Will millions of people suddenly vanish today? That is exactly what Danie Botha has predicted. The popular singer-turned-preacher says the Rapture will begin on 23–24 September – and whether you believe it or not, the date has now arrived.

The Rapture is understood by some Christian traditions as a sudden moment when believers – both dead and alive – are caught up together to meet Christ in the air, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17.

Botha says the Holy Spirit gave him the message, and he has preached about it. In videos on YouTube he explains the Rapture as if it were an airport, the final departure point.

“So our departure point to the next destination is here, we are in those last days, you cannot go to any place more final than this. And you won’t believe it, I walked into my house after the service that morning, switched on the TV as I usually do to watch YouTube. When I switched on the TV, in big golden letters before me appeared: Flight 923… you must be ready to depart.”

This differs from the Second Coming, or End of the World, when Christ visibly returns to earth to finally judge evil and renew creation. While many preachers maintain that no one can know the exact day or hour, Botha insists that his date is a prophecy that believers should take seriously.

History, however, shows that similar predictions have been made many times – from the “Great Disappointment” in 1844 to Harold Camping’s failed judgment day dates in 2011.

Each time, the world simply carried on, while followers were left disillusioned or even spiritually wounded.

One local example is the leader of an end-times prophecy group, Johannes Coetzee, who in 2011, together with about 80 followers, checked into a Johannesburg hotel to wait for the end of the world, as predicted by American evangelist Harold Camping.

Nothing happened. “There was peace in our hearts. But then, when nothing happened, fear started setting in and we got scared,” Coetzee later told the media. He admitted they were wrong about the earthquakes and the prediction that Christians would ascend into heaven.

Instead of the world ending, Coetzee was left with a massive hotel bill. Nevertheless, he insisted that the day still marked the beginning of the end, and that the world would definitely end on 21 October – this time destroyed by sulphur and fire. But that day too came and went without any dramatic events.

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