A viral video has dominated the Internet of a gathering of a sect of a Christian church who gathered in South Africa yesterday in obedience to a prophesied rapture and second coming of Jesus.
The videos purporting to show people gathering in a forested area to await the Rapture have gone viral on social media, despite questions about their authenticity, highlighting the power of claims being circulated online.
The clips have been shared against the backdrop of a South African pastor’s apocalyptic prophecy, predicting the Rapture on September 23 or 24 this year, garnering attention and following from all over the world.
They were first posted by the Instagram account “Truth be told page” (@truthbe423), run by a “born-again Christian” who has posted a lot of religious content.
They have since been shared on X, where they have collected hundreds of thousands of views, but there is very little information about them—while some comments said the gathering was filmed in South Africa, Grok concluded the area looks like a specific spot in Nigeria. There are also no local South African news stories about the gathering.
Why It Matters
The Rapture is a belief held by many evangelical Christians in which Jesus returns to take true believers to Heaven before a period of tribulation on Earth.
Joshua Mhlakela predicted the date, which he said Jesus personally revealed to him, has led some followers to sell possessions and prepare for what they believe is the end of days.
While these videos have gone viral against the backdrop of this global Rapture conversation, there is very little information about it, meaning there is no way to know for sure, highlighting the danger of social media reporting that has not been verified.
What To Know
The first video shows a large crowd of people in a wooded area, cheering, screaming and clapping as they look up into the sky through the trees.
“They gathered ready to be raptured,” the caption reads across the clip.
Although the video was first posted on Instagram, it has been viewed on X hundreds of thousands of times.
Account Chudé (@chude__)’s post has been viewed more than 300,000 times while account Tenoila (@Teeniiola)’s post has been viewed more than 100,000 times.
An accompanying video, originally from the same Instagram account, has also been widely shared, purporting to show the moments before this gathering, with people seen trekking up a hill.
“They were headed to the place where the rapture will take place,” the caption reads.
There is no information about where this video was taken, but based on visual analysis and contextual clues, Grok estimates it was filmed at Ngwo Pine Forest in Enugu, Nigeria.
It is also impossible to know whether this video is showing what it purports to—people gathering for the Rapture on Tuesday—as it could have been taken during any previous church gathering, something several users have pointed out in the comments section.
Newsweek has contacted the “Truth be told page” (@truthbe423), via direct message on Instagram, for comment.
What People Are Saying
Joshua Mhlakela, the pastor who popularized the September 23 theory, said: “The Rapture is upon us. Whether you are ready or you are not ready, the rapture in 14 days from now is going to take place.
“There’s a storm brewing right now, and it’s dark. No human being on this earth is ready for what is coming. I’m a billion percent sure. I began to hear literally in my ear the sound of the trumpet.”
Kim Haines-Eitzen, a professor of ancient Mediterranean religions at Cornell University, told The Associated Press: “Ideas about the Rapture are best understood within the larger framework of apocalypticism, an ancient Jewish worldview that predates Christianity. Their writings are now used by contemporary Christians who share Mhlakela’s view that the Rapture is imminent—perhaps even today.”
What Happens Next
Multiple people have thrown their support behind Mhlakela’s theory, with several of them promising to apologize to their followers on social media if the rapture failed to happen.
It remains to be seen how this community will respond to the Rapture not having materialized.
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