Don’t Believe Everything You See in This Age of Deepfakes: The End-Times Warning We Can’t Ignore

We’ve always been told, “Seeing is believing.” But what happens when what you see was never real?

In the April 2026 edition of Dr. David Jeremiah’s Turning Point magazine, he talks about the burden of being part of a dynasty – for example, a Kennedy, a Rockefeller, or a Vanderbilt. In other words, everything they do reflects on their family image. Then Dr. Jeremiah adds, “I sometimes think tabloid newspapers were invented just to sensationalize famous families with troubled members.”

Of course, that observation was an exaggeration to make a point, and it lit a fuse in my mind.

Because today, you don’t even need a troubled family member to destroy a reputation. You don’t need a rogue relative or a scandalous truth. You don’t need anything real at all. You just need artificial intelligence.

Welcome to the World of Deepfakes

The technology is called “deepfake,” and if you haven’t encountered the term yet, you need to understand it because it may already be shaping what you believe.

A deepfake is an AI-generated video, audio recording, or image that places a real person in a completely fabricated scenario. Using machine learning, bad actors can now create convincing footage of a public figure – a politician, a pastor, a CEO, a celebrity – saying things they never said, doing things they never did, going places they never went. The lip movements match. The voice matches. The facial expressions match. To the untrained eye, it looks like undeniable proof.

And that’s exactly the point.

Enemies of a person – political, personal, or ideological – can now manufacture “evidence” from thin air. A presidential candidate can be made to appear to confess to a crime. A respected minister can be made to appear to say something heretical. A business leader can be made to look corrupt. By the time the truth catches up, the damage is done. The video has been shared a million times.

We used to say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” In 2025 and beyond, seeing something is no longer proof of anything.

This Isn’t Just a Technology Problem – It’s a Spiritual One

As believers living in what I believe are the last days before the Rapture, this development should not surprise us. In fact, Scripture practically predicted it.

Jesus Himself gave us this warning in Matthew 24:4 – His very first words when the disciples asked about the signs of the end times: “See to it that no one deceives you.”

He said it again in verse 11: “And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.”

And again in verse 24: “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

Three times in one chapter, Jesus warned about deception. Not famine first. Not war first. Deception first. That is striking — and deeply relevant.

The Apostle Paul echoed this urgency in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, describing the coming of the lawless one as being “in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.” And in 2 Timothy 3:13, he warned that “evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

We are watching those words come to life in real time.

The Danger Is Not Just Political

You might be thinking, I don’t follow politics closely, so this doesn’t affect me. But deepfakes and AI manipulation aren’t limited to politicians. Consider:

Ministry and faith leaders. Imagine a beloved pastor or Bible teacher being “caught on video” saying something blasphemous or immoral. Congregations could be shattered. Ministries dismantled. Souls shaken, all based on a lie that looked like video proof.

News and current events. We already live in a time of contested media narratives. Now add fabricated footage to the mix. How do you know what’s real?

Social media. Deepfake videos spread fastest where fact-checking is slowest – your Facebook feed, your Twitter scroll, your forwarded text messages. By the time a video is debunked, you may have already formed an opinion, shared it, and moved on.

Family and personal relationships. AI tools are increasingly being used to generate fake images and audio of private individuals, not just celebrities, for harassment, manipulation, and fraud.

The deception is not coming. It’s here.

So What Do We Do?

The answer is not paranoia. It’s not to unplug from all media and go live off the grid (though some days that sounds appealing). The answer is wisdom – the kind that only comes from God and from being grounded in His Word.

Here are some practical steps for navigating this new reality:

1. Slow down before you share. The urgency to share breaking news – especially shocking news – is exactly what manipulators count on. Pause. Verify. Check multiple credible sources before you pass something along.

2. Ask: who benefits from this story? Propaganda, fake videos, and manufactured outrage always serve someone’s agenda. Ask yourself who profits if you believe this. That question alone can save you from being weaponized.

3. Look for verification from original sources. Did the person in question actually say this? Check their official website, their verified social media accounts, their actual published writings. Don’t rely solely on a clip someone else edited.

4. Be especially cautious with emotionally charged content. Deepfakes are designed to provoke outrage, disgust, fear, or grief. Strong emotion is the enemy of discernment. When something makes you furious or devastated, that’s precisely the moment to slow down and verify.

5. Stay rooted in Scripture. The more saturated you are in God’s Word, the more quickly your spirit will sense when something is spiritually off – even when your eyes can’t detect the forgery.

6. Pray for discernment. James 1:5 promises that God gives wisdom generously to those who ask. In an age of sophisticated deception, discernment is no longer optional; it’s essential armor.

A Word of Encouragement for End-Times Believers

I want to close with something that should give us peace even in the middle of all this.

None of this has caught God off guard.

He knew this technology was coming. He knew deception would reach levels unimaginable to previous generations. And He inspired His Word to address it anyway – thousands of years ago.

That means the Bible you hold in your hands is not out of date. It is not behind the times. It is the most relevant document on the planet. And the God who wrote it through His servants is the same God who holds you, who knows what you’re navigating, and who promised that His children would not be left without a Helper.

The Holy Spirit is still the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13). He will guide you – if you ask Him, if you stay close to His Word, and if you refuse to let the noise of this world drown out His still, small voice.

We are living in Bible times, friends. The very deception Jesus warned about is unfolding before our eyes.

“See to it that no one deceives you.” — Matthew 24:4

Stay watchful. Stay anchored. And keep eagerly waiting His return!

What are your thoughts on navigating media in an age of deepfakes? Have you encountered something online that turned out to be fabricated? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

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