On RaptureTok, Today Is the End of the World as We Know It

If you’re reading this, we’re sorry: You’re one of the leftovers. Over in the religious corners of TikTok, self-styled prophets and prognosticators have decided that Tuesday, September 23, 2025, is the day of the Rapture—the moment that Jesus Christ will return to Earth and elevate all true believers to heaven, where their eternal rewards await them.

You probably have a lot of questions. Don’t worry, we do too. As best anyone can tell, the idea that the rapture would hit on September 23 seems to stem from a proclamation by Joshua Mhlakela, a person occasionally identified as a pastor but who self-identifies as “a simple person.” He rejects the titles like “apostle,” “pastor,” and “bishop,” but does accept “believer” if you’re so inclined. Whatever you want to call him, he seems to be the source of the Rapture date, which stems from a dream he had.

In Mhlakela’s telling, he’s had a vision of Christ for years in his dreams. But one vision in 2018 really stuck with him. In it, he says, Jesus visited him and said he plans to “come to take my church” on the 23rd and 24th of September 2025. Christ also told him, “There will be no World Cup in 2026.” Which adds up if the Rapture ends up being real. There won’t be many folks left to play, what with all of the chaos that the world will be plunged into and everything! But it is an oddly specific thing for the son of God to reference. Jesus is a big soccer guy, apparently.

Anyway, that seems to be the origin of this whole thing, a guy who had a dream that the World Cup won’t happen because Christ is returning. Mhlakela reiterated this on a September 9 episode of the same show, which racked up nearly half a million views and might be responsible for the theory gaining steam online.

At some point, the date made its way to particular parts of TikTok where folks are frankly giddy about the possibility of the end of the world, as evidenced by their numerous other predictions that have come and passed without Christ’s return occurring. Word previously went around online that the Rapture would come during the summer of 2021, for instance. But some mix of Christians, folks who are way too into symbology and numerology, and your run-of-the-mill conspiracy theorists have simply been having a heyday with this particular prediction.

This has spawned RaptureTok, a subsection of the social platform that has been largely unavoidable if you scroll the For You page for any amount of time. Swipe and you might find someone explaining to you how Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, fits into this. Swipe again and you’ll get advice on how to remove anything with potential demonic energy from your house before the Rapture starts. Another swipe and you can catch some tips on how to handle getting beamed up to heaven. (Pro tip: Do not look down!)

Much of the content on RaptureTok is ironic or mocking. But not all of it! Some people are really, really into the idea. It’s a little hard to blame them, seeing as things aren’t exactly going great down here. About four in 10 Americans believe we’re living in the end times, per polling from Pew. You don’t have to be religious to feel like that sounds about right. But hey, at least we’ve got the World Cup in 2026 to look forward to.