Actors for carrying out one of the most famous military actions of prophecy yet future are beating the war drums. At this point they are only the drums of economic warfare, but the beat sounds familiar to the student of Bible prophecy. Like so much of prophetic stage-setting going on at present, the Trump administration is at the heart of this particular end-times development.

President Donald J. Trump a couple of weeks ago announced a steep tariff on Turkish steel and aluminum. This was done, in part, because Turkey has kept an American pastor incarcerated under what the president considers false charges and refuses to release him. Turkey’s lira has fallen significantly as a result, and relations have degenerated. Some within NATO, of which Turkey is a member, have also gotten crossways with Trump on the matter.

At the same time, Russia is having economic problems, with its ruble falling to two-year lows. The trouble is caused in part because the U.S. imposed severe sanctions due to a poisoning incident in Salisbury, UK, for which the Russians were deemed responsible.

So, two nations that are thought to be key players in the Gog-Magog attack in the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecy are reeling economically. Like so much going on at present, one who truly observes from the biblical prophecy perspective can see the orchestrating hand of God directing the actors in preparation for things to come.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, angered by the American president’s actions, called the United States “wild wolves” for imposing the sanctions. He vowed that Ankara would pursue trade with the Russians that doesn’t involve the American dollar. This is a relationship that has been in process of coming ever closer together over recent months and years. It is, most who observe from the biblical prophecy perspective believe, a coming together that is inevitable. Russia and Turkey, financially strapped to prop up their dictatorships, will one day soon seek “spoil” as Ezekiel the prophet, under divine inspiration, put it.

Turkey is in the geographical area believed to have constituted what is termed Togarmah by Ezekiel the prophet. We see the prophetic relevance in the following passage:

And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. (Ezekiel 38:3-6)

While the United States of America isn’t mentioned by name anywhere in Scripture, we see almost on a daily basis, in my estimation, that America is influencing the shaping of things to come, prophetically speaking. In this case, of course, the American president–no stranger to controversy–is instrumental in pushing Turkey into the arms of Mr. Putin’s Russia. It is an astounding thing to watch, if one keeps in mind at all times that God is directing the end-times play.

The American dollar, as example of the U.S. being used to shape the prophetic picture, is the most powerful influence on earth, economically speaking. All the while, the dollar is supposed to have collapsed–to have died, bringing the economies of the world down with it. I, as most who read these commentaries know, believe that the dollar and all other things in the global economic scheme of things are being supernaturally propped up in order to prevent world financial collapse. That will happen, I’m convinced, when the Rapture of the Church takes place.

Russia and Turkey, along with all of the other players in this end times drama, are being channeled into precise positions for prophetic fulfillment. This doesn’t mean that free will has been done away with by the Grand Director of things. It’s just that the Lord knows the end from the beginning.

Turkey–Togarmah–is being channeled into the camp of Rosh–Russia–as many who observe Bible prophecy believe. The stage continues to be set.