The end of times is near, #RaptureTok believes.
Do you have plans for tomorrow? According to some people on TikTok, no you don’t.
A number of TikTok users are part of what has come to be referred to over the last few days as #RaptureTok. They believe today (give or take a few hours depending on your timezone) is Rapture Day and all life as we know it will be over – believers will ascend to heaven and the others will be left behind on earth.
There are unverified reports of people selling all their possessions, including their homes and cars, as they believe we are all about to be raptured during this period of the Feast of Trumpets.
A few people who believe the Rapture is about to happen have also reportedly been stocking up medicine cabinets and leaving notes, mini-Bibles and writing down tips to leave around the house for those who will be left behind (and presumably taking ownership of their empty homes).
The TikTok users who believe we’re mere hours from Rapture say believers will be lifted to heaven (as in, literally floating away up in the air).
Who’s gonna do a Rapture prank? pic.twitter.com/FXs0geTkSF
— Meacham (@MeachamDr) September 22, 2025
The idea that we are about to be raptured has come around a few times before. Televangelist Harold Camping, for example, made a lot of people believe the end of times would come in 1994.
There was also the theory that 2012 would have been our last year here as the Mayan calendar ended then. Yet, here we are, still sending emails, paying bills, making TikTok videos about how this is all surely coming to an end soon.
This latest iteration of the Rapture appears to have originated from a South African pastor named Joshua Mhlakel, who spoke about it in a video uploaded to YouTube in June.
Mhlakel said he saw Jesus in a dream and Jesus would be coming “on the 23rd and 24th of September 2025″.
Apparently Jesus also told the pastor the 2026 Fifa World Cup wouldn’t happen.
According to a piece in The Cut, Google searches for the Rapture began spiking a few days ago and several TikTok users have been documenting their preparation for the rapture. Several people have also posted videos showing themselves in clear distress over the potential event.
On TikTok, a search for the term “Rapture” brings up tens of thousands of posts from the last few days.
Believers on TikTok seem convinced this time the Rapture is truly going to happen.
Tips and tricks for those also preparing for the rapture include removing the passcode from your phone or, in a more elaborate way to achieve the same thing, writing down your passcode on a piece of paper, taking a photo of it and making that photo your lock screen image.
This is because, in theory, those ascending to heaven can’t take their phones with them and so those who stay will be able to use them.
It is unclear how this one Rapture theory has taken hold and spread so quickly – including to non-believers, with some seen in tears in TikTok videos for fear it might be true.
One quick look at the news and no one can blame these people for thinking the end of times is near, but they will probably have to wake up tomorrow and go to work again until the next Rapture date goes viral and they can start preparing for it all over again.
‘Rapture’ comes from the Latin ‘rapere’ meaning “to seize and carry off.”
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) September 23, 2025
‘Raptor’ also comes from ‘rapere.’
We hope neither carries you off today.