways. Most commonly, I think, you, there's an idea that there are either two or three different revolts tales that are being consolidated into one.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan One involves Korah, one, at least one involves Dathan and Abiram. And, uh, so Moses sends for them. They say, "We will not come. Is it too little that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also lord it over us? It is clear that you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come." Suddenly, where'd the putting out the eyes come from?

Dan Beecher Yeah, yeah.

Dan McClellan That's, uh, uh, that we're, that's a little more Game of Thrones than things had, uh, had been up to this point. But, uh, also, their complaint seems very different now.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan Because now-

Dan Beecher Totally different ...

Dan McClellan it's suddenly about, yeah, now their complaint is, is about leaving Egypt, and we've not yet come to a, a land flowing with milk and honey. Although there, there are scholars who have argued that, uh, the Hebrew here is a little squirrely, and you could understand it to, uh, actually, uh, be saying, "You have not brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, but to an inheritance of fields and vineyards- Oh ... where we've got to, we've got to toil for-

Dan Beecher Oh, okay ...

Dan McClellan our food." Whereas the idea of land flowing with milk and honey, the Hebrew word there actually has more to do with, like, gushing. It's that the, that this, this is, the land produces it naturally.

Dan Beecher There's a-

Dan McClellan So it's just-

Dan Beecher ... big rock candy mountain. Yeah.

Dan McClellan This is where-

Dan Beecher Yeah

Dan McClellan ... there's just milk and honey just coming up out the ground.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan Um, all you, all you need is a bucket. And, and there goes-

Dan Beecher Which is funny, because they seem to be indicating that they came from a land of milk and honey.

Dan McClellan Yeah, which is an odd memory of being under brutal enslavement-

Dan Beecher Slavery. Yeah, yeah

Dan McClellan ... to the, to the Egyptians.

Dan Beecher Yeah. It's a weird way of, of, of, of envisioning the, your, like, two years ago being slaves.

Dan McClellan Yeah, yeah. And, and there are some folks who think that maybe this story is actually set in the land of Israel, like they've already gotten there, and they're complaining that the land isn't good enough. Uh, that's, that's an argument that's been offered as well.

Dan Beecher "This is the worst Israel I've ever been to." "I object."

Dan McClellan Yeah, but, but if, i- if the idea is, "Hey, look, it's fields and vineyards. We have to toil and work, and, um, you know, just to try to get this stony ground to produce stuff." Um, "Moses was very angry, said to the Lord, 'Pay no attention to their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed any one of them.'" So Moses, it, it's kinda like, uh, Moses is in front of the temple and knows that God is listening- ... and, and is like, "That's a lie, that's a lie," um, to turning around and yelling into the, into the doorway of the temple, "That's a lie."

Dan Beecher "Nuh-uh. No, Daddy's lying."

Dan McClellan And, uh, and Moses said to Korah, "As for you and all your congregation, be present tomorrow before the Lord, you and they and Aaron." Wait a minute, it's back to Korah.

Dan Beecher Yeah. Oh, right.

Dan McClellan Not... Yeah. So Dathan and Abiram, um... Oh, so, like, we, we could understand this to mean that, uh, he sent for them, and they sent a message, and maybe Korah was like, "Here's what they said."

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Um, but, but yeah, we... It is a little peculiar. Uh, "Be present tomorrow before the Lord, you and they and Aaron, and let each one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and each one of you present his censer before the Lord, 250 censers. You also and Aaron, each his censer." So they did it. They laid incense on them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. Then Korah assembled the whole congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole congregation. So, so Korah's there again. Uh, it was supposed to be everybody, but who knows what's going on here- ... apart from the, the conclusion that th- this is actually Korah all by himself in one version of the story, and then the other two in another version of the story.

Dan Beecher Right, right.

Dan McClellan Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, "Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in a moment."

Dan Beecher What?

Dan McClellan Ah. Yeah, so-

Dan Beecher It, I mean, it's just... And what do, what does that even look like? Let's just say that that's what happened.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher Aaron and Moses are like, "You know what? We left something back at our place."

Dan McClellan Yeah, so-

Dan Beecher "We're gonna run real quick. M- my censer, this is not my good censer. Why did I even bring this censer?" "What am I doing?"

Dan McClellan Yeah, so they come back out, and they th- they said, "God said we should stand over there."

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Uh-

Dan Beecher "You guys stay where you are. It's cool. We just have to pee."

Dan McClellan Yeah, yeah. They fell on their faces and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one person sin and you become angry with the whole congregation?" And the Lord spoke to Moses, "Speak to the congregation, saying, 'Get away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'" So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram. The elders of Israel followed him. He spoke to the congregation. So once again, part of the narrative is identifying three men-

Dan Beecher Right

Dan McClellan ... and then the narrative goes on to have Moses only, uh, engaging with a fraction of that.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan Um, he spoke to the congregation, saying, "Turn away from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away for all their sins." So they got awa- Now Moses is like, "Uh, move back. Move back."

Dan Beecher Right, yeah. Hey, it is nice of Moses and Aaron to be like, "Hey, maybe you don't have to kill all of these people just-

Dan McClellan Yeah

Dan Beecher ... 'cause these three guys gathered them up or whatever."

Dan McClellan So from, from you to the left-

Dan Beecher Well-

Dan McClellan ... go that way

Dan Beecher ... we're gonna get to from you to the left-

Dan McClellan Yeah

Dan Beecher ... go that way in, in, in the second part of this story.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher But yeah, okay. So-

Dan McClellan So they, they got away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents together with their wives, their, their children, and their little ones. Where's Korah? So now it's Korah who's like, "I'm not coming out of my room"? And, and Korah's wife, or wives and children-

Dan Beecher He lived on, on the other side of camp. He was, uh- You have to go, you have to go, you have to, you have to do this geographically. Yeah.

Dan McClellan So, uh-

Dan Beecher Yeah

Dan McClellan ... so Moses said, "This is how you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works. It has not been of my own accord. If these people die a natural death or if a natural fate comes to them, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord." So gauntlet thrown. And we've got Dathan and Abiram standing in the, the, at the front of their tents with their- ... with their, their youngins, uh, huddling around their calves. And-

Dan Beecher I mean, presumably, you- at that moment, the family is all going, "Wait, what now?"

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher "I'm sorry. There's, something's going to, uh, wh-

Dan McClellan Excuse me?

Dan Beecher I, uh, Sheol? Did I hear Sheol? I'm not, I-

Dan McClellan Baking powder?

Dan Beecher I don't know what's going on.

Dan McClellan Yeah. And as soon as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them was split apart. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with their households. Everyone who belonged to Korah- "... and all their goods." So Korah is evidently not coming out of his tent. Dathan and Abiram come out of their tents, and now the earth swallows up Korah, everyone who belonged to Korah, and all their goods.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan But notice who is not said to be swallowed up. Who's, who's not said to be swallowed up here?

Dan Beecher Oh, well, it doesn't say Dathan and Abiram.

Dan McClellan It also doesn't say Korah was swallowed up. It says-

Dan Beecher Oh, it says everyone who belonged to Korah.

Dan McClellan Yeah. So the, so we have Dathan and Abiram, and it says, "The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with-

Dan Beecher Okay. Yeah, yeah

Dan McClellan ... their households-

Dan Beecher Yeah

Dan McClellan ... everyone who belonged to Korah and all their goods," which seems like it might be a secondary addition.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan Because Dathan and Abiram are the they.

Dan Beecher Yeah, yeah.

Dan McClellan It's their households. But then it says everyone who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So it's like, well, we gotta throw all- ... of Korah's stuff into the mix, but not Korah. "So they, with all that belonged to them, went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly." Um, and here's, here's the panic. "All Israel around them fled at their outcry- ... for they said, 'The earth will swallow us too.'"

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan And then, yeah, so-

Dan Beecher I think it's fair to be afraid in that moment.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher I think that that is a, that is a reasonable response to seeing-

Dan McClellan That is a rational fear, yeah

Dan Beecher ... the earth just gulp up a couple, a, a whole bunch of families.

Dan McClellan And then they're, uh, they're, they're all scattering. And verse 35 says, "And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense." So first we're gonna, we're gonna eat up all these guys, and then the Lord's just gonna zap everybody else. Fire from Adonai. "Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to take the censers out of the blaze, then scatter the fire far and wide, for the censers of these sinners have become holy at the cost of their lives."

Dan Beecher Wow.

Dan McClellan "Make them into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they presented them before the Lord and they became holy. Thus they shall be assigned to the Israelites." What? Yeah,

Dan Beecher that's so weird.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher I, I'm assuming that this was an etiology for how their, how the altar got covered in metal.

Dan McClellan Yeah, it does, it does seem like an episode of Bob's Burgers where they were like, "How did this happen?" And then we've got this weird- ... mashup of some movie from the 1980s- ... and this, this thing that we have here. Uh, but the-

Dan Beecher But I mean, we, we just glossed right over the fact that the 250 dudes just got burned.

Dan McClellan Yes.

Dan Beecher Like, this is crazy. This is- And then, and it, and it came to pass that the Mother of Dragons did emerge-

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher ... and had her own censer. I don't know.

Dan McClellan And she was nekked. Um, but, but here's a weird thing. Uh, Numbers 26:10. Let me pull up, uh, 26:10. So we're in 16 here.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan But, um, we have, uh, in Numbers 26:9 says, "The descendants of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram." These are the same Dathan and Abiram, "Chosen from the congregation who rebelled against Moses and Aaron in the congregation of Korah, when they rebelled against the Lord, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah." So here we have the statement that Korah was taken down to Sheol. "When that congregation died, when the fire devoured 250 men and they became a warning. Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah did not die."

Dan Beecher Oh.

Dan McClellan So we've got, we've got another contradiction 'cause number 16 says everyone that belonged to Korah died.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Doesn't explicitly say Korah died. Numbers 26 says, no, Korah died, but the sons of Korah did not die. And-

Dan Beecher They were at camp

Dan McClellan ... that's a, well, it's a head-scratcher, uh, until you notice, um, something about the, uh, Book of Psalms.

Dan Beecher Oh.

Dan McClellan You've got, uh, yes.

Dan Beecher We're bouncing all over the place.

Dan McClellan Yes. You've got in the Book of Psalms a number of psalms that are, uh, dedicated or have, uh, Korah's name associated with them, the Korahites.

Dan Beecher Okay.

Dan McClellan Uh, there are 11 psalms that are Korahite psalms.

Dan Beecher Oh, okay.

Dan McClellan So Psalms, uh, like, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, and 49, and then 84, 85, 87, and 88. So most of them are from book two, but let me, let me pull up, uh, Psalms 42. I wanna see exactly what the Hebrew was, 'cause I, 'cause I thought it was Bene, uh, Korah. Uh, yeah, Livnai Korach. So that is sons of Korah. So Numbers 16 says, doesn't say anything about Korah. He might have snuck out the back for all we know. But it says everyone that belonged to Korah, they-

Dan Beecher Yeah

Dan McClellan ... they, uh, took the dirt nap. But then Numbers 26 says Korah took the dirt nap, but all of Korah's sons did not, and that this may be somebody later on trying to be like, "Well, we got all these psalms- ... that start with this from the sons of Korah."

Dan Beecher You guys know that there's a whole group, Korahites, right? You kinda have to account for them.

Dan McClellan Yeah, we gotta do a film about that. Um, so, and, and I think this may be a, a vestige or a product of the fact that when we see names that are similar, we like to just assume they're the same person.

Dan Beecher Hmm.

Dan McClellan Like, that happens all the time.

Dan Beecher Sure.

Dan McClellan And particularly in apologetics, like the Book of Revelation, written by a dude named John. I bet that's the same John that wrote the Gospel of John.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan Um, or that's the same John that's the apostle. Well, nothing indicates that. You just kinda made that up.

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan But, um, and, and so here they're probably thinking, "Ah, that's, that must be the Korah from the story over here," but- "Didn't they all die?" Um, what if we said they didn't all die? Yeah, great idea. Nobody will pick up on that.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan So-

Dan Beecher 'Cause there couldn't be two Korahs. That's too confusing.

Dan McClellan Yeah, that's just, that's right out. Two Korahs- ... is right out. Um, and yeah, w- and, and we also might have, because Korah, the Korahites are, are another Levite strand, Levite family, uh, there, there might have been people who were ministering in their priestly functions, uh, who were of the Aaronide clan that were like, "Th- yeah, this is a, this is a, a Korahite, um, altar cover." "Well, why aren't, why aren't Korahites ministering?" "Well, let me tell you a story- ... uh, about these Korahites, including On, but forget about On."

Dan Beecher Forget

Dan McClellan On. On's not relevant to the re- of the, rest of the story. Yeah, so, so with that- Uh- ... it's ritual objects that are, that they're probably just accounting for why these ritual objects are here that had some kind of association with a Levitical group that's no longer operating. Maybe that's what's going on.

Dan Beecher Yeah. So okay, so they took the, the censers, and they pounded them, and they made them into a covering for the altar- Mm-hmm ... uh, as a reminder, according to verse 40, "To the Israelites that no outsider who is not of the descendants of Aaron shall approach to offer incense before the Lord, so as not to become like Korah and his congregation, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses."

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher Now, that to me, all of that, the burning of the dudes, the swallowing of, by the earth of the people and stuff, you would think that that would be just absolutely sufficient- ... to get the point across. I don't even see the need for the stick trick in the next chapter. Yeah. It doesn't make any sense that we need anything more. But verse 41 says, "On the next day." It's not like 10 years later they forgot-

Dan McClellan Yeah, yeah ...

Dan Beecher and they were like- ... like, on the next day. So what happens?

Dan McClellan Well, the whole congregation of the Israelites rebelled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the Lord." So it's not like they forgot this happened. They remember this happened. They're just like-

Dan Beecher They're just blaming- ...

Dan McClellan "We're not gonna, we're not gonna stand for this"

Dan Beecher You can't, you can't just kill everybody.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher Mo- And, and, and by the way, w- it's Moses and Aaron that, that did this, not God, apparently.

Dan McClellan Yes. And you, you can't just kill all these people just because they challenged your authority. I challenge your authority.

Dan Beecher Yeah, right. Yeah.

Dan McClellan What do you think's gonna happen to you? Then, uh, then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting. I would not go if- Oh ... if they were like, "Hey, everybody, the, Moses wants us at the front of the tent of meeting," I'd have been like, "Mm, no, I'm-"

Dan Beecher You tell me what they said. I'll be over here. Yeah,

Dan McClellan yeah. Uh, Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in a moment," and they fell on their faces. Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, put fire in it from the altar, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun." So- Yeah.

Dan Beecher And that's- Yeah ... uh, and this one, y- this isn't COVID. This is a very fast plague- ... because it is literally taking people as we speak. Like-

Dan McClellan Yes ... Aaron grabs his censer

Dan Beecher and runs out into the middle of the assembly, and it's literally happening, and he's like, "Ah, you guys, get over here. Come here."

Dan McClellan Yeah, yeah.

Dan Beecher "Let me censer at you." And then, uh, I don't, and I don't know what he does. He put on the incense and made atonement for the people. I don't know, uh, like, what that ends up looking like.

Dan McClellan Well, it seems like that should, should be a specific kind of, uh, a sacrifice, a specific offering.

Dan Beecher Mm.

Dan McClellan But it doesn't really tell us, uh, exactly what's, uh, going on here, so, uh- Yeah ... but yeah. So he, he does that and then stands between them, and, uh,

Dan Beecher yeah. This is when it gets, uh, like, it gets very, uh, Walking Dead or something- Mm-hmm ... 'cause everybody's suddenly infected, and it's just, like, the infection's just moving through the crowd at rapid speed. Uh, and he's, he, and so he stands between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher Uh, so-

Dan McClellan The, I'd like to see a, a dramatization of this.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan A movie where Moses falls on his face, and it's like, "Aaron, get the censer."

Dan Beecher "You gotta get out there, man"

Dan McClellan The plague has begun. And he comes out, and he's just disoriented, and there are zombies over here, and there are healthy people over here, and he's gotta-

Dan Beecher Yeah ... "Wah,"

Dan McClellan run out in between them.

Dan Beecher People dropping like flies. Yeah. Yeah, it's just crazy. Uh-

Dan McClellan And then those, it says 14,700, uh, died. 14,000. Almost 15,000 people

Dan Beecher died from this plague. That is-

Dan McClellan Yeah ... that's

Dan Beecher not a small number. And why were they all standing together? That's so big.

Dan McClellan Well, yeah, and, and, you know, Aaron cannot really, one man can't really stand in between- 14,000 ... roughly, well, no, 14,000 on one side.

Dan Beecher Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dan McClellan Yeah, for so almost 30,000 people, and Aaron's like, "No, get over. No, no, I'm, I, my hands won't go any wider." Like, uh, he's, he's- Like they- You can't hear. At some point, you're like, "What's that guy doing? I can't hear him. He's too far away." And you don't know, um-

Dan Beecher Oh, did you just die? Why did you just die? I don't know what's happening. Yeah.

Dan McClellan "Oh, I'm supposed to move over?" Um, yeah, it's, it, it is, uh, somebody has a, a very vivid imagination here.

Dan Beecher Yeah.

Dan McClellan Uh, and then when the plague stopped, Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent- ... of meeting. That, that's kind of, that's the everything happens at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Dan Beecher Uh-huh.

Dan McClellan That's where the, the bad news comes. Again, if, if I were in that congregation, you would never see me at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Dan Beecher No.

Dan McClellan I would be staying far away.

Dan Beecher Uh, nor, nor, nor... Again, I just ha- I will reiterate, the next chapter doesn't need to happen if, if- ... I'm anywhere near this. Like-

Dan McClellan Yeah, yeah. That-

Dan Beecher The ne- like, like, it's been decided. We don't, you, the stick trick is cute and all, but we don't need it 'cause 14,000 of us died and Aaron saved the rest of us. So- ... we're good.

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher I think we're good at this point.

Dan McClellan So it's like, look, we've had, in three days we've had 250 people either swallowed by the earth or- ... consumed by fire, and then the next day we all got zombified and s- 14,700 people died, and now we're playing with sticks? Um, it just, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Dan Beecher It's an anti-climax, if we're being honest.

Dan McClellan Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dan Beecher Uh, that's a, that's a big come down.

Dan McClellan Yeah. And every time Moses says, "So here's the way it is," the people all gotta be like, "Ugh."

Dan Beecher Right.

Dan McClellan " 'Cause you say so?" And it's like, have you not paid attention? Are you not entertained? Um-

Dan Beecher Where were you for all- ... of the things?

Dan McClellan Yeah.

Dan Beecher 'Cause, uh, yeah. Well, uh, yeah, that's a mess, for sure. Uh, and that's it for number 16. Uh, I, I hope y'all had a great time. It's a, it, it's a kind of a lunatic thing. Um, if you did have a good time talking about it though, you, one thing that you could do is support us, and there's a couple of ways that you can do that. You can become a, you can join here on YouTube. Uh, just find the little button that says Join and become a member of our YouTube tribe, the Tribe of Dan, uh, as it were. And, you know, you can, you can get access to, uh, early versions of the, of the show, and, uh, special emojis, and all sorts of fun stuff. There's more stuff that our members will get coming down the pipe, including lives with me and Dan, uh, and that sort of thing. So you all have that to look forward to, or you can join us, join up at patreon.com/DataOverDogma where you can get early and ad-free access to every episode of the program, as well as, uh, the, the patrons only content that we do every single week, where you can ask us questions and we have to answer them. We're required by our own rules-

Dan McClellan Yep

Dan Beecher ... uh, to answer your questions. So that's always a good time. Uh, if you don't have the means to, to do that, please like, comment, subscribe, do all of those sorts of things, and we're very grateful for that. Share this with someone that you think might find it interesting. That's always nice. Thanks so much to Roger Gowdy for editing the show. Thanks to Sam Holden for being our right-hand dude. And thanks to all of you for tuning in.

Dan McClellan Bye everybody.