Is the world ending today? Evangelical Christians think so

WEB DESK: A group of Evangelical Christians on TikTok have declared that the ‘Rapture’ will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, September 23. The Rapture, according to Evangelical belief, is when Jesus Christ will return to Earth and take true believers with him to Heaven, leaving nonbelievers behind to endure seven years of divine judgment.

The date September 23 appears to stem from a sermon delivered by the South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela. In the clip, which was posted on YouTube, Mhlakela claims to have received a direct vision from Jesus Christ himself, telling him that the end of the world will occur on September 23 or 24.

Though Mhlakela’s video was posted online on June 17, it didn’t really start gaining traction until a few days ago, when searches for “rapture Tuesday,” “is the rapture coming,” and “Why is the Rapture happening on a Tuesday” started spiking, according to Google Trends. On TikTok, interest in the Rapture has exploded, with more than 290,000 posts under the #Rapture hashtag.

No matter what happens, at least Mhlakela has given people something concrete to look forward to, though it would be nice if they were allowed to take their phones.

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If the world ends tomorrow, what would people actually do though, a question that would keep many awake at night even if the world doesn’t end!