Tilahun Desalegn was among thousands of people who believed a South African pastor who predicted the end of the world would come on Tuesday, September 23. Joshua Mhlakela called on Christians to get their houses in order before God came to “rescue” them, predicting that the rapture would take place on September 23. It didn’t take long for social media users to get wind of the allegedly impending rapture. Desalegn, a self-described devout Christian, was so convinced that Judgment Day was on the horizon that he sold his 5-year-old car. Now, a week on from what was supposed to have been the end of the world, Desalegn’s feet remain on solid ground. Those on social media have since gone silent. Desalegn has now publicly apologized and vowed to never publicly talk about the rapture again. "Even if this date has come and gone, I still believe it will happen,” said Desalegn. "I just don't know anymore when it will happen and I'm not going to speculate anymore.” Social media wouldn’t be social media without snarky comments, but the best one was, “What if it happened and you just didn’t get taken?"
