Pastor Joshua Mhlakela Allegedly Claims October 12 to 13 Will Be the Final Date for the Rapture

South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela has told followers that the Rapture will take place between 12 and 13 October, presenting it as his final prediction after earlier forecasts failed.

In a September interview, he set out the revised dates following a previous claim that the Rapture would occur on 23 September 2025, which had drawn attention on social media. He has attributed his forecasts to visions of God and Jesus and argued that the failure of earlier dates reflected a divine decision to allow more time for repentance.

Rapture Prediction Follows Failed September Claim

'There's no other final. I mean, there's no other rapture date. This is the final date for me,' Mhlakela said in a September interview.

The preacher traced his first visions of Jesus to 2018, linking them to the September 2025 forecast and the Jewish Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah. Some Christians connect the festival with a biblical passage describing Jesus returning with an archangel's voice and God's trumpet call.

He has said in interviews and his own online videos that these visions revealed both when the event would occur and its aftermath on Earth. Some followers reportedly sold their homes and cars or quit their jobs after watching his predictions online.

For some Christians, the Rapture is understood as a rescue in which believers are taken from Earth to meet Jesus before the Tribulation, a period of intense suffering. This interpretation describes seven years of chaos before Jesus returns to establish a peaceful kingdom.

Mhlakela argued that the delays fulfilled Scripture concerning the shortening of the Tribulation for the sake of the 'elect', meaning those believed to be chosen by God.

Calendar Argument Behind October Rapture Date

Mhlakela told CettwinzTV that the Feast of Trumpets had been dated incorrectly and should fall in October rather than September. He linked the revised timetable to what he described as divine instruction.

The pastor declared, 'God told me because there's no other date coming out, 12 to 13 October, which is the true feast of trumpets, which is when I will be meeting my savior face to face in the rapture.'

His calculation rested on further claimed visions of Jesus. He described two full moons that convinced him the calendar was misaligned by about a month, reasoning that Passover was being observed under the astrological sign of Pisces.

He maintained that the 'true' Passover should fall when the sun was in Aries, connecting that assertion to the biblical account of Israel's departure from Egypt. He then applied the same month-long shift to his October prediction.

The Exodus account does not place the sun in Aries, instead locating Passover in the first month of spring. The connection to Aries comes from later writers, including the first-century Jewish historian Josephus.

Christian Objections To Setting a Rapture Deadline

Christian critics have challenged the practice of setting a date for Jesus's return, arguing that it contradicts biblical teaching. Vladimir Savchuk, a pastor, author and YouTube preacher, challenged the practice directly. 'If someone sets the date, they are directly contradicting Jesus's word.'

Savchuk also pointed to another passage that he interpreted as setting a condition for Jesus's return. '2 Thessalonians 2:3, it says clearly that Jesus is not returning until the Antichrist is revealed, and that has not happened yet,' Savchuk explained.

His objection concerned the biblical figure described as the son of perdition, often interpreted as the Antichrist.