Who Is Joshua Mhlakela? 5 Things To Know About Pastor Who Predicted Rapture That Never Happened
Social media is abuzz with people talking about a spiritual prediction made by South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela.
Source: UGC
The pastor said he saw visions of Jesus Christ returning to earth to rapture the saints on September 23 or 24.
He made the claim on CettwinzTV, a religious YouTube channel, that the rapture is upon the world.
Since Mhlakela, social media users have taken it up and started creating content around it. Newsweek reports that there are over 321,000 posts mentioning the Rapture.
What is rapture?
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:
"Rapture, in Christianity, is the belief that both living and dead believers will ascend into heaven to meet Jesus Christ at the Second Coming."
What the Bible says about the rapture
In the book of John 14:1 to 3, Jesus Christ told his disciples he was going to prepare a place and then would return to take them.
The verses read:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
The Bible also adds that no man knows when it will be, with Jesus Christ saying he, too, has no idea.
Mark 13:32 says:
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Yet, over the years, some men of God have predicted dates they believe the rapture would happen. The latest came from South African pastor Mhlakela.
Who Is Joshua Mhlakela?
1. Joshua Mhlakela predicted rapture
In a now viral YouTube interview, Joshua Mhlakela said Jesus Christ told him specifically that the rapture would happen on 23 and 24 September 2025.
His words:
"The rapture is upon us. Whether you are ready or not. Today, what people will hear is God revealing his plan to the people of the world. God took me to see the future and then he brought me back. And there in heaven, in a throne room, I see Jesus sitting on a throne, and I could hear him very loud and clear, 'I'm coming soon."
2. Joshua Mhlakela shares how was named
According to the man of God, his name, Joshua, was revealed to his parents even before they knew the gender of the baby.
He said God spoke to his father in a dream and instructed him to name the unborn child Joshua.
His words:
"Before I was born, when my mother was pregnant with me, my father had a dream. And in this dream, he was told to name the child Joshua."
3. Mhlakela implies miracle happened after his birth
According to Joshua Mhlakela, something that could only be described as a miracle happened on the day he was born.
He claims that he was almost not born because there was a battle that his mother had to overcome.
His words:
"When I was born, there was some complications with the birth. The doctor said to my parents that if I'm born, it's either I will come out dead or I will come out injured. So when I came out, and I had no issue at all, and I was alive, so the doctors said I was a miracle. On the same day that I was born, my mother held me as a baby on her stomach and she was resting. So, a spiritual force came and strangled her. So, as she was fighting off this spirit, she was about to turn her body to fight this thing off her, she forgot that I was on her stomach, so she held on to me. The moment she held onto me, the spirit disappeared."
4. Joshua Mhlakela was once kidnapped
According to the preacher, he was once kidnapped when he was just four years old.
However, by a miracle, he was found. He said:
"I was kidnapped for a bout a month. I remember the ordeal. But miraculously by God's grace, I was found."
5. Joshua Mhlakela once opened a church
One more interesting thing about Joshua Mhlakela is that he prefers being called a born-again Christian.
He does not want to be identified as a pastor. He once opened a church, but it closed down.
The man of God, who was born in 1982, worked as an assistant pastor in 2003, but resigned from the post in 2010. A church he started in 2016 was later closed down.
Source: Getty Images
Watch the full video below:
Lady shares why she left her church
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that a Nigerian lady said she went to church one day and decided that she was going to change her place of worship.
According to the lady, she decided to change her church after listening to some of the things said by the pastor.
The pastor preached that the reason some men remain unmarried was because they keep their rooms neatly arranged.
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