Today is Inauguration Day. Inauguration Day occurs every four years on January 20 (or January 21 if January 20 falls on a Sunday). The inauguration ceremony takes place at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.1 Today, the 45th President of the United States will become the 47th President of the United States. Donald J. Trump is in a small group with only Grover Cleveland being elected to two non-consecutive terms.
Vice-President J.D. Vance will be sworn in first and will repeat the vow that’s been in use for Senators, Congressmen, federal employees, and Vice-Presidents since 1884. It says, “”I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
Around noon, the President will swear to a similar but shorter oath of office in accordance with Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Regardless of which party is coming into office, there is a solemness to what this day
represents in our country. We are able to freely elect our officials. We are able to put signs in our yards and comment on social media platforms about which candidates we like and why. Though a Christian must be extremely careful about this so that we don’t violate Scripture, we are able to publicly disagree with the candidates and elected officials. We are able to vocally and physically align ourselves with any political agenda we want according to Constitutional Amendments 1, 14, 15, 19, 23, 24, 26. That’s a lot of amendments that pertain to this topic.
And, if you had wanted to attend the Inauguration Ceremony in person, free tickets were available through our State elected officials.
So, as a Christian first and an American second, I want to treat this day with the respect and honor it deserves. We are blessed in America to have a day like this. This really is a gift from God.
The prophet Daniel gives another perspective to this in Daniel 2:20-21. “Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: (21) And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.” And, he wrote in Daniel 4:17, “This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.”
Why does God give us the rulers that we have? Sometimes, it’s because that ruler is what we need. Other times, it’s what we deserve. Other times, God may give us what we want to demonstrate that man’s ways are not the best ways. And there are times that God gives us a leader out of His mercy for us.
Either way, rest certain in the God of the Universe and the truth of His Word in Psalms 75:6-7. “For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. (7) But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”
1https://www.usa.gov/inauguration
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