Another Failed Prediction

Today is September 25, 2025, and we’re still here. So, are you.  As well as our readers around the world.

So, why is this so remarkable? Because the “rapture” was predicted to occur either September 23 or 24.

A self-proclaimed pastor, Joshua Mhlakela, from South Africa, claimed in a YouTube Video that Jesus appeared to him in a dream and said He would come to take his church home during Rosh Hashanah, on either the 23rd or 24th of September.

The prediction went viral on social media, especially on TikTok. As a result, some people have apparently quit their jobs, sold possessions, and have been frantically warning people. The prediction has stirred debate as well as ridicule with the hashtag #RaptureTok.

Mhlakela’s failed prediction is not the first and probably won’t be the last. Here are just a few.

500 A.D. – A Roman theologian, Hippolytus of Rome (3rd c.), predicted Christ’s return for this year.

1000 A.D. – Many in Europe believed the millennium marked the end of the age. Fear, pilgrimages, and fervent prayers were widespread throughout the region.

1260 A.D. – Joachim of Fiore, a medieval monk, predicted the end would come in this year.

1533 A.D. – Melchior Hoffman, a radical reformer, predicted Christ’s return and the New Jerusalem in Strasbourg. Instead, chaos ensued.

1666 A.D. – The number “666” stirred fears in London that Christ would return this year, especially amid plague and fire.

1843–1844 A.D. – William Miller (U.S.) predicted Christ’s return between March 1843 and October 1844. Thousands sold possessions to prepare. When it failed, it became known as the Great Disappointment.

1874, 1914, 1925, 1975 – Jehovah’s Witnesses set multiple dates for Christ’s coming or the end of the world. Each one failed, forcing reinterpretation.

1988 – Edgar Whisenant, a NASA engineer, published 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. Millions of copies were distributed. The year came and went.

1994 – Harold Camping (Christian radio broadcaster) predicted Christ’s return. When it failed, he later set another date.

2011 – Camping again predicted the rapture for May 21, 2011, and the final end of the world in October 2011. Both dates passed.

2000 (Y2K) – Some groups tied computer fears with end-times predictions. Nothing occurred.

2012 – Some connected the Mayan calendar “end” with Christ’s return. This too passed without event.

All such prognosticators and self-styled prophets, as well as their gullible followers, would do well to heed the words of Jesus.

When the apostles asked Jesus what the signs of His coming would be, He responded in this way. “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” Then he used the thief analogy to illustrate His point.

“But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.” (Matt 24:42-43).

The “signs” that these supposed visionaries point to are misapplied passages from the Book of Revelation and the Old Testament prophets. While space forbids an in-depth analysis of these claims on this blog, the plain statements of Jesus indicate that there are no signs that predict His Second Coming. In fact, Jesus said neither He nor the angels know when it will be. Only the Father knows (Mk. 13:36).

Furthermore, the “rapture” is not going to occur as some incorrectly claim. The Bible teaches that when Christ comes again, the world will end, the dead will be raised, judgment will occur, and the Kingdom will be delivered to the Father for all eternity (1 Thess. 4:11-18; 1Cor. 15:20-28; 2 Pet. 3:10-13).

It would be well to accept the fact that the Bible is silent on the exact date of Christ’s return. And to heed the warning of Jesus. “Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

In the meantime, let’s be faithful, watchful, and ready. As C.S. Lewis reminds us in Mere Christianity, “Precisely because we cannot predict the moment, we must be ready at all moments. The thing is to be ready.”

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman