September 23 -24 September 2025 was predicted as the days of Rapture – when Christ’s followers will be taken up to Heaven, while those who do not follow him will be left behind on Earth, changing life for humans forever.

A trend largely driven with hashtag #Rapture on Tik Tok and other social media platforms is connected to the belief that Jesus is returning to Earth for the Second Coming. As that happens, all of Christ’s followers – living and dead – are said to rise into the sky to meet him.

A South African pastor, Joshua Mhlakela said in a TV interview that he had seen Jesus in a vision. In this vision, Jesus returned to Earth on Rosh Hashanah, the New Year in Judaism. The pastor also said that the Rapture would take place on either September 23 or 24.

There are also posts that say the Rapture claims are a conspiracy theory, linked to the world ending. There have been several predictions about the world ending in recent years, including one that a Mayan calendar which abruptly ended partway through December 2012 meant that there wouldn’t be a world to live in after that date.

TikTok has more than 300,000 posts about the Rapture so far. They have included serious clips about Pastor Mhlakela’s claims, giving them a biblical background. Others have shown how believers have given away their belongings to strangers as they do not expect to be around on Earth to need them while some clips take a more humorous approach, especially from people who don’t believe in the Rapture and use humour to make light of the situation. The hashtag #raptureready has become popular too.

With 23 and 24 September given as one of the dates for the Rapture, some TikTokers have filmed themselves waiting for the Rapture to happen. Others have posted clips that since the Rapture is not mentioned in the Bible, Jesus will not let us know in advance when it is happening.