Social media posts suggesting that the rapture is coming today are going viral on the internet thanks to a South African pastor who said Jesus appeared to him in a vision and claimed he was coming back to earth on September 23 and 24, 2025.The New York Post is reporting on the story of Pastor Joshua Mhlakela who recently said in an interview with CettwinzTV that “The rapture is upon us whether you are ready or not.”
In the video, which has garnered more than 500,000 views, he claims that he saw Jesus in a divine vision who spoke about returning to Earth during Rosh Hashanah, a feast some Christians associate with prophecy, which occurs on September 23 this year.
“I saw Jesus sitting on his throne, and I could hear him very loud and clear saying, ‘I am coming soon,’” the pastor said. “He said to me on the 23rd and 24th of September 2025, ‘I will come back to the Earth.’”
The claim has taken off with many believing that last week’s blood moon is proof that something big is about to happen. The celestial phenomenon that saw the moon turn blood-red on September 7-8 is believed to fulfill the prophecy made in Joel 2:28-31 about how “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”
The Rapture, a belief held by mostly evangelical Christians, is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 which states, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.” What exactly is the rapture?
As Catholic Answers explains, there are actually three different versions of this event. In the first interpretation, known as the “post-tribulational” view, which was widely held until the 19th century, it was believed that the rapture would take place immediately before the Second Coming, at the close of the tribulation.
During the 1800’s, a second interpretation claimed that the rapture would occur before the period of tribulation, which is known as the “pre-tribulational” view.
A third interpretation later developed, known as the “mid-tribulational” view, which claims that the rapture will occur during the middle of the tribulation.
“The problem with all of the positions (except the historic, post-tribulational view) is that they split the Second Coming into different events,” Catholic Answers writes. “In the case of the pre-trib view, Christ is thought to have three comings—one when he was born in Bethlehem, one when he returns for the rapture at the tribulation’s beginning, and one at tribulation’s end, when he establishes the millennium. This three-comings view is foreign to Scripture.”
However, the link between the blood moon, the Feast of Trumpets, and Pastor Mhlakela’s widely viewed interview, has resulted in a vast number of Christians expecting to be raptured sometime today or tomorrow.
In fact, some of the commenters on the pastor’s YouTube video claimed they could corroborate the prophecy with their own visions.
One commenter wrote: “Last December I had two visions and Jesus spoke to me.. in one He appeared to me and said to me, I am coming back soon! I saw people running all over looking for churches and the Bible which they could not find! The Second I saw a lake of Fire and He told me not to be afraid and then repeated to me that He is coming back!! This is serious and we need to accept Him as our savior and stay righteous by His Grace! May we meet at rapture! Can’t wait!!! God’s Grace be with All of us!!!”
Another one wrote: “Hey church, wakeup. On 10th, June 2025; Jesus told me he is coming very very soon. This is 4th time he telling me about his coming but this time the message was different. It's coming, It's coming. I cried so much, mainly for my children thinking how they will make it. Let's repent and keep holiness [sic].”
“It’s better to be on the safe side than sorry. Rather than argue, let’s stay watchful and keep ourselves ready, only God knows the hour,” this commenter advised, then added: “Last month I also had a vision, I dreamt I was dreaming….and the Lord appeared, telling me He is coming soon.”
Everyone seems to be forgetting what Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:36: “But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone,” which means it is highly unlikely that we’ll see a rapture in the next 24 hours.
However, even if the end of the world doesn’t occur today, any one of us could be facing our own end, which is why Jesus says a few verses later: “So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Let this latest social media storm remind us of why it's so important to stay vigilant and always be prepared for the end!
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
