Q: Where did this idea come from?
A: The Boston Globe explains:
The Lexham Survey of Theology tells us that the word “rapture” refers to the act of believers ascending to heaven, whether at the end of days or in a dispensational pre-millennial gathering of Jesus’ followers:
"The word “rapture” is derived from the Latin translation of
"The date of Sept. 23, 2025, appears to have originated from Joshua Mhlakela of South Africa. Though news reports have widely
described him as a pastor, he said in a YouTube video from June: “I’m just a simple person, no title. I’m not an apostle, I’m not a pastor, I’m not a bishop. I’m just a believer.”
In the video, he says that Jesus came to him in a dream in 2018 and told him, “On the 23rd and the 24th of September, 2025, I will come to take my church.”
The context, as Mhlakela understood it, was the 2026 FIFA World Cup. “He was telling me that by June 2026, the world is gearing up toward the World Cup,” he said, but because chaos would descend after the rapture, “there will be no World Cup in 2026.”
The idea of a rapture before the second coming of Christ and the final judgment flows from a theology called dispensationalism. Dispensationalism is a Biblical framework that sees history in distinct eras and teaches that Christ will rapture believers before a future tribulation and His return."
The Lexham Survey of Theology tells us that the word “rapture” refers to the act of believers ascending to heaven, whether at the end of days or in a dispensational pre-millennial gathering of Jesus’ followers:
"The word “rapture” is derived from the Latin translation of
1 Thessalonians 4:17. English translations translate the key word in that verse with “caught up” or “snatched up.” There are several views among Christians about the exact nature and timing of this rapture, this “snatching up,” primarily due to its relationship to other eschatological events in Scripture."
Side note: I don’t subscribe to dispensational theology, and I believe that the Lord will rapture Christians, both living and dead, into heaven at Christ’s second coming at the end of days."
Side note: I don’t subscribe to dispensational theology, and I believe that the Lord will rapture Christians, both living and dead, into heaven at Christ’s second coming at the end of days."
PJMedia
