Farewell Addresses in the Bible Leave Timeless Lessons

Did you realize that the Bible has several sets of “famous last words” given by influential biblical leaders? By studying the farewell addresses made by Moses, Joshua, Paul and Jesus, we can learn valuable lessons!

If you’d like to read their complete farewell addresses—and you should—here they are:

Moses to Israel at the end of its 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and poised to enter the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 29-32).

Joshua to Israel after leading their conquest of Canaan (Joshua 23-24).

Paul to the elders of Ephesus who at his request traveled to Miletus to meet him for an emotional goodbye on his way to Jerusalem (Acts 20).

Surely the most important farewell address: Jesus Christ’s intimate talk with His disciples the night before His death (John 13-17) and just before His ascension (Acts 1:4-8).

These addresses were all given at key junctures in human history, and most people can sense that we are living at such a pivotal time.

The apostle Paul, speaking of the many examples recorded for us in the Bible, tells us, “All these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). From these farewell addresses, certain key lessons jump out.

Your eyes have seen

“You have seen,” said Moses to the Israelites, “all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt . . .” (Deuteronomy 29:2).

His successor, Joshua, started the same way as Moses: “You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you . . . [God] has fought for you” (Joshua 23:3).

Paul told his beloved elders, whom he expected to never see again, “I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you . . . For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:20, 27).

When He began by shockingly washing the feet of His disciples, Jesus said, “For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). For 3 ½ years they had seen and heard all that He had taught and done. Later that Passover night, Jesus assured His disciples then and future, “All things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (15:15).

We must be grateful for what we have seen of God’s wonderful way of life and carry on as these leaders exhorted. Many find that it helps to keep a journal of when God has blessed us in a special way or answered a prayer so we can remind ourselves when it feels like we are wandering in the wilderness. We must keep the vision of the Kingdom of God burning bright.

You are special to God

Moses told Israel that God was establishing them “today as a people for Himself” (Deuteronomy 29:13). They would be the “apple of His eye” (32:10).

Joshua pointed them to recognize that “all the good things have come upon you which the Lord your God promised you” (Joshua 23:15).

Paul reminded the elders that they were privileged to not only be a part of “the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28) but in their case to shepherd it. They had received “the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (verse 32).

Jesus said to His disciples then and those to follow, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends” (John 15:15). What a privilege to have the special calling to be the people of God! 
(1 Peter 2:9-10).

Partnership Principle

Moses told Joshua directly and all Israel “The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations . . . [and] give them over to you . . . Be strong and of good courage . . . He will not leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:3-6).

Joshua didn’t take the credit for conquering Canaan: “The Lord your God is He who has fought for you . . . God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight . . . [God said] I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant” (Joshua 23:3, 5; 24:13).

Paul told the Ephesus elders that he wasn’t his own travel agent, “Now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there” (Acts 20:22).

Jesus, though He was God in the flesh, said, “The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10). And He assured the disciples that He would help them “bear much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

God’s leaders have always taught the “Partnership Principle,” put so well by Paul in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Be careful to keep God’s way

Moses’ last words to Israel, which you would suspect would be his most important ones, were: “Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe—all the words of this law . . . it is your life” (Deuteronomy 32:46-47).

Joshua passed on this same heartfelt message, “Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses” (Joshua 23:6).

Paul departed from his fellow elders reminding them that he had faithfully preached “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). He would leave them to “finish my race with joy” (verse 24).

Jesus said, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love” (John 15:10). Jesus said the new commandment He gave His disciples was that they must love as He loved (verse 12). That’s what was new about it!

God is ready to restore you

Moses warned Israel that they would disobey God and reap the curses of Deuteronomy 28. But he assured them that when they returned to God in obedience, “The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand . . . [and] will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers” (Deuteronomy 30:9).

Paul warned the elders that “after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20:29). The real shocker was that the wolves would rise “from among yourselves . . . speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (verse 30). Paul had warned them for three years “night and day with tears” (verse 31) to follow his example and teaching. For his last words to them, Paul shared a foundational principle he had learned from Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (verse 35). This succinctly contrasts God’s way versus Satan’s: give versus get.

These are all valuable lessons those of us who want to be God’s people can apply today from these farewell addresses in the Bible. Why not study these complete messages which contain so much more insight and motivation!

These special servants of God showed their love with their words and backed it up with their actions. Their words urge us to fix our eyes on our relationship with God. We are living at a special time with our sights on the soon-coming return of Jesus Christ who will establish the Promised Land on earth. He has called us to a special destiny in His family and Kingdom, and it’s His good pleasure to guide us there!

The last words Jesus said to His disciples after appearing to them for 40 days after His resurrection and just before departing in a cloud were: “You will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere . . . to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, New Living Translation).

As you are reading this, you are seeing that witness which Jesus said is being preached into all the world before “the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

Choose this day

How fitting to close with this stirring exhortation: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

May we say with Joshua’s determined affirmation: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).