‘RaptureTok’: Christians prepare for the ‘end of the world’ in viral craze • FRANCE 24 English

Next, it’s time for truth or fake. Vetica Bell is uh on set here with us over by the bib board. Good evening, Vica. Now, apparently the world might end today according to a viral hashtag uh on Tik Tok uh that’s been nicknamed Rapture Talk. So, Vica, explain what is Rapture Talk. That’s right, Mark. Apparently, the world might come to an end today according to evangelical Christians online claiming that the rapture is near. Uh, Tik Tok is ablaze with people reacting to the alleged rapture on what’s being called rapture talk. It’s certainly all I’ve been seeing today on my timeline. But I think it’s easier if I show you what rapture talk is rather than tell you. Let’s take a quick listen. Oh my god, it’s happening, guys. It’s happening. It’s happening. Wow, it’s happening. So, that’s certainly one reaction, but other people are preparing for this season finale by selling their belongings, everything they own, setting up their pets, selling their cars. Let’s take a listen now. Goodbye to my car. I’ve had for 5 years. They’re taking it. No, this is my baby, man. This has been my baby for years. 5 years. But she’s got to go. I won’t need her. So selling their belongings and and preparing their uh their affairs. This woman actually made uh flash cards and scriptures uh for what she says uh the non-believers that she believes will be left behind after the rapture. She says that these uh flash cards and the and the scripture there that she’s writing will help them cope. Uh she actually made a follow-up video as well where she showed the Bibles that she was preparing also for uh the non-believers that she said that it will help the people in need. I even saw people uh videos uh of people saying goodbye to their children as well. So, we can really see how far uh this uh rapture talk really went. Now, you might be asking and thinking what on earth is rapture? Um the rapture is a Christian theological concept stating Jesus will descend from heaven uh taking believers with him from earth as they ascend back into heaven and judgment sweeps the earth. And this really spread like wildfire on social media. Um, but actually it all stems back to uh June. That’s where it all started. After a South African pastor named Joseph uh Ma, he said that Jesus came to him in a dream as far back as 2018 and told him that the rapture will take place on September 23rd or September 24th in this year 2025. Let’s take a quick listen to an extract of that. I am coming soon. To the people who are listening, please pay attention to what I’m going to say. He says to me on the 23rd and the 24th 20 25 I will come to take my So that was his prediction that some people took seriously and that’s really what’s kicked off this viral sensation if you will Mark. Now we’re not mocking what people believe. That’s the first thing I’d like to make very very clear here because this is a phenomenon that we’re examining. So Vetica, how have internet users been reacting to this? Well, just as much uh as there has been belief, there has also been uh mockery, Tik Tok has also been flooded with people uh making fun of uh this rapture talk or uh joking about the believers. This video in particular set up a chain reaction. Uh people dressing up their pets in uh tin foil helmets to prepare for uh the rapture. Um I also saw outfits of the rapture. Let’s take a quick look at that. Rapture ready. OOTD. Boots are for God, dresses for God, wings are for Rapture, glasses are from Amazon. And as well as that, there’s always just straight mockery as well. Things like this. Many, many videos like this, people just making straight fun of the concept. Um, and this extended uh as well onto other social media. It wasn’t just Tik Tok uh that was making fun of this concept as well. Here’s a couple of the reactions. People saying uh what it would look like uh when they saw the the neighbors in their yard this morning, things like that. Um, and I even saw the dictionary Mariam Webster join in on this trend as well. If you want to know how far it really went, the dictionary is saying uh giving us the origins of the the word rapture and saying, “We we hope neither carries you off today.” Now, many users online uh highlighted the obvious parallels and similarities to other endofthe-orld uh conspiracy theories. Um, many of them mentioning the rumor that swept the internet, you might remember, about the Mayan calendar in 2012. That was a big one. There was even a film made about it. Um, and of course the start of the millennium as well, the Y2K. All of which didn’t come to fruition because we are of course Mark still here. Indeed. So Verica, final question. Is the world ending today? Well, Mark, that is certainly what some people think, but you might just have to ask me tomorrow. Or maybe we’re just the people that are still here. What do we know? We have to hell there with truth or fake. We will wait and see what develops over the next 24 hours.

People are selling their cars, quitting their jobs and saying goodbye to their children. On TikTok, viral videos show Christians preparing for what they call the “Rapture”, predicted to take place on September 23 or 24. It all stems from a prediction made by a South African pastor several months ago, in which he said Jesus spoke to him. But for all the believers, there’s also been a slew of online mockery about the latest doomsday theory, as Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.
#rapturetok #doomsday #tiktok

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22 comments

  4. Let us hope that the they are all swallowed up and removed from the Earth à la "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

  9. This just proves that many Christians are not Biblically knowledgeable, because if they were they would know that the rapture doesn't exist in the Bible and that the concept of the rapture began with John Nelson Darby, an Anglo-Irish preacher in the 1800's. Historically, the rapture is less than 200 years old and is not something the apostles taught.

  14. Look on the bright side!!! All those False shepherds according to their own religion are now bound for hell. . .🤗Stop the Religion Psychosis🃏🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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