The Avenger

2 Kings 14:25

He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.

When the official trailer of The Avengers came out, I was one of the billions who made that statement: ‘This I gotta watch!’ Seeing Earth’s mightiest and Marvel-ous heroes in one film is just overwhelmingly superb. I’d probably get star-struck, so like when I first saw Optimus on iMax; and panicking too – like when all his Autobots started to transform. They were doing a great lot in seconds and I only have two eyes to catch up on them :> With this movie, I have to admit I’m also looking forward to hearing Ironman’s funny, quirky lines. This genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist will sure steal a lot of scenes. And yes, we'd probably disregard he’s boastful and mocking and a womanizer.

To Israel in the eighth century, they’ve found an avenger in Jeroboam II. His father named him after the considered great founder of the northern kingdom. Jehoash probably hoped his son will complete the prophecy for a deliverer, which he accomplished halfway.  And indeed his son lived up to everyone’s expectations. He was able to recover their lost territories as it was during the golden days of Solomon.  His forty one years on the throne was the longest of all northern kings. Archaeological evidence, according to Wikipedia, confirms that his was the most prosperous reign Israel had yet known. The prophet Amos recorded his lifestyle luxurious, but rebuked him for corruption and injustice. Outwardly, he was their knight and shining armor, but inwardly, he caused their moral decay. “Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’ - - was his great script and everyone applauded. They looked at the past, saw the Syrians’ oppression, and were just glad it was all behind them. Sadly they missed that part where God heard their cries, remembered the covenant He had with their forefathers, acted on grace and compassion, and empowered their called-heroes.  He deserve a mention right? All the glory actually. But their hero concealed that story. ‘Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord’ was his line in Amos chapter 6.

In our Ladies’ Lifegroup last Wednesday, our leader shared of a missionary who financially helped a poor person in need. Grateful and overwhelmed, that person ran to him, on his knees, kissing his hands and thanking him nonstop. The missionary immediately picked him up and asked him to quit thanking him. ‘No, no! It was from the Lord really!’  Come to think of it, how many times have we possibly robbed God of the glory by not redirecting people’s gaze upward?  ‘You’re welcome’ may be a polite phrase, but it doesn’t give praise to God at all.  ‘Don’t mention it’ is worse. Of course we won’t completely do away with that sense of ‘it was pleasing for me to do’ and that we still promote gratitude here. We may be the actors playing the role, but in the end, we do need to give Him all credits. Admit it: we’re all humans and we don’t have powers. There’s only one Avenger in fact. Without Him, we’re a flop!