If you are reading this, you’re still here — and so is everyone else. For at least the tenth time, a widely shared rapture prediction did not happen.
The latest claim came from South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela. For the past few months, he appeared on a podcast where he shared his vision. Mhlakela said Jesus physically appeared to him in 2018 and told him the rapture would occur on Sept. 23 and 24, 2025, during the Feast of Trumpets.
Social media fueled the hype
Since Mhlakela’s claim, believers on TikTok and other platforms worked to spread the message, urging people to repent and prepare for Jesus’ return.
One of the more popular TikTok users behind the push is @romans.ten.9through11. In her most recent videos, she talks about the rapture and even posted a four-minute goodbye video to her followers.
“If there is some chance that we don’t get raptured, I will come back and make an apology video for myself being deceived,” she shared.
But before that, she posted another video for people that would be “left behind” after the Sept. 23 rapture.
“The Holy Spirit has put it on my heart to leave evidence for those who will be left behind so that they can understand where all the people went,” that same user said in a TikTok on Sept. 7.
She encouraged people to “run to God” and not believe possible news reports that aliens abducted Christians or that a catastrophic event took place.
Some people reportedly sold belongings to leave for people who would be left behind after the rapture.
One social media user reported seeing a TikTok where a woman said, “I’ve already transferred the deed to my house. I just need to give this car away.”
A history of failed predictions
This is not the first time a rapture or end-of-world prediction created a stir. In 2012, many people linked the Mayan calendar to an apocalypse.
In 1997, 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult believed a spaceship behind the Hale-Bopp comet would take them to another world. Their tragic mass suicide drew global headlines.
Blood Moon predictions around 2014 had some pastors tying a series of lunar eclipses to end-times prophecy.
Some creators who promoted the Sept. 23 prediction have gone silent now that the day has passed. Others still hold hope, saying the rapture could arrive at the last hour of Sept. 24.
So if you’re still reading this, congratulations — you’ve survived another rapture.
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