The end is nigh. Very nigh. In fact, if you’re reading this you may already have been left behind.

According to an evangelical pastor in South Africa, who claims Jesus came to him in a vision, the rapture – ie the end of the world as we know it – will happen this week, “leaving the world unrecognisable”.

“In the twinkling of an eye you will disappear,” Joshua Mhlakela states emphatically in one of a string of interviews posted on YouTube by online platform Centwinz TV.

Mhlakela’s prediction, first shared three months ago, has sparked international headlines and a social media frenzy, with #rapture trending on TikTok as true believers embrace his prediction and the more mocking ponder the difficulty of selecting the right outfit for the end of times.

Jesus apparently told Mhlakela the rapture would occur during the two-day Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah (known as the Feast of Trumpets), which falls on September 23 and 24.

Mhlakela, who is known for preaching about prophecies and end-times, told his rapt hosts on Centwinz TV that he saw Jesus sitting on his throne in heaven and heard him say “very loud and clear” that he was coming soon.

“The rapture is upon us, whether you are ready or not ready … there’s a storm brewing right now and it’s dark,” the pastor said. “No human being on this Earth is ready for what is coming.”

He said he was “a billion per cent sure” about his prediction, adding that he “began to hear, literally in my ear, the sound of the trumpet” – which, oddly, was “like the horn or the honking… of a cruise ship”.

The rapture is based around an “end-of-time” belief held by some Christians that believers both dead and alive will ascend into heaven to meet Jesus Christ at the second coming.

The social media storm sparked by Mhlakela’s prophecy has been dubbed #RaptureTok.

One strident TikToker stated he was concerned for the mockers and scoffers who “in their pride will not even ask God if this is from him”, while another claimed her three-year-old son had started speaking Hebrew in a sign she took as confirmation that the rapture was coming.

Another earnest soul shared a flowchart she had created to “prep my home for whoever is here after the rapture”, also helpfully including extensive details about what people could expect from the end time.

@stopwiththebuttholecramp Day 3 of #rapture prepping. #Christian #missingpeople #christiantiktok #jesus ♬ original sound – Melissa Johnston

More flippant responses came from a user who shared a video of themselves and their dog wearing tinfoil hats, and another who advised people to keep their face looking upwards “and pray you’re not on the toilet” when the rapture happens.

Others claimed to be quitting jobs, selling off cars and houses, and stocking up on junk food in preparation, while @practicallyperfectfamily posted a clip of her showing her husband how to water the plants, plug in the vacuum cleaner and load the dishwasher, “because there is no way he is going anywhere”.

According to Britannica.com, the idea of the rapture came about from “anticipation that Jesus would return to redeem all members of the church”. Although the New Testament doesn’t use the word rapture, some verses give credence to the idea – including Thessalonians 4:13-17, which talks about the Lord coming down from Heaven and the rise of “the dead in Christ”.

“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever,” it reads.

American evangelicals are more likely to be believers. Amid the frenzy sparked by Mhlakela’s prophecy, some have shared clips of assassinated American activist Charlie Kirk talking about the rapture with California-based evangelical pastor Jack Hibbs, with Hibbs saying “it’s gonna happen”.

@romans.ten.9through11 Feast of trumpets rapture confirmation…My 3 year old son starts speaking in Hebrew and it confirms what The Lord spoke to my daughter days before! #JESUSISCOMING #rapture #feastoftrumpets #christiantiktok #wordfromtheLord ♬ original sound – romans.ten.9through11

An article on sports and culture website Defector posited that the popularity of Mhlakela’s rapture prediction was likely connected to Kirk’s death, noting that videos about the rapture began to go viral on the same weekend as his funeral.

“The world, evangelical Christianity preaches, is rushing headlong toward disaster, and it will only get worse,” wrote Kelsey McKinney, who was raised evangelical.

“Charlie Kirk’s assassination can be taken as evidence of this.”

However, some evangelical Christians have voiced scepticism and annoyance at Mhlakela’s prediction, including New Zealand pastor Ken Young, who suggested it called into question the credibility of Christians.

Writing in Baptist News Global, Young said many evangelicals had always considered Christ’s return as “imminent”.

“This should be the message of believers today: Christ could come imminently, not because of the newest crackpot speculating on the back of another catastrophic or seemingly unique event. Not because someone finally unlocked the hidden prophecies or codes long overlooked in the Bible, for Christians understand no one has been told, not even Jesus, when the Father will decide it’s time.”

Mhlakela, of course, is not the first to predict the second coming. Most recently, American pastor F Kenton Beshore said it was likely to happen before 2021, while evangelist Harold Camping claimed it would be 1994, and then 2011.

So the bad – or is it good? – news is that if the rapture doesn’t happen on September 23 or 24, 2025, it, and He, may still be coming. At least @practicallyperfect husband won’t have to worry about the household chores for a while.

@practicallyperfectfamily

He couldn’t survive without me and of course if the Rapture happens Tuesday I’m an angel so it’s a given 😂😂😂 But seriously, why am I having flash backs of my childhood right now 🫠😂 #september23 #September23rd #Rapture2025 #couplehumor #rapture

♬ Married Life (From “Up”) – Gina Luciani