Elijah was one of the great Prophets who did not leave us any teaching in writing. Neither did his disciples record any of their master's teaching for us. Sirach affirms that Elijah's words "were as a flaming furnace", yet he does not record those words: he rather celebrates the activity of Elijah and his many prophetic actions, destined like the actions of all the prophets to help wayward Israel return to the Lord.

Sirach records especially that belief about Elijah which was influential in the New Testament: he was "destined to put an end to wrath before the day of the Lord." Sirach also pronounces a blessing: "Blessed is he who shall have seen you before he dies." No doubt this blessing implicitly refers to the Messiah: Blessed is the person who lives until the time of the Messiah. At his resurrection, however, Jesus instructed Thomas and by extension all others who look for signs and proofs: "Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet believe." This is the great beatitude of St John's Gospel. It is a promise that sustains our faith and our hope.