“To the person who sold me their car on September 21, it’s September 24 and the Rapture didn’t happen. You’re not getting your car back”, influencer Kim Leigh said. Over 300,000 videos flooded Tiktok under the tag “Rapturetok”, from serious discussions to memes and mockery. Doomsday predictions, frantic prayers — it all leads to one question: is the Rapture real, and is Jesus Christ really coming back to get his children? From Sept. 22 to Sept. 24, believers all around the world were distraught, unsure if they were going to be part of “The Great Catching Away”, as mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 of the Bible.

Before that, some may be unfamiliar with Christian belief; the Rapture is the belief that Christ will come down from the sky and take all of his faithful believers up into Heaven to live with him forever. There are varying interpretations on when the Rapture is intended to happen, but most believe it’ll take place before the Seven Years of Tribulation, which is where the Antichrist rules over the earth.

The recent panic started from the viral video of a South African Pastor named Joshua Mhlakela, released in June of this year, claiming that the Rapture was going to happen on Sept. 23-Sept. 24, and that the years to follow would be the Seven Years of Tribulation.

This video sparked a “Rapturetok” trend on Tiktok, where people sold all of their belongings, prepared their houses for the next residents, and even gave tutorials on what to do when being called up. This ordeal is a perfect example of mass hysteria, as there were hundreds of people sharing their self-proclaimed god-given prophecies online, telling believers about how they went up to Heaven in their dreams and saw Christ.

After the failed prediction, some accuse Joshua Mhlakela to be a false prophet, and demand a public apology from the man. Others stand firm with their belief, and claim that this was just a test of faith. In the end, this isn’t the first failed Tiktok trend, and it won’t be the last.