People Are Predicting Rapture Day Is Coming — Here’s What It Means

According to a number of religious individuals on social media, Rapture Day is coming, and they say it’s happening in September 2025.

Several people have taken to TikTok, tagging their videos with #RaptureTok, suggesting the day is near and they’re going to great lengths to prepare. Some are even reportedly selling off their cars and giving away money.

For context, Rapture Day marks the return of Jesus and, for nonbelievers, Judgment Day. It’s the moment when faithful Christians are predicted to literally be taken from the earth into the sky, including the dead, to meet Jesus.

As for those who aren’t faithful, well, they’ll be left behind to face the end of the earth, and it’s not clear exactly how that plays out … but it doesn’t sound good.

Here’s when people believe Rapture Day is happening and the support they’re using to back it up.

Several faithful Christians on TikTok are suggesting that Rapture Day is happening on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, which also happens to be the start of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 it reads: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.”

In short, if you aren’t a faithful Christian, you’re getting left behind.

To prepare for such an event, TikToker Melissa Johnston (@stopwiththebuttholecramp) shared how she’s been prepping her home for those who don’t make it. In her video, she shows stacks of Bibles she bought at the dollar store, where she highlighted notable verses and added handwritten messages.

On one pile of books she wrote: “Jesus loves you. It’s not too late. Take this Bible, find other believers, be careful who you trust. Do not take the mark in hand or forehead.” She captioned the clip: “Preparing my home for the #missingpeople after the #rapture.”

Other creators are posting reaction videos, pointing out that some people are taking their preparations even further, from selling off valuable possessions to quitting their jobs altogether.

People think the Rapture is coming because of a date suggested by Joshua Mhlakela, a South African pastor who says he saw Jesus returning on Rosh Hashanah in a vision, per Forbes.

In a YouTube video shared on Sept. 9, the pastor declared, “The rapture is upon us… whether you are ready or you are not ready.”

He also noted it could fall on either Sept. 23 or 24, since Rosh Hashanah spans two days. The idea quickly gained traction, and many are now spreading the word online, essentially turning it into a viral moment.

Not all Christians believe Rapture Day is coming, though most do hold firm to the belief that Jesus will eventually return. Those who do buy into the Rapture are often evangelical Christians.

Perhaps what keeps many others from believing is the idea that it’s not up to people to choose the date, and, more importantly, that history is full of failed apocalyptic predictions.

For example, Ronald Weinland claimed Jesus would return in September 2011, then pushed it to May 2012 when it didn’t happen. And that’s just one case. Wikipedia lists dozens of predictions going back to the first millennium CE.

So while plenty of believers are convinced Rapture Day is happening on Sept. 23 (or 24), others are making light of the whole thing, jokingly asking for money, or telling believers to donate the items they’ll be “leaving behind” to those less fortunate who won’t be joining them.