Sounding The Seventh Trumpet (2001) "Epic Of Time Wasted"

[Reprinted as written by Avenged Sevenfold]

So much time I've wasted.
I can truly say I never thought it would come to this.
Never would I doubt you, but the truth kept smacking me in the face.
Reality. You never stopped to think and you ripped us apart.
How could you? Now our time is gone but it's still breaking my heart.
Tears run down as I think of the days we've had, and the memories will last forever,
but you and I have died and gone our separate ways.
You are the one.
You are the wrong one.
Breaking the mold.
Going your own way.
All I feel, betrayal.
So much time I've wasted, and I never thought it'd come to this.
Apology.
We had something great, then it was washed away.
We had something more, then I can explain.
I'm sorry. No! We had something great, then it was washed away.
No! Not all friendships last, the genuine are harder to take.
No! Time to start again, hope someday you'll think of me.
No! The end reality, I know someday I'll think of you.

Maybe this is the poet's dialogue with himself. Maybe he is singing to the the one who was, but is no longer, the love of his life. Filled with sorrow, masked by a bravado that is intended to cover and protect the vulnerability of his broken heart, he sings of the beauty of love which is now shredded by betrayal. As king David once sorrowed over in his own song of lament,

Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me

At the end of this poem two voices sing, one is plaintive, mourning what has been lost, the other is angry and defiant.

Sometimes it feels like this. Anyone who has ever gone through the heart wrenching ending of a meaningful relationship, certain that this person was the one, where the love was genuine, understands the pathos of this poem. The poet's muse was not who he trusted her to be.

Never would I doubt you, but the truth kept smacking me in the face.
Reality.

We don't know his part in this breakup, but we do sense that it is she who initiated the parting. His lover abandons him. Unthinkingly, she has broken the mold of their union to go her own way, betraying the trust he had put in her faithfulness to him.

And now we know who the two voices are. She gives him her apology, she tries to justify her faithlessness, she encourages him to start over. And all he can cry out, scalded to the bone, is "No!"

The ancient prophet Ezekiel also tells a story of love, union and betrayal

When you were born, no one cut you loose from your mother or washed your body. No one rubbed your skin with salt and olive oil, and wrapped you in warm blankets. Not one person loved you enough to do any of these things, and no one even felt sorry for you. You were despised, thrown into a field, and forgotten. I saw you lying there, rolling around in your own blood, and I couldn't let you die. I took care of you, like someone caring for a tender, young plant. You grew up to be a beautiful young woman with perfect breasts and long hair, but you were still naked.

When I saw you again, you were old enough to have sex. So I covered your naked body with my own robe. Then I solemnly promised that you would belong to me and that I, the LORD God, would take care of you. I washed the blood off you and rubbed your skin with olive oil. I gave you the finest clothes and the most expensive robes, as well as sandals made from the best leather.

I gave you bracelets, a necklace, a ring for your nose, some earrings, and a beautiful crown. Your jewelry was gold and silver, and your clothes were made of only the finest material and embroidered linen. Your bread was baked from fine flour, and you ate honey and olive oil. You were as beautiful as a queen, and everyone on earth knew it. I, the LORD God, had helped you become a lovely young woman.

You learned that you were attractive enough to have any man you wanted, so you offered yourself to every passerby.

You made shrines for yourself and decorated them with some of your clothes. That's where you took your visitors to have sex with them. These things should never have happened! You made idols out of the gold and silver jewelry I gave you, then you sinned by worshiping those idols. You dressed them in the clothes you got from me, and you offered them the olive oil and incense I gave you. I supplied you with fine flour, olive oil, and honey, but you sacrificed it all as offerings to please those idols.

I, the LORD God, watched this happen. But you did something even worse than that--you sacrificed your own children to those idols! You slaughtered my children, so you could offer them as sacrifices. You were so busy sinning and being a prostitute that you refused to think about the days when you were young and were rolling around naked in your own blood...

Even God knows what it is to have a broken heart. Having made Himself vulnerable to love and be loved, He knows what it is to let someone into His inward being, to give someone the keys to His heart, and yet to be rejected and betrayed by the one He loves.

Yet even here, God holds out both of His arms and cries,

You deserve to be punished, because you broke your promises and ignored our agreement. But I remember the agreement I made with you when you were young, and so I will make you a promise that will last forever...

I will keep this solemn promise, and you will know that I am the LORD. I will forgive you...

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