Avenged Sevenfold (2007) "A Little Piece Of Heaven" Part 2

[reprinted as written by Avenged Sevenfold]
A7X official video [Be careful with this one; the content is disturbing. Here's an alternate link without the graphics, but with the uncensored lyrics]

Before the story begins, is it such a sin,
for me to take what's mine, until the end of time
We were more than friends, before the story ends,
And I will take what's mine, create what
God would never design

Our love had been so strong for far too long,
I was weak with fear that
something would go wrong,
before the possibilities came true,
I took all possibility from you
Almost laughed myself to tears,
conjuring her deepest fears

Must have stabbed her fifty f***ing times,
I can't believe it,
Ripped her heart out right before her eyes,
Eyes over easy, eat it eat it eat it

She was never this good in bed
even when she was sleepin'
now she's just so perfect I've
never been quite so f***ing deep in
it goes on and on and on,
I can keep you lookin' young and preserved forever,
with a fountain to spray on your youth whenever

'Cause I really always knew that my little crime
would be cold that's why I got a heater for your thighs
and I know, I know it's not your time
but bye, bye
and a word to the wise when the fire dies
you think it's over but it's just begun
but baby don't cry

You had my heart, at least for the most part
'cause everybody's gotta die sometime, we fell apart
let's make a new start
'cause everybody's gotta die sometime yeah
but baby don't cry

Now possibilities I'd never considered,
are occurring the likes of which I'd never heard,
Now an angry soul comes back from beyond the grave,
to repossess a body with which I'd misbehaved

Smiling right from ear to ear
Almost laughed herself to tears

Must have stabbed him fifty f***ing times
I can't believe it
Ripped his heart out right before his eyes
Eyes over easy
Eat it eat it eat it

Now that it's done I realize the error of my ways
I must venture back to apologize from somewhere far beyond the grave

I gotta make up for what I've done
'Cause I was all up in a piece of heaven
while you burned in hell, no peace forever

'Cause I really always knew that my little crime
would be cold that's why I got a heater for your thighs
and I know, I know it's not your time
but bye, bye
and a word to the wise when the fire dies
you think it's over but it's just begun
but baby don't cry

You had my heart, at least for the most part
'Cause everybody's gotta die sometime, we fell apart
Let's make a new start
'Cause everybody's gotta die sometime yeah
But baby don't cry

I will suffer for so long
(What will you do, not long enough)
To make it up to you
(I pray to God that you do)
I'll do whatever you want me to do
(Well then I'll break you unchained)
And if it's not enough
(If it's not enough, If it's not enough)
If it's not enough
(Not enough)
Try again
(Try again)
And again
(And again)
Over and over again

We're coming back, coming back
We'll live forever, live forever
Let's have wedding, have a wedding
Let's start the killing, start the killing

'Cause I really always knew that my little crime
would be cold that's why I got a heater for your thighs
and I know, I know it's not your time
but bye, bye
And a word to the wise when the fire dies
you think it's over but it's just begun
but baby don't cry

You had my heart, at least for the most part
'Cause everybody's gotta die sometime, we fell apart
Let's make a new start
'Cause everybody's gotta die sometime yeah
But baby don't cry

Picking it up from yesterday, the elements of what is commonly called "The Curse" (from the third chapter of Genesis, in the Bible), is easily seen in this song. Instead of mutual love, tenderness and respect, there is this desire to devour and control each other. Instead of becoming one flesh, there is the more sordid eating of each others' flesh. Instead of helping each other, they use each other. Instead of blessing the world by their union and partnership as benevolent benefactors, they set out to kill the world's inhabitants.

Sin abounds!!! What's a good marriage supposed to look like, anyway? After the effects of sin brought into the world, is there any hope for any of us to have healthy relationships at all?

Yes.

Move forward in the Bible to Paul's letter to the Christians living in Ephesus (Ephesians). They were having a tough time loving each other and getting along with each other, and there were some real marital problems going on among them. Before he gave them instructions about how to have good marriages (in the fifth chapter of his letter), Paul gave the believers a general life principle: Honor Christ and put others first.

A wife should put her husband first, as she does the Lord. A husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head and the Savior of the church, which is his own body. Wives should always put their husbands first, as the church puts Christ first.

A husband should love his wife as much as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. He made the church holy by the power of his word, and he made it pure by washing it with water. Christ did this, so that he would have a glorious and holy church, without faults or spots or wrinkles or any other flaws.

In the same way, a husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself. A husband who loves his wife shows that he loves himself. None of us hate our own bodies. We provide for them and take good care of them, just as Christ does for the church, because we are each part of his body.

As the Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother to get married, and he becomes like one person with his wife." This is a great mystery, but I understand it to mean Christ and his church. So each husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself, and each wife should respect her husband.

The phrase "put the other first" stems from the Greek word hupotassomai = "to arrange yourself underneath" “give allegiance to” “tend to the needs of” “be supportive of” “be responsive to” “to place oneself at the disposition of” It was also a military term that referred to taking one’s position in a phalanx of soldiers.

This was not reference to rank or status, it was an equal sharing of the common task. If a soldier failed to join the others, or held back during an advance, the captain might use a form of hupotassomai to order that soldier to return to his place in the line, join his compatriots, be supportive of them, fulfill his part in the assignment.

The word Paul used for the husbands to love was the Greek word agapao. Agapao is almost identical with hupotassomai. Both involve giving up one’s self-interest to serve and care for another’s. Both mean being responsive to the needs of the other. The husband is to subject himself to the wife as much as the wife is to the husband.

What does it mean for the wife to submit to her husband? It is to give herself up to her husband, to give her heart, to trust him, a full surrender. What does it mean for the husband to love his wife? It is to give himself up to his wife as Christ gave Himself up for the church, to give his heart to her, to be vulnerable with her, a full surrender.

Finally, what's "head" got to do with it? This is the Greek word kephale. In Greek, as well as English, head could mean two different things: it could mean the beginning, the top, the source OR it could mean the ruler, the chief, the boss. But in Greek there were two different words for “head:” kephale was the word for your actual head, and meant “the front,” like the head of a line. Arche was the word for ruler.

Paul on purpose did not use the word arche because it was not his intention to imply that the husband was the boss of the woman, even though in Paul’s day the husband was not only the boss, he actually owned his wife and could do whatever he pleased with her. Paul used the word kephale because God alone is the ruler over both the husband and the wife.

Husbands are to lead in one thing: love. To love with self-sacrificing love NOT self-centered satisfaction that demands. The husband acts as head when he sticks his neck out and goes first into battle, and the wife submits when she stands in formation with him, sharing the risks with him and obeying the same orders as he.

In a grace filled relationship, a wife can come under her husband and put to his service everything about herself that is female to enable her husband to become everything God created him to be, to love and support him and to allow God to do the leading and directing. Husbands are called to do the same for their wives.

And now you can see the truth underneath the parody.

If this post got you to thinking, please leave a comment and join the conversation

Avenged Sevenfold (2007) "A Little Piece Of Heaven" Part 1

[reprinted as written by Avenged Sevenfold]
A7X official video [Be careful with this one; the content is disturbing. Here's an alternate link without the graphics, but with the uncensored lyrics]

Before the story begins, is it such a sin,
for me to take what's mine, until the end of time
We were more than friends, before the story ends,
And I will take what's mine, create what
God would never design

Our love had been so strong for far too long,
I was weak with fear that
something would go wrong,
before the possibilities came true,
I took all possibility from you
Almost laughed myself to tears,
conjuring her deepest fears

Must have stabbed her fifty f***ing times,
I can't believe it,
Ripped her heart out right before her eyes,
Eyes over easy, eat it eat it eat it

She was never this good in bed
even when she was sleepin'
now she's just so perfect I've
never been quite so f***ing deep in
it goes on and on and on,
I can keep you lookin' young and preserved forever,
with a fountain to spray on your youth whenever

'Cause I really always knew that my little crime
would be cold that's why I got a heater for your thighs
and I know, I know it's not your time
but bye, bye
and a word to the wise when the fire dies
you think it's over but it's just begun
but baby don't cry

You had my heart, at least for the most part
'cause everybody's gotta die sometime, we fell apart
let's make a new start
'cause everybody's gotta die sometime yeah
but baby don't cry

Now possibilities I'd never considered,
are occurring the likes of which I'd never heard,
Now an angry soul comes back from beyond the grave,
to repossess a body with which I'd misbehaved

Smiling right from ear to ear
Almost laughed herself to tears

Must have stabbed him fifty f***ing times
I can't believe it
Ripped his heart out right before his eyes
Eyes over easy
Eat it eat it eat it

Now that it's done I realize the error of my ways
I must venture back to apologize from somewhere far beyond the grave

I gotta make up for what I've done
'Cause I was all up in a piece of heaven
while you burned in hell, no peace forever

'Cause I really always knew that my little crime
would be cold that's why I got a heater for your thighs
and I know, I know it's not your time
but bye, bye
and a word to the wise when the fire dies
you think it's over but it's just begun
but baby don't cry

You had my heart, at least for the most part
'Cause everybody's gotta die sometime, we fell apart
Let's make a new start
'Cause everybody's gotta die sometime yeah
But baby don't cry

I will suffer for so long
(What will you do, not long enough)
To make it up to you
(I pray to God that you do)
I'll do whatever you want me to do
(Well then I'll break you unchained)
And if it's not enough
(If it's not enough, If it's not enough)
If it's not enough
(Not enough)
Try again
(Try again)
And again
(And again)
Over and over again

We're coming back, coming back
We'll live forever, live forever
Let's have wedding, have a wedding
Let's start the killing, start the killing

'Cause I really always knew that my little crime
would be cold that's why I got a heater for your thighs
and I know, I know it's not your time
but bye, bye
And a word to the wise when the fire dies
you think it's over but it's just begun
but baby don't cry

You had my heart, at least for the most part
'Cause everybody's gotta die sometime, we fell apart
Let's make a new start
'Cause everybody's gotta die sometime yeah
But baby don't cry

In keeping with my commitment to blog on every song in A7X's repertoire, I am including this song; though it pains me to do it, I won't lie.

Written by The Rev, "'It’s basically a story about a man murdering his significant other and preserving her to do whatever he pleases with her. And the story takes a twist,' Zacky Vengeance explains, with M. Shadows adding, 'She comes back from the grave and kills him.' Zacky mentions they then, 'go on this murderous rampage.'

'They’re both dead souls together and get married and terrorize everyone else,' Shadows concludes."

At first pass this is simply a gothic horror piece, a sort of gruesome tongue-in-cheek gallows humor aimed at love and marriage with a twist of zombie. I think, honestly, A7X wasn't intending on going much deeper than that - they know their fan base.

But in order to parody love and fidelity one needs to know what the real thing is, otherwise the humor is lost. What are the elements? A desire for exclusivity in the relationship, for love to match love, for desire to be satisfied again and again. But there's the sordid underside: The man wants to own the woman and do what he pleases with her mute surrender. The woman's revenge is to make the man like herself and to, in a sense, master him.

Together, undead, they decide to slaughter the world, one big, bloody soiree.

To explore the truths that make the gothic horror resonate you and I need to revisit the first man and the first woman, and what went wrong in their relationship. Then we need to study one of the more famous pasages in the new testament, the one that addresses the ideal marriage and what that represents.

So first to Genesis. In the second chapter of that book the author focuses in on what God did when He formed humanity

God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!

The word translated “man” here is actually the word “adam,” meaning “earth being” and is taken from the word “adamah” the word for the red colored earth common in the Fertile Crescent, the cradle of civilization. After making adam, God placed this creature in the Garden of Eden.

[Maybe you've wondered if Adam was a real person or just a legend, a myth meant to communicate a lesson. In the gospel of Luke Adam is listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, as real as everyone else on the list. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus talked about the union of the first man and woman and in the epistles Paul referred to Adam several times, as the first man.]

"Eden" means bliss or delight, virtually a symbol of heaven. For people familiar with the desert, as the ancient Hebrews were, this lush, well-watered Garden would have sounded exquisite. It didn’t just have the usual desert shrubs and cacti, it had pleasing trees of every kind, rich with fruit. It didn’t have the usual oases dotted here and there, or the seasonal brook, it contained the headwaters for four mighty rivers -- living water, or rushing water, was often a symbol of blessing in the Old Testament, so Eden was overflowing with blessing.

Eden was abounding in delicious food, in physical beauty, in acres of space, plentiful in resources like gold, precious gems and aromatic resins; Eden was pristine, and full of variety, it was Paradise, the environment you and I were meant to enjoy, a place where God would meet humankind’s every need, and where people would worship the One Who blessed them.

Some people have wondered if the Garden was written simply as a metaphor, or a legend. But the geographical landmarks given concerning Eden make it clear that Moses intended for people to know that Eden was an actual location, somewhere in the area where Iraq now exists. As he wrote this from Mt. Sinai, for example, “to the east” would have put Eden somewhere across the Arabian desert, toward the area between the Tigris and Euphrates. He mentioned two other, now unknown, rivers, but one of them might be a dried river bed discovered a number of years ago by satellite imagery underneath the sands of the Arabian desert.

Eden was luscious because God had carefully designed and planted it Himself. Now God gave adam, the living "earth being," this exquisite Garden, along with a purpose and responsibility: the creature was to continue in the work of God, cultivating and sustaining the beauty of Eden. Part of humankind’s ruling the earth would involve caring for it, serving and nurturing the garden. By this action, God declared that working to the glory of God is the right setting for humankind.

You and I were created to find our fulfillment in the work we do as to the Lord, working always for the glory of God. God could have decreed that the Garden would be self-keeping, but He determined that it would be better for people to serve Him through our labor. Work is good and was part of humankind’s perfect existence before the fall. Work would develop adam’s character and personality.

Through his husbandry, adam could cause the Garden to bring forth new fruit, expressing his ingenuity, his creative energy. Adam’s work was a delight, nothing frustrated his effort...the ground readily produced for him. Every good thing that humanity could desire, and that would satisfy them, was provided in Eden.

Though Adam was perfect, the human being was inexperienced and as yet undeveloped. Along with meaningful work, he needed instruction...God teaching him and guiding him along in his work. Adam's education extended beyond gardening: He learned about two important trees, the one of life, the other of the knowledge of good and evil, and what to do about them, and he was given the task of studying and identifying all the creatures of uearth (something scientists continue in with great gusto to this very day).

[he was invited to eat of the tree of life, something he never chose to do; he was also instructed to not eat of the tree of knowledge as it would kill him. This he did choose to do, and it did bring death in dimensions he had little planned on.]

THough everything was very good, not all was complete in the Garden of Eden. The man, in his studies, was learning that he had no partner, and it made him feel lonely.

Loneliness is one of the most crushing of human emotions, some consider it to be worse even than any physical suffering. Every one of us has felt lonely and alone, it is a deeply human experience, the need for companionship. There is nothing wrong with that; God made us that way. You and I need one another. We were not made to exist in loneliness.

You might ask why adam would be lonely when he was a perfect being in a perfect setting in perfect fellowship with God. Because God is three-in-one, the trinity, a community, if you will. It was God's intention from the very beginning to make male and female in the making of humankind, a community, as a more complete expression of God’s image, the community of the trinity. As the man and the woman become one flesh in marriage, and bring forth children from the union of their love, God’s love and fellowship is vibrantly illustrated.

So God took a significant portion of the man’s body to form the woman. In a sense God divided the one human being into two people with a longing to be joined back together.

The Hebrew word God used to describe the woman was “ezer.” “Ezer” in scripture usually refers to God in His relationship to His people and means far more than the word “helper” (English translation of "ezer") might imply. God’s plan was that woman should correspond to man, as someone to share not only his life as a companion but his work and responsibilities as well.

Woman was to be “a helper comparable” to the man, an equally valued human being and an equal partner in God's grace. God created woman to be the counterpart of man in life. It was God's stated plan in the beginning (the first chapter of Genesis) that man and woman should be together working with a common purpose in life, woman would be a real partner, a “companion just like the man,” only....she would be a woman.

With God there is no ranking of people, as though some would be more special than others, or more important than others. In God's eyes men and women are completely equal, equally loved, equally endowed with spiritual gifts, having equal potential for maturity in faith. God's original plan for woman was to co-rule with man. Woman was to share with man a mutual concern and responsibility, though necessarily they might have different assignments because of the nature of their work. She was to be suitable for him, someone who would correspond to him, to be in partnership with him.

When adam was alone, studying the animals, he might have learned that woman was not to be a mere beast of burden. Adam was ruler over the animals, having been given authority over them by God, and the right to name them, claiming his ownership. He did not name any other animal after himself, calling any other animal "man" or "human." He understood that he was essentially different from all the animals. They were not made in the image of God. No animal would co-rule with man, co-subdue the earth with him.

Maybe the next thing adam learned in his search was that woman was not to be like the animals which bear and rear young as almost their sole reason for existence. Read the Song of Songs (tucked next to Proverbs int he Bible) sometime and you will see that the Bible describes sex in marriage as first an expression of profound and intimate love.

Third, Adam might have learned that woman was not going to be a creature outside himself to be used as he saw fit and then dispensed with, as people will often use animals, even pets. The one who corresponded to him would be of his same essence as man, part of him, someone necessary for living life successfully.

After creating woman God brought her to Adam, and Adam instantly recognized her, instantly knew who she was, the perfect one for him, exclaiming in Hebrew, "ishshah." "Ish", is Hebrew for man, because he could see that she was made from the same substance as himself, made to fit who he was in a perfect way, filled with the same breath as his breath. The second part of the word "shah" can refer to being soft to the touch, denoting woman as more delicate and having a special "feminine" nature different from man; and he loved her deeply from his heart, uttering the second love poem in the Bible (the first is in Genesis 1, when God exclaimed over the creation of human beings),

The Man said,
"Finally! Bone of my bone,
flesh of my flesh!
Name her Woman
for she was made from Man."
Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.
The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.

Marriage is to involve a complete identity. The two are to be one. Adam's first reaction when he saw his wife was: she is of the same body as me. This is strengthened when you read, "and they become one flesh." In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul the apostle pointed out that the man who hurts his wife is hurting himself. He may not feel it directly, but down the line the result of it will show in his life, because she is really, genuinely, and factually sharing one life with him. They become one flesh. This is not poetry; it is reality.

Another characteristic of true marriage is permanence. "Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife." This is a strong word. In the Hebrew text it is the word “dabag,” which means "to adhere firmly, as if with glue." God designed marriage to be a permanent thing.

Think about the last phrase, “they shall become one flesh.” The fullness of what God wants to do in the one flesh relationship takes time. It has to become. It will take all your lives together.

God had specially designed the woman to complete the man in deep fellowship and love, like no other creature on earth, to be made one with him emotionally, spiritually and even physically, a profound “one flesh” intimacy. They were completely vulnerable with each other, there was nothing to hide, no condemnation, no judging, no critical spirit, but only complete trust and mutual humility. This oneness was to be an illustration of the kind of relationship God Himself has within the trinity and what He offers to every person through belief and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

But then the awful events of the next chapter unfold - the forbidden fruit and the "price of evil," the consequences that rolled down,

God told the Woman:
"I'll multiply your pains in childbirth; you'll give birth to your babies in pain. But you will still desire your husband, and he will rule over you."

God was simply revealing the self-centered core that was beginning to motivate each of them: To the woman "your DESIRE will be for your husband." Sin's desire is destructive, dominating, and usurping. And the man would tend to be hard and tyrannical, seeking to rule over and dominate the woman.

The woman's consequences would primarily affect her relationships. It's an interesting that God said her pain would be increased - apparently pain would have existed in the perfect Eden, a good thing that would have also strengthened and deepened the man and the woman. But now that pain would be greatly increased.

The word desire, here, means the desire to master or control. The woman was going to desire to control her husband and chafe under his rule, chafe at having to be number two. Being an ezer would not always feel like a blessing, or a calling, or a worthy destiny to the woman. And the man’s tendency to want to rule her and have dominion over her, like he did over the animals, and not accept her as his co-ruler would only make the power struggle more acute. You and I feel it to this day.

The consequences for the man: work would now include painful, sweaty toil with stress and frustration as much of his work would produce unacceptable results.

Can you begin to see, now, why the Gothic horror resonates with us?

We'll tackle the Paul's advice on marriage tomorrow.

If this post got you to thinking, please leave a comment and join the conversation