According to the Bible, there won’t be many atheists, if any, during the endtimes. Prophecies about this are in Daniel and Revelation, the two foremost apocalyptic books in the Bible. Revelation in the New Testament actually fills in details of the endtimes framework established in Daniel in the Old Testament.
Both Daniel and Revelation predict that a man will arise during the so-called endtimes who will become one of the greatest political and religious leaders in human history. Christians call him “the Antichrist.” He will be the emperor of this world’s last empire that will be sort of a revived Roman Empire. Yet it will encompass a larger territory than Rome did by including all of the territory of the three previous empires (Dan 7.12), which were the Neo-Babylonian, Media-Persian, and Greek empires. So, as the map in my book Warrior from Heaven reveals, the final stage of this fourth and last empire of the world will encompass all of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Daniel recounts a vision he had about these four empires symbolized as four beasts (Dan 7.1-7). Then he depicts the final Antichrist as “a little horn” that came up among “ten horns” on the fourth beast (Dan 7.7-8). The ten horns symbolize ten kings that correspond to both the “ten toes” in King Nechudnezzar’s dream in Dan 2.42 and the “ten horns” on the beast of Revelation (Rev 17.3, 12). Thus, the Antichrist will arise when these ten kings rule their kingdoms in this empire.
Daniel says the Antichrist “shall speak words against the Most High, shall wear out the holy ones of the Most High,… for a time, two times, and half a time” (Dan 7.25 NRSV; cf. 12.7). Jesus called this time period, when the Antichrist will persecute God’s people, as “the (great) tribulation” (Matt. 24.21; Mark 13.19 NASB). It’s length of time is also related variously as 3.5 years, 42 months, and 1,260 days (Rev 11.2-3; 12.6, 14; 13.5; cf. Dan 12.11-12).
Daniel also says of the Antichrist, “He shall exalt himself and consider himself greater than any god, and shall speak horrendous things against the God of gods,” apparently referring to the God of heaven, thus the God of the Bible (Dan 11.36). Daniel adds, “He shall honor the god of fortresses,… a god whom his ancestors did not know” (v. 38 NRSV).
The book of Revelation tells us who this god of fortresses is that the Antichrist will honor. John, the author, informs that he also had a vision about a dragon and a beast that arose out of the sea (Rev 12.18–13.1). John says, “The great dragon … is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (Rev 12.9 NRSV). And he adds, “The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast” (Rev 13.2-4 NIV). At that time, “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them… All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast–all whose names have not been written in the book of life” belonging to “the Lamb,” who is Jesus (vv. 5-8 NIV).
John also reveals that near the end of the tribulation seven angels will exercise judgment on these worshippers of Satan and the Antichrist in the form of plagues. John says, “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun and it was allowed to scorch people with fire; they were scorched by the firece heat, they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues, and they did not repent,” thus indicating that these plagues somehow fell selectively upon these impentinent worshippers of the Satan and the Antichrist (Rev 16.8). These suffers furthermore “cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds” (v. 11). The seventh angel poured out his bowl of judgment, and among other things it resulted in the world’s worst earthquake and hailstones (vv. 17-18). Yet they still “cursed God” (v. 20).
If during these last days the entire world’s population, except for God’s people, will worship Satan and the Antichrist, and they continually will blaspheme God’s name and curse him, where are the atheists? And why aren’t there any? I will save that question for another day.
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