Who is Joshua Mhlakela, South African pastor trending online? What was his ‘Rapture’ warning – did it come true?

South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela’s prophecy, which was recently making waves online, has ignited a flurry of reactions. Find out what his prediction was and whether it materialised.

What was Joshua Mhlakela's prediction?

The now-viral preacher issued a ‘Rapture’ warning and claimed that he had a vision that Jesus Christ would return on September 23 or 24 this year. He suggested that this would happen around the same time as the Jews all over the world would celebrate Jewish New Year, known as Rosh Hashanah.

The biblical name for Rosh Hashanah is Yom Teruah, which is the first of the High Holy Days, celebrated in the late summer or early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere.

How did Joshua Mhlakela predict that the world will end soon?

In an interview with CettwinzTV, Pastor Mhlakela said he had a supernatural encounter and suggested that the ‘rapture’ was imminent. According to him, true believers would be taken to heaven. His prophecy went viral on TikTok within hours, and the hashtag #RaptureTok began trending.

Recounting a divine vision, the South African pastor said that he saw Jesus sitting on his throne. He said Jesus told him, "I am coming soon. I will come back to the Earth."

Social media reaction

Social media users flooded with reactions online, with some supporting the claims while others refuted the prophecy.

A user wrote, “Joshua Mhlakela is a fear mongering heretic. there is no rapture tomorrow the 23rd. Mark 13:32-35 [sic].”

Another user remarked, “Anyone who still follows false prophet Joshua Mhlakela is on their way to hell. This man does not read the Bible because if he did, he would know God says no man would know the time nor day of the rapture.”

A third user wrote, "God has always worked through His calendar: Passover pointed to Jesus’ death, Pentecost to the Spirit, and Trumpets foreshadows His return. I believe Jesus will return on a Feast of Trumpets one day, but not this year. Not this week. Why? Because Scripture tells us what has to come first. We still have to enter the Tribulation."

A fourth user stated, “We won't know - maybe there WAS a Rapture and we're all such raging sinners the angels thought it best to leave all of our asses here.”

“There are millions and millions of Christians in the world today, maybe even hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who believe in modern prophecy and consume media that’s populated by these modern prophecies,” AP quoted senior Christian scholar Matthew Taylor as saying.

What is Rapture?

The theological concept of the Rapture refers to the belief of some evangelical Christians in a future event. They believe that Jesus will return to Earth before a period of great tribulation culminates in the end of the world to take true believers to heaven.

Meanwhile, the author of Rapture Culture: Left Behind in Evangelical America, Amy Frykholm, said, “Everyone else remains on earth for a tumultuous and troubled period."

She added, “Usually, in this kind of storytelling, the people who are ‘taken up’ in the Rapture are a surprise."

According to religion professor Randall Balmer, Jesus’ return to Earth, also known as the Second Coming, is referenced in the Old Testament’s Book of Daniel and the New Testament’s Book of Revelation.