If you’re a Christian believer studying this, you might be both already in heaven with the Lord or have been left behind by the Rapture. It’s because the world was predicted to finish on September twenty third or twenty fourth, 2025, in response to South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela.
In a YouTube video that went viral, garnering over 560,000 views, Mhlakela claimed he had a imaginative and prescient that the Rapture would happen on the desired dates.
Clips of his prophecy unfold throughout TikTok beneath the hashtag #RaptureTok, with some viewers anxiously sharing prayers whereas others mocked it as simply one other failed doomsday prophecy. At present, Wednesday, September 24, is the final day of the purported rapture, and to this point, so good, we’re nonetheless on earth.
On June 17, 2025, in an interview with CettwinzTV, Pastor Mhlakela recommended that the ‘rapture’ was imminent. In keeping with him, true believers can be taken to heaven. Recounting the divine imaginative and prescient, the South African pastor mentioned that he noticed Jesus sitting on his throne. He mentioned Jesus advised him, “I’ll come to take my church.”
He tied this prophecy to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New 12 months, suggesting it was divinely vital. Since his declare, greater than 295,000 movies have been posted on TikTok as a part of the trending hashtag, and customers are sharing what Christians should do to arrange for the rapture.
However this isn’t the primary time somebody has set a date for the Rapture and been confirmed mistaken. The idea of rapture itself began getting recognition in the course of the 1830s.
What Precisely Is the Rapture?
The Rapture is a Christian belief that true believers will out of the blue be caught as much as meet Jesus within the air earlier than a interval of nice tribulation on Earth. Whereas the phrase rapture doesn’t seem within the Bible, passages from 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, 1 Corinthians 15:52, and Matthew 24 are sometimes cited in help of it.
The concept gained momentum within the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly by means of the Scofield Reference Bible, which included Rapture educating in its notes and in style Christian media just like the movie ‘A Thief within the Evening’ and the ‘Left Behind’ novel collection.
Failed Rapture Predictions By means of Historical past
1. William Miller and the “Nice Disappointment” (1844)
Within the nineteenth century, American farmer William Miller predicted Jesus would return between 1843 and 1844. Hundreds of followers bought their belongings and gathered to await their ascension. When nothing occurred, Miller recalculated and selected October 22, 1844. Once more, nothing occurred. The occasion grew to become often called the Nice Disappointment.
2. Mission for the Coming Days (1992, South Korea)
A Korean evangelical group predicted Jesus would return on October 28, 1992. Hundreds gathered in church buildings awaiting the Rapture, however the date handed uneventfully.
3. Harold Tenting (2011, USA)
California preacher Harold Tenting predicted the Rapture for Could 21, 2011. His media empire spent thousands and thousands on billboards and broadcasting worldwide. When the day got here and went, Tenting revised the date to October 21, 2011. After that failed, he stopped making predictions.
4. Pastor Ade Abraham (Nigeria, 2022)
In Ekiti State, Pastor Ade Abraham of Christ Excessive Fee made headlines after instructing his congregation to relocate to a camp the place they have been advised to “look ahead to the Rapture.” Studies alleged that he even requested followers to pay a ₦310,000 rapture payment to ensure their spot in heaven. The prophecy by no means got here true.
5. Pastor Metuh (Nigeria, 2024)
One other Nigerian preacher, Pastor Metuh, reportedly set April 25, 2024, because the day of rapture, urging his congregation to arrange urgently. When the date handed uneventfully, he issued an announcement on his X account explaining that his prophecy had not come to cross as a result of intervention of God after he and his followers accomplished a 21-day quick and prayer.
6. Joshua Mhlakela (2025, South Africa)
The newest in a protracted line of failed prophecies, Mhlakela’s declare that the Rapture would happen on September 23–24 grew to become a viral second on TikTok, and spiritual commentators rushed to elucidate why it was false.
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Why Do These Predictions Maintain Failing?
1. The Bible Warns Towards Date-Setting
This is likely one of the strongest arguments in opposition to rapture predictions is the Bible itself. Whereas many preachers declare to search out hidden codes or divine revelations in regards to the precise day of Christ’s return, Scripture persistently cautions believers to not set dates. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus mentioned:
“However of that day and hour nobody is aware of, not even the angels of heaven, however My Father solely.”
2. Human Fascination With The Finish
All through historical past, wars, pandemics, and disasters have intensified apocalyptic fears. Throughout World Conflict I and World Conflict II, many Christians believed the size of destruction was an indication of the tip occasions. Extra lately, the COVID-19 pandemic, local weather change, and conflicts just like the Russia–Ukraine struggle, in addition to the Israel-Palestine struggle, have been cited by some preachers as proof that the world is getting ready to collapse.
3. The Viral Period
Not like previous centuries when failed prophecies unfold slowly by means of phrase of mouth, social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Fb have now turned native preachers into international voices in a single day. Joshua Mhlakela’s prophecy is a transparent instance.
His YouTube video, uploaded simply three months earlier than September 23–24, racked up greater than 560,000 views. On TikTok, the hashtag #RaptureTok shortly started trending, with 1000’s of customers sharing movies, memes, and reactions.
The repeated failures of rapture predictions remind us that whereas people are fascinated with the tip, Scripture cautions in opposition to making an attempt to calculate it. As an alternative of getting misplaced in dates and predictions, believers are referred to as to religion, endurance, and hope. In spite of everything, the message of the rapture isn’t about worry, it’s in regards to the promise of final redemption.
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