'Catching a flight to heaven': Apocalypse claims on Sep 23 prompt people to sell everything. What is the truth?

A conspiracy theory that has exploded on social media states that Earth is going to end on Tuesday, September 23, 2025. Some people are so convinced about it that they have sold their houses, quit jobs and even given away their property. The belief arises from a claim made by a South African pastor who said that Earth will witness an end-of-the-world event on September 23. Joshua Mhlakela has based his assertion on "the rapture", according to which God will "rescue the Christians out of the world" on September 23 and 24, 2025, with all living and dead believers rising into the air to meet God, with the nonbelievers left behind. A small number of largely evangelical Christians believe this would be the beginning of "tribulations" for those who are on Earth, as they suffer because they did not believe in God. This is also the day Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish new year, also falls. Also Read: 100-foot mega tsunami coming? Oregon hit by dozens of earthquakes, renewing fears of magnitude 9 temblor

Talking about it on CENTTWINZ TV YouTube channel, Pastor Mhlakela said the rapture would happen with "such power" that the Earth would "shake". "The rapture is here upon us, whether you are ready or not ready," he added. The paston says he had a vision in his dreams, in which he "saw Jesus sitting on his throne", saying "loud and clear, 'I am coming soon'." "He said to me on the 23rd and 24th of September 2025, ‘I will come back to the Earth.'" His prophecy has reportedly led to several people who believe in the Rapture getting rid of their earthly belongings. The story of the world ending has spread like wildfire on social media. People are talking about it, and talking about the preparations they are making for the day. Stand-up comedian Kevin Fredericks said, "They are selling their cars, clothes, some people are making post-rapture kits for the people who are left behind." Also Read: Scientists issue ominous warning as West Antarctic Ice Sheet weakens. Extinction risk for...

People question “timing” and “date” of Rapture

What Fredericks was corroborated by others on social media, as a person named Tilahun Desalegn admitted in a video that he had sold his five-year-old car to "catch a flight to heaven" in September. “She’s got to go. I won’t need her beyond September. I’m going home, to where my father in heaven is,” he claimed on TikTok.

In a Reel, Fredericks questioned the timing of the Rapture, stating that the world is divided into several time zones and Sep 23 would begin at different points in the world. “There are 24 time zones on Earth, 38 if you include the ones that have half-hour times. No man knows how you all know,” he said.

Is Rapture real?

At one point in the video, the pastor even claimed that God sent him a vision where he saw "powerful beings" running after those left behind and eating them. Mhlakela only says that he saw it in his dreams, without giving any evidence. The Rapture is not widely accepted amongst most Christian groups. Some passages in the Bible are interpreted to be referring to the Rapture, although there is no mention of the timing or date. "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father", it reads.