I believe the general opinion of this great Man is, that he was some King of Canaan, who was a good man, but whose genealogy cannot be traced. The Jews and Samaritans will have him to be Shem, their ancestor. The Arabians suppose him to be Ham. Dr. Owen will have him to be a descendant of Japhet; but how a descendant of Japhet came to be a king of Canaan, I know not. Some are inclined to think he fell from the Moon. But all these ideas are too mean, and none of them agree with what the Holy Ghost has said of him. Many years ago there was a Sect of Melchisedecian Heretics, who held that he was some celestial power or virtue not revealed; but that he was superior to Christ, and made intercession for angels, as the Saviour did for Men. The most general opinion is that he was merely a figure or type of our dear Lord; but we are about to prove he was more than the figure—he was the adorable Redeemer himself. We are not to make any thing in Scripture a type when the Scripture declares it is a substance, and infinitely exceeds all the figures. Our dear Lord is certainly represented by many figures, but in the case before us he is not; for the Apostle, treating upon the Subject, not considering it as mystical but real. He is not explaining a mystery, but merely commenting upon a reality. _Now consider how great this Man was_.—Perhaps no subject in the Bible has had a greater diversity of opinions than this, and the reason is, because Men are so dissatisfied with the Spirit’s testimony concerning him: let us therefore notice the Apostle’s own words, and follow him in his comment, and there rest satisfied. This will lead us to answer a few objections as we proceed. The Apostle in this grand Epistle, is setting before the believing Hebrews the Dignity, Majesty, and Glory of Christ, as the Christ of God. He first proves him to be God over all, equal with the Father in power and glory, in all his essential attributes. He then shews _how far he excels the angels_, they being the work of his hands, and he their great Creator; and having accomplished the great Work of Atonement, he has entered into his joy, and is now representing our Persons before the throne; and as our great High Priest, still pleading the virtue of what he has done, before the Father. In the three following Chapters he shews the necessity there was that Jesus, our great High Priest, should be tried by temptation, that he might know how to succour the tempted—that his people, by believing, might find a Sabbath of Rest in him, he encourages them to hold fast their profession, seeing our great High Priest is passed into the heavens for them; and as he knew what sore temptations meant, they might warranty apply to him for all that grace they wanted in time of need. This is sweet encouragement to the Lord’s tried ones.