Pastor Rose Sheehan of Highlands Presbyterian Church says a prayer in Allendale, NJ, Sept. 20, 2025. © Anne-Marie Caruso/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
(New York, NY) – It seems like claims emerge every so often that “the rapture” is coming. And right now, TikTok is abuzz with videos from people who were convinced that biblical event was coming today, September 23. That was originally suggested by a pastor in South Africa — Joshua Mhlakela — who said he saw a message in a vision that Jesus was coming on Rosh Hashana.
The pastor told CettwinzTV that he “saw Jesus sitting on his throne, and I could hear him very loud and clear saying, ‘I am coming soon.’” Mhlakela further predicted Jesus would return either “on the 23rd and 24th of September 2025.”
In the Christian faith, the rapture refers to an “end of times” event as described in the Book of Revelations, in which Jesus Christ will return to the earth — and all souls will ascend to heaven — dead and alive. In the past, rapture predications have been taken very seriously by some. There have been reports of people quitting their jobs and even a 14-year-old Russia boy who committed suicide, back in 2011.
The May 21, 2011 date was set by Christian radio host Harold Camping in 2005. He’d originally predicted September 6, 1994 — but that didn’t happen.
