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2 Maccabees 1:16 "Opening the secret door in the ceiling, [the priests] threw stones and struck down [Antiochus] and his men and dismembered them and cut off their heads and threw them to the people outside."

 

Under the pretext of needing a dowry for marriage, Antiochus had come to the temple of Nanea to steal its treasures. The priests used this opportunity as a trap, luring Antiochus and a few of his men into the temple, then locking the doors and attacking them from a secret door in the ceiling.

 

A lesson I'm taking from this is to be aware that there are "secret doors" - there are things we don't know, things that can be used to thwart us if we give others reason to use them against us. When we are leading sinful, worldly lives, we can sometimes become so pridefully sure of ourselves, like Antiochus. As we move through our lives and the world in our sin, we can harm others without giving them a second thought. We can confidently deceive them in order to get what we want, never considering that our deceptions might be used against us, or that they might have deceptions of their own.

 

Although we might not be thinking of those we hurt, they most certainly are thinking of us, or rather, of a way of getting out of our sphere of influence and harm, even if they have to resort to a bit of deception themselves. In his pride, Antiochus thought his power and his lies would lead the priests to just hand over the treasures to him, or at least give him access to them so he could steal them. The priests, though, used Antiochus' pride against him to lure him into a trap, and then used their own deception, a secret door in the ceiling, to attack and kill him. 

 

Retribution does not always come through a "secret door", but it almost always comes at a time, place, or from a person we least expect. That is because in sin we feel invulnerable, we usually don't even think we deserve punishment, much less consider where and when it might come. We are too wrapped up in ourselves to even consider we might not be in control. But secret doors through which our retribution can come are out there, waiting for the right time to be used if we don't repent.