There are several important events taking place Monday, January 20, 2025: (1) It is the day many people honor Martin Luther King, Jr. for the work he did in bringing about integration, (2) That night the National College football championship will be crowned, (3) Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. Depending on one’s interest, one of these may take precedence over the others, but the one that will probably have the greatest effect on our lives will be the inauguration of President Trump.
The 20th Amendment, which was ratified on January 23, 1933, moved Inauguration Day to January 20 from March 4 which had been the day since the first President was inaugurated. If January 20 falls on a Sunday, the President is sworn in at a private service and the public inauguration takes place on Monday, January 21. A news item this morning said that because of the severe cold on Monday, the inauguration is scheduled to be held inside the United States Capitol.
A Biblical Inauguration
As I read again I Samuel 8-12 which deals with Israel’s rejection of judges and desire to have a king, and the details of Saul being selected, I saw so many parallels with the United States. First, there is nothing specifically addressed in the Bible about any person in our society in the Bible, but there are many parallels and many applications which can be drawn from the biblical text.
Background
When Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land, God intended to be their king and judges would serve to deliver them from their enemies and to decide civil cases. This system lasted about 350 years and “then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him…Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations” (I Samuel 8:4-5). “And Samuel prayed to the LORD. The LORD, said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them’” (I Samuel 8:6-7).
They wanted to be like the nations around them. In reality, what they wanted was someone who would fight for them and give them what they wanted. God went on to say, “they have forsaken and served other gods…you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them” (I Samuel 8:8-9). The root of their problem was that they had forsaken God. The motive for wanting a king is found in I Samuel 8:20 which says, “We also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” They wanted the king to be the giver; they only wanted to takers.
Application: When this great country was founded, our forefathers put us on the course for following God and the Bible. What happened? As time went on, citizens of this country got farther and farther from God because our leaders led us from God and His word. God was removed from the schools. People quit going to church to worship the Creator. As the nation got away from God, they also got away from His word. The Bible quit being read in schools. Prayer was removed from schools. This led to our nation becoming more and more wicked because there was no standard for righteousness. It will not get any better until we return to God and to the moral standard He expects for all people. God warned about departing from Him. God said that when you find that your leaders have led you away from God and you have gotten away from His word, “Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day?” (I Samuel 8:18). Have we gotten so far from God that He will not answer? Is He allowing our once outstanding nation to be brought down, not by an outside force, but from inner spiritual decay?
It started because the people wanted a king who would give them what they wanted without the people having to work for it or without them having to fight for what they wanted. Our nation has become a nation of takers, not givers. Too many people want government handouts rather than working for their living. They will live on less if they don’t have to work for it rather than work to make for themselves a better life. A nation of takers will soon be destroyed because there will not be enough people to furnish for themselves and others who will not work. How long will it be before our government runs out of money?
Saul Inaugurated
Saul was the kind of king they wanted – fleshly, not spiritual. He was choice and handsome and stood head-and-shoulders-taller than any other people (I Samuel 9:2; 10:23). He came from a man who was known as a mighty man of valor (I Samuel 9:1). Through the guidance of God, Samuel selected Saul to be their king. “Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, kissed him and said, ‘Has not the LORD anointed you a ruler over His inheritance” (I Samuel 10:1). This was Saul’s private inauguration.
Later Samuel called all the people and he reminded them of what God had done for them in the past and then closed his speech saying, “But you have today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses yet you have said, ‘No, but set a king over us’!” (I Samuel 10:19).
What kind of rulers do we want? Are they rulers looking out for our best interest? How long has it been since we have had leaders who were spiritual leaders to bring us back to God?
Division from the beginning: Even though Saul was the kind of leader most people wanted, there was division in the land. “Certain worthless men said, ‘How can this one deliver us?’ And they despised him and did not bring him any present” (I Samuel 10:27). Doesn’t that sound familiar? How long has it been since there was an elected President when even the losing side said, “We will support him in order to help the nation?” I’m old enough to remember when that was the case, but in recent years, the losing side does everything in their power to keep the winning side from succeeding.
At first, it looked like Saul was the right man for the right position. He won the first battles, “Then the dread of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out as one man” (I Samuel 11:7).
Samuel’s Final Message
In I Samuel 12, Samuel makes his final speech to the people, and they are convicted of their sin and confessed, “We have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king” (I Samuel 12:19). His final message to them was basically saying, it doesn’t matter who the physical king is, “If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God. If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers” (I Samuel 12:14-15). That principle is just as true today as it was the say Samuel spoke it!
Conclusion
January 20, 2025 will be a significant day in our history because it is the beginning of the rule of a new administration. Will that new administration take us closer to the Lord or farther away? No matter what our leaders do, each of us must prove that we are going to follow the Lord, whether anyone else does or not. God will bless those who follow Him, no matter what happens to the nation as a whole. Let’s do our part by being obedient children of God.
Wayne Burger
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).