2 Maccabees 15:1-5. Nicanor plans to attack Judas Maccabee and his men on the Sabbath because he knows that they will be observing the day of rest. The Jews who have been forced to fight with Nicanor's army plead with him not to do this, but to "show respect for the day which he who sees all things has honored and hallowed above all other days." Nicanor, "the thrice-accursed wretch," asks if there is a Sovereign in heaven who commanded this, and the Jews reply yes, the Lord himself. Nicanor says "And I am a sovereign also, on earth, and I command you to take up arms and finish the king's business." The passage ends with "Nevertheless, he did not succeed in carrying out his abominable design."

This is another example of the corrupting influence of power and the punishment of the arrogant, especially those who lead others astray. Nicanor is so caught up in his own power and ego he has no concern at all for the feelings or truly held beliefs of his men - they do not matter at all - it is all about him. Nicanor asserts his power as a sovereign on earth as being equal to or even greater than the Lord as sovereign of heaven. He may well have been have been being flippant - not really believing in this "Sovereign of heaven" that the Jews were talking about, but his dismissiveness and the result are instructive.

God is real - he is the Sovereign of heaven - of earth - of everything. It really does not matter if a person believes in him or not, his will will be done. Nicanor did not believe, but that did not stop him from being punished for his arrogance. Saying that you don't believe in God, and thus thinking that you are exempt from his ways is like saying you don't believe in gravity and thinking that means you won't fall if you step off a cliff. We cannot counter reality - truth - even with all the earthly power that there is.

God is reality, he is the Truth - he created Nicanor, he created the Jews who were fighting in his army, he created Judas Maccabee and the Jews who were fighting with him, he created all of the laws of nature, and of human nature, and his will will always be done. If, like Nicanor, we not only believe a lie ourselves, but force others to act in accordance with it, countering what they know to be the Truth, our punishment will be even greater. That is, essentially, acting like Satan - and things did not go well for him.