I enjoy listening to Harold Camping sometimes.

There is nothing in the text itself to indicate that is intended to be a "similitude," although there are always good ways to apply the Bible to modern situations. It is talking about actual history. But that is not to say it cannot illustrate the situation we find ourselves in today. In fact, most things in the Bible have lessons for people living at any period of history. I think you are right that it can applied to the worship, etc., of institutions or organizations, especially when they teach what we know to be contrary to what God has revealed before.

John317, you're right on! I will go home today and ready what Mrs. White has to say on this subject.

OK, then tell us what your thoughts are about this. Good subject.

Reading the passage, one would gather that the old prophet felt sorry, pity, and remorse for the death of the prophet.

1Ki 13:29 And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him.
1Ki 13:30 Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!"
1Ki 13:31 So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.
1Ki 13:32 "For the saying which he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines[fn2] on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass."

Did the old prophet know that he caused the demise of the other and that now he wanted to be buried next to him? In your opinions out there... will one of them be saved in the Kingdom? Both saved or neither one saved in the Kingdom? Just your opinion......

>>I enjoy listening to Harold Camping sometimes.<<

Yes, Camping..., though one cannot entirely agree with his hermeneutics, I listen, and give him his due. I especially appreciate the music of Family Radio.

>>There is nothing in the text itself to indicate that is intended to be a "similitude,"<<



Perhaps, not an indisputable “also meant”, and perhaps not so much a palpable similitude – but a perceptible likeness, yes? I mean,

note carefully, the above vis-à-vis the Modern Church.

It is not my understanding that either of the two prophets will be saved. One lied, and the other believed him rather than believing that God would not change His instructions.

I feel that the idea of the old prophet being a false prophet in very correct. A true prophet would not have lied and deceived as this man did. If he is not true, then he has to be a false prophet.

I don't believe that either one is on the list of the saved by Ellen White. See the thread "Those who will be in Heaven" for the list of those who EGW says will be saved. And then you can double check with her list on the thread "Not going to Heaven".

Here is one from the EG White files:

Chapter 13

11-19. God Alone Can Countermand His Orders.--The man of God had been fearless in delivering his message of rebuke. He had not hesitated to denounce the king's false system of worship. And he had refused Jeroboam's invitation, even though promised a reward. But he allowed himself to be over-persuaded by the one who claimed to have a message from heaven. {2BC 1033.5}
When the Lord gives a man a command such as He gave this messenger, He Himself must countermand the order. Upon those who turn from the voice of God to listen to counter orders, the threatened evil will come. Because this messenger obeyed false orders, God permitted him to be destroyed (MS 1, 1912). {2BC 1033.6}

from Prophets and Kings:

Well would it have been for the prophet had he adhered to his purpose to return to Judea without delay. While traveling homeward by another route, he was overtaken by an aged man who claimed to be a prophet and who made false representations to the man of God, declaring, "I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water." Again and again the lie was repeated and the invitation urged until the man of God was persuaded to return. {PK 106.1}
Because the true prophet allowed himself to take a course contrary to the line of duty, God permitted him to suffer the penalty of transgression. While he and the one who had invited him to return to Bethel were sitting together at the table, the inspiration of the Almighty came upon the false prophet, "and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, . . . thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers." Verses 18-22. {PK 106.2}
This prophecy of doom was soon literally fulfilled. "It came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass. . . . And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass. And, behold, men passed by, and
107
saw the carcass cast in the way, . . . and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord." Verses 23-26. {PK 106.3}
The penalty that overtook the unfaithful messenger was a still further evidence of the truth of the prophecy uttered over the altar. If, after disobeying the word of the Lord, the prophet had been permitted to go on in safety, the king would have used this fact in an attempt to vindicate his own disobedience. In the rent altar, in the palsied arm, and in the terrible fate of the one who dared disobey an express command of Jehovah, Jeroboam should have discerned the swift displeasure of an offended God, and these judgments should have warned him not to persist in wrongdoing. But, far from repenting, Jeroboam "made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places." Thus he not only sinned greatly himself, but "made Israel to sin;" and "this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth." Verses 33, 34; 14:16. {PK 107.1}

Terrific posts. Thanks for those quotes.

"When the Lord gives a man a command such as He gave this messenger, He Himself must countermand the order. Upon those who turn from the voice of God to listen to counter orders, the threatened evil will come. Because this messenger obeyed false orders, God permitted him to be destroyed (MS 1, 1912)."

I apply it this way: if I have studied the word of God and am convinced that God wants me to keep the Sabbath because His law is clear about it, I should not let someone come along later and persuade me that it is perfectly OK to go against what I know God has said in His Word.

I have seen the same kind of thing come up in regard to homosexuality. For instance, I've read clear statements in the Bible saying that it is wrong to practice homosexuality. Should I then be persuaded by people who say God does not mean what He had His prophets write about that subject? What could I expect from God if I turn from what I know the Bible teaches and return to homosexual practices? Could I expect God to say it's OK? Should I think it would be OK because after all God forgives and He gave Jesus so I can fall? Can I have homosexual practices and the kingdom of God too? Some would have me believe this, but 1 Cor. 6:9,10 and other Scriptures tell me that this would be a lie.