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Tag: Rapture

  • Maybe the rapture did happen and Jesus is a wrestler? | The Mary Sue

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    For a decent portion of this week, half of the Internet was convinced that we were all going to get swept up in the Rapture. While the Left Behind book series did not become more significant in our real lives, in opposition to its weird omnipresence on social media over the last week, that didn’t stop people from thinking about what would happen if suddenly the world’s population was a whole lot smaller in a short amount of time.

     When we open up a piece of joking around about the 90’s weird revelation themed Bible based book series, you know we’re in for a strange one. Jesus had to come up at some point with that kind of material making the rounds. One social media video does a great job of illustrating just how far down a rabbit hole multiple viewers can go extremely quickly.

    Screenwriter Todd Spence was as enraptured by an indie wrestler named Jesus as we were, when the viral video rolled across our feeds. In the clip, the wrestler, who we assume hails from Nazareth, hits a series of chokeslams without laying a hand on his opponent. It’s a hysterical gimmick, and a tad blasphemous for good measure, but the world of wrestling is filled with some strange pulls when it comes to gimmicks like this whole Jesus schtick.

     After doing some light digging. I mean, We discovered that this indie wrestling Jesus made an appearance during a holiday themed show last year. Aptly, jesus was out there to save Santa Claus during a match. On TikTok, a user named Kenny Nicholson chronicled this electric entrance and some of the development of the offense on display this viral moment.

    So, I’ll bite, why are we talking about The Rapture seriously?

    smiling buddy jesus christ from the movie dogma

    TikTok teemed with people prophesying the end of the world last week. Sadly for the folks who sold their homes and Earthly possessions, we’re all still here, for better and worse! In so many cases, a lot of the people viewing these bizarre videos aren’t even wrapped up in the individual subcultures a lot of these content creators come from. So, there’s bound to be some confusion for a casual audience.

    RaptureTok infiltrating so much of the other social media airspace is further evidence of how consolidating these platforms and companies continues to be the biggest issue that’s underdiscussed on the web. Why would a bunch of fringe posts from various TikTok users become a trending topic outside of the platform? Well, when there’s 6 big websites, you’re going to spawn a lot of random moments in the exact same way.

    When one South African pastor can set the agenda for the other 5 big websites, we have a problem! Just a guess too. It’s not the Negro Solstice orthis current social media hysteria that Joshua Mhlakela promoted, the real story is a scattered information environment where despite some very real problems unfolding, (Soybean farmers can you hear me???), we’re making memes about getting raptured. At least the wrestling is decent I suppose? 

    Photo Credit: Todd Spence

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    Aaron Perine

    Aaron Perine is a writer that covers Free Streaming TV, normal TV, small TV (the kind that plays on your phone mostly!), and even movies sometimes!

    Phase Hero co-host. Host of Free Space: The Free Streaming TV Podcast.

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    Aaron Perine

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  • On RaptureTok, Today Is the End of the World as We Know It

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    If you’re reading this, we’re sorry: You’re one of the leftovers. Over in the religious corners of TikTok, self-styled prophets and prognosticators have decided that Tuesday, September 23, 2025, is the day of the Rapture—the moment that Jesus Christ will return to Earth and elevate all true believers to heaven, where their eternal rewards await them.

    You probably have a lot of questions. Don’t worry, we do too. As best anyone can tell, the idea that the rapture would hit on September 23 seems to stem from a proclamation by Joshua Mhlakela, a person occasionally identified as a pastor but who self-identifies as “a simple person.” He rejects the titles like “apostle,” “pastor,” and “bishop,” but does accept “believer” if you’re so inclined. Whatever you want to call him, he seems to be the source of the Rapture date, which stems from a dream he had.

    In Mhlakela’s telling, he’s had a vision of Christ for years in his dreams. But one vision in 2018 really stuck with him. In it, he says, Jesus visited him and said he plans to “come to take my church” on the 23rd and 24th of September 2025. Christ also told him, “There will be no World Cup in 2026.” Which adds up if the Rapture ends up being real. There won’t be many folks left to play, what with all of the chaos that the world will be plunged into and everything! But it is an oddly specific thing for the son of God to reference. Jesus is a big soccer guy, apparently.

    Anyway, that seems to be the origin of this whole thing, a guy who had a dream that the World Cup won’t happen because Christ is returning. Mhlakela reiterated this on a September 9 episode of the same show, which racked up nearly half a million views and might be responsible for the theory gaining steam online.

    At some point, the date made its way to particular parts of TikTok where folks are frankly giddy about the possibility of the end of the world, as evidenced by their numerous other predictions that have come and passed without Christ’s return occurring. Word previously went around online that the Rapture would come during the summer of 2021, for instance. But some mix of Christians, folks who are way too into symbology and numerology, and your run-of-the-mill conspiracy theorists have simply been having a heyday with this particular prediction.

    This has spawned RaptureTok, a subsection of the social platform that has been largely unavoidable if you scroll the For You page for any amount of time. Swipe and you might find someone explaining to you how Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, fits into this. Swipe again and you’ll get advice on how to remove anything with potential demonic energy from your house before the Rapture starts. Another swipe and you can catch some tips on how to handle getting beamed up to heaven. (Pro tip: Do not look down!)

    Much of the content on RaptureTok is ironic or mocking. But not all of it! Some people are really, really into the idea. It’s a little hard to blame them, seeing as things aren’t exactly going great down here. About four in 10 Americans believe we’re living in the end times, per polling from Pew. You don’t have to be religious to feel like that sounds about right. But hey, at least we’ve got the World Cup in 2026 to look forward to.

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    AJ Dellinger

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