Inaugural Passages: What's your Type? Part 1

We just elected (reelected?) the next president of the United States an he took office on January 20, 2025. 46 men have taken the oath of office of President of the United States and most men elected to the office have placed their hand on a Bible to take the oath of office. Some of the Bibles were closed, while some Bibles were opened to specific passages. This series entitled, Inaugural Passages is group of gospel sermons that look at some of the known passages to which the Bibles were opened and the application we can make of those passages.

George Washington took the oath for the first time and after him, 45 more men have taken the oath. Most presidents-elect has placed their hand on a Bible to take the oath of office, while some did not. When Lyndon Johnson was sworn in on Air Force 1 on November 22, 1963, he used a Catholic Missal, since there was no Bible on the plane. John Adams placed his left hand on a law book. Contrary to urban legend, Barak Obama did not take his oath on a Koran for either term.

Some of the Bibles have been closed, while some presidents elect have selected a passage to which their Bible is opened. Sometimes, someone just opened the Bible to a random passage. I’d like to look at some of these passages in this series I’ve entitled Inaugural Passages.

For the first inauguration of America’s first president, the Bible was randomly opened to Genesis 49:13. By itself, Genesis 49:13 does not have much application to us today, but if we look at it in context with the rest of chapter 49, we see an application of the whole chapter and that is what I would like to do today. Genesis 49 contains Jacob’s last words to his sons, all of whom can be seen as representatives of Christians today.