Did you know that TODAY IS THE DAY?
Yes, that's right ... TikTok predicted the Rapture was going to happen today.
If you want to know how this happened, take dispensational theology, wash it in Gen Z's hamster-like attention span, and add an algorithm controlled by Chinese communists who want us all stupid and/or dead.
In recent days, a prediction spread through social media that the rapture would occur Tuesday, and on TikTok, the hashtag #rapturenow has more than 311,000 videos — some of which endorsed the prediction, while many others poked fun at it.
According to Gizmodo, the videos are ... well, like I said, a whole bunch of weird.
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.
Most of the videos are mocking the idea of the Rapture, but many are serious, or at least pretend to be serious.
YES, I HAVE EXAMPLES:
The original prediction seems to have come from a South African man who says he had a dream in 2018 where Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, told him there would be no FIFA World Cup in 2026.
Back to The Boston Globe / New York Times report:
The date of Sept. 23, 2025, appears to have originated from Joshua Mhlakela of South Africa. Though news reports have widely described him as a pastor, he said in a YouTube video from June: 'I'm just a simple person, no title. I'm not an apostle, I'm not a pastor, I'm not a bishop. I'm just a believer.'
In the video, he says that Jesus came to him in a dream in 2018 and told him, 'On the 23rd and the 24th of September, 2025, I will come to take my church.'
The context, as Mr. Mhlakela understood it, was the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 'He was telling me that by June 2026, the world is gearing up toward the World Cup,' he said, but because chaos would descend after the Rapture, 'there will be no World Cup in 2026.'
Mr. Mhlakela's first clue that this revelation wasn't real is the idea that Jesus would be concerned about soccer.
The second clue is that Jesus very specifically told his disciples, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Jesus also wasn't talking specifically about the idea of a "Rapture" (based on an interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 and Matthew 24:21), but the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Jewish Temple, the distress of the times to follow, and his eventual return.
(Please read your Bibles.)
His prediction somehow gathered momentum on the internet. Searches for 'rapture' and 'the rapture Tuesday' started to climb around Sept. 20, according to Google Trends.
And yet, here I am, writing this story instead of being caught up to heaven!
The Babylon Bee's editor-in-chief had thoughts:
WHOA.
Some other funny replies:
Anyway, it's only 4 p.m. EST as I write this.
Here's hoping I'm wrong and Jesus retu —
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