A South African pastor has predicted that the end of the world or “rapture” is happening soon, and social media is in a frenzy, ultimately with some not taking it seriously.
During a June 17 segment of the CentTwinz TV podcast, pastor Joshua Mhlakela claimed that “the rapture is upon us.” “The rapture is so upon us that if you are not ready for it, it is ready for you,” he said. “When the time has been appointed for something, it’s either you are prepared for it or if you’re not, it’s coming anyways.”
Mhlakela even gave specific dates of Sept. 23 and 24 that “Jesus is coming back to take his church.” “On the 23rd and 24th of September 2025, I will come to take my church,” the pastor said, claiming Jesus once told him.
As the clip started to circulate across social media, users, many of whom are of the Christian faith, began to scramble and prepare for what Mhlakela described as the second coming of Christ. On TikTok, the Rapture is being described as people who have Jesus in their hearts will go to heaven, and those who don’t will be left on Earth. Some users, like @hannahrg33, felt in her heart and her religious teachings that the date was real and did everything in her power to prepare, including requesting Sept. 23 off from work, which she was denied.
Ultimately, she lost her job.
@hannahrg33 #september #rapture #exodus #daniel #teshuvah #confirmation #endtimes #lastdays #fyp #viral #tiktok #christian #jesus #god #conspiracy #923 #feastoftrumpets #FoT #2025 #secondcoming #pretrib #pretribulationrapture #tribulation #soon #areyouready #judgement #repent #return #religion #relationship ♬ original sound – Hannah Gallman
However, other content creators weren’t taking it seriously. @heylisahey started a video with a somber tone explaining what the end of the world is supposed to be, but ended up recommending therapy with a focus on religious psychosis to those who believe in the alleged rapture date.
@heylisahey_ Jesus be a fence #rapture #rapturetiktok #christiantiktok #fyp ♬ original sound – HeyLisaHey
A past audio clip used from City Girls rapper Yung Miami, when she was curating a twerk contest, was used to jokingly describe how Jesus would select who goes with Him or not.
@abbyleemillersmaxipad
And, of course, BET+ Churchy star and comedian KevOnStage started a countdown to see if the Rapture would occur or not.
@kevonstagetiktok ♬ original sound – I Am Me
This isn’t the first time predictions of the end of the world have been made. According to Complex, the Rapture was supposed to take place on May 21, 2011, following a prediction made by Christian radio host Harold Camping in 2005. The same radio host claimed the Rapture would happen Sept. 6, 1994, but that didn’t happen.
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