Gross.

The Bible is gross. I mean, consider this from Deuteronomy- 53 “The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you. 54 The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children. 55 He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring—the flesh of one of his own children—because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. 56 The most tender and delicate woman among you—so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot—will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter. 57 She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.'

A woman is eating her own baby AND the bucket of afterbirth. Barf in my mouth and in my pants. But I gotta be careful bc that lady will try to eat it. Anyway, the context o this passage is that immediately preceding it, God says 'obey me and I will bless you beyond your wildest dreams. Just follow my rules and you'll be the coolest, bestest people to ever rock the planet.' (paraphrase mine) He then goes on to say 'disobey me, and I will destroy you until there's just a few of you left.' hence the starvation and siege by enemies. His message is very clear, very specific, and even very loving. He talks about wanting to bless the Israelites like crazy. But, they (we) blew it.

I feel stunned that the Israelites could read about the threat of eating afterbirth and not be moved to full-fledged righteousness and submission. But I have the promise and hope of eternal life (which they didn't have) and I still choose to eat afterbirth. (figuratively- gross!)