Leo Gillick
It’s been a wild week on the internet. Did you have the rapture on your 2025 bingo cards?
Videos by Rare
According to some people’s beliefs, particularly evangelical Christians, the rapture is the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus. They believe they’ll ascend to heaven like a helium balloon. Apparently, it’s coming soon as in yesterday. Wait what?
The rapture took over social media with some saying goodbyes and some making fun of those who actually believed in the event. It can all be traced back to one person.
- South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela made a few wild claims, and people latched on.
- Between 23 and 24 of September, it’s time for the rapture, according to Mhlakela. There are going to be a lot of very disappointed people today.
- The pastor explained in a now viral video that Jesus visited him in a dream.
- “He says to me, ‘On the 23rd and the 24th of September, 2025, I will come to take my church,’” Mhlakela recalled. “The world is gearing up toward the World Cup, right? But by June, they think the World Cup will happen. But after the rapture of September 2025, the chaos that would be in the world, the destruction, the devastation that will be in the world after … there will be no World Cup 2026.”
Rapture Ready
That video quickly went viral. It spawned a host of various videos online as some bought into what the pastor was selling. While some parodied the whole thing, some actually believed the rapture was happening. Just check online and you’d find a host of videos. Mothers were saying goodbye to their kids for the last time, people were waiting outside to prevent getting stuck on their ceilings, and folks were cramming in as many prayers as possible to secure a first-class seat in the afterlife.
@blueridgeavl September 23, 2025 rapture. Live reporting from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, keeping an eye on any activity in the sky.
♬ original sound – BlueRidgeGirl
On Brand: Unfortunately, many of these people ended up the butt of the internet’s jokes. But it’s all kind of on brand at this point. It’s not the first time nor the last someone will claim the rapture or end of the world. In the 2010s, evangelical leader Harold Campin infamously claimed multiple times the world was going to end. He died in 2013, and we’re still here. So no the rapture didn’t happen and we still have work on Tuesday and Wednesday.
