why does everyone think the rapture is tomorrow

The widespread belief that the Rapture will occur tomorrow, September 23 or 24, 2025, mainly stems from a viral prophecy by South African evangelical pastor Joshua Mhlakela. He claimed to have received a vision that Jesus told him the Rapture would begin on the first day of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, known as the Feast of Trumpets—this year falling on those dates. Mhlakela's vivid dream, combined with the symbolic biblical association of trumpets with the end times (from scriptures like 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians), has fueled the surge of anticipation and viral content on platforms like TikTok. This belief is amplified by social media, where many conservative evangelical creators share warnings and advice about the Rapture, along with preparations and interpretations tied to current global instability and political turmoil. The prophecy resonates emotionally for some, as it offers hope of divine rescue during troubling times. However, the notion that the Rapture will happen on a specific date has a long history of failed predictions, and mainstream Christian theology emphasizes that no one knows the exact day or hour of Christ's return, as Jesus himself said in Matthew 24:36. In short, the idea is largely driven by a single influential pastor's vision, social media virality, symbolic biblical interpretations connected to Rosh Hashanah, and the cultural context of uncertainty—combined with a repeated pattern of end-times date-setting that has yet to come true.