A pastor from South Africa predicted that there would be a rapture on either September 23 or 24, but there have been numerous false predictions of raptures over the years.
The rapture is a belief held by many evangelical Christians in which Jesus returns to take true believers to Heaven before a period of tribulation on Earth. Pastor Joshua Mhlakela said Jesus revealed the coming rapture to him in a divine vision, and his claim has spread across social media, leading some followers to sell their possessions and prepare for what they believe is the rapture.
Predictions of a rapture are nothing new. Historical predictions of a rapture have not yet come to pass, despite recurring every few years.
Reverend Daniel Castelo, professor of theology at Duke University Divinity School, told Newsweek that there is a "long tradition" of rapture predictions stemming from the trend in Christianity of reading the Bible as a guide that provides timelines and prophecies.
"It's not surprising that this happens, and folks oftentimes don't have a long memory as to, 'Well, this has happened before, what's different now?'" Castelo said. "It just bubbles up again."
Rapture predictions often emerge in moments of instability or perceived threats, he said. The belief can provide some people a "certain comfort that there's an unfolding plan on God's part" and that they will be spared from the worst, he said.
The emergence of social media like TikTok has also played a role in how people receive information about this sort of topic, he said. Historically, these theories would have had to spread through books or media, which had to be sought out or purchased.
"All of us have our phones available for these theories or these ideas to be spread through TikTok, which has more immediacy. There is a quicker manner of momentum of things coming and going," he said. "Whatever trends happened in the past in relation to things like this, they are just exacerbated and magnified in a digital age like we're living in right now."
William Miller, a Baptist preacher, predicted Christ would return on October 22, 1844, based on calculations from the Book of Daniel. Tens of thousands of followers, known as Millerites, sold possessions in preparation for the end times. But when nothing happened, the event became known as the "Great Disappointment," leading to widespread disillusionment and the formation of Adventist denominations.
As the millennium approached, many Christians believed Y2K computer failures would trigger global chaos and the rapture. Televangelists like Jerry Falwell and authors like Grant Jeffrey were among those who discussed the potential for a rapture. Of course, January 1, 2000, arrived with minimal disruption.
In 1997, a group of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult believed the 1995 discovery of the Hale-Bopp comet signaled a rapture, as scientists believed it would pass closest to the Earth in March 1997. They believed the meteor was meant to hide an alien spacecraft, and the group engaged in mass suicide prior to the comet.
Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, predicted at several points that Christ would return. He first predicted that Christ would return invisibly in 1874 and that the world would end in 1914. Joseph Franklin Rutherford, his successor as the president of the Watch Tower Society, later proposed 1918 and 1925 as other dates for the rapture.
In his bestselling book, Lindsey suggested the rapture would occur before 1988 due to the belief that the generation that witnessed the establishment of Israel in 1948 would also see the end times. The book sold over 28 million copies, according to the National Endowment for the Humanities.
A former NASA engineer, Edgar Whisenant, published a booklet predicting the rapture in September 1988, according to Goodreads. It sold 4.5 million copies. After the date passed, he revised it multiple times, such as 1989, 1993 and 1994.
Harold Camping, a Christian radio broadcaster, predicted the rapture on May 21, 2011, and later revised it to October 21, 2011. According to ABC News, believers of this theory pointed to earthquakes in Japan, Haiti, the Philippines and Costa Rica, same-sex marriage becoming legal in more states and conflict in the Middle East as proof of the theory. He retired from his position at Family Radio after the predictions did not come true.
Preacher John Hagee predicted that four lunar "blood moon" eclipses would mark a rapture.
"I believe that the heavens are God's billboard, that He has been sending signals to planet Earth, and we just haven't been picking them up," he said at the time, according to USA Today.
The theory garnered attention but was not true.
The pandemic sparked a wave of rapture predictions, with some claiming the global crisis was the final sign. These predictions, like others before them, failed to materialize.
Another failed rapture prediction took place eight years ago to the day when some believed that the alignment of the stars could indicate the return of Jesus Christ, according to Faithwire. The date passed uneventfully.
Castelo also told Newsweek: "My hope is that people will have some accountability for this. When it doesn't happen then, well maybe their discernment practice, their way of thinking about these matters changes. It is both a disappointment but also maybe a test of faith when people truly believe something like this will happen and it doesn't. Instead of abandoning the faith and assuming the faith is wrong, maybe they need to have a better discernment process and a better interpretive process in terms of the Bible and terms of how they hear voices in public."
Joshua Mhlakela, the pastor who popularized the September 23 theory, said: "The Rapture is upon us. Whether you are ready or you are not ready, the rapture in 14 days from now is going to take place.
"There's a storm brewing right now, and it's dark. No human being on this earth is ready for what is coming. I'm a billion percent sure. I began to hear literally in my ear the sound of the trumpet."
The rapture hasn't materialized so far, but some continue to believe theories of the end times.