Welcome to Prophetic Documenting
Explaining Prophetic Documenting
Deposit Photo Image. Used with permission.
Malachi 3:16 NIV, "Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name."
Wherever we find the word "presence" in the Scriptures, we know that it is all about the Spirit of the Lord.
We understand that the presence contains the worship of the Lord, the Word of the Lord, the will of the Lord and the work of the Lord set to be released through the object of its reflection. In the Old Covenant, the Lord's presence was tangible in every extraordinary thing He made.
This "anointed scroll of remembrance" was no different.
The scribes in charge of this project would have been supernaturally empowered or filled with the Spirit of the Lord to produce it. How do we know? Well, it falls within the Lord's pattern. Under the old dispensation, the Lord's Spirit came upon people to complete the scribal and artistic work set before them.
Just consider the work of Bezalel and all the artisans who completed the work of the temple at the Lord's command. As long as they worked within the Father's guidelines to create the artifacts He required, His presence was with them.
As prophetic scribes, we have so much more today as the Spirit has made a home in us. And just as the Lord released the command to record "scrolls" during that dispensation, He still burdens sons with that role today.
Isaiah 8:2 NKJV, "And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."
Not only do we see the Lord leading the Prophetic to incorporate documentation into His assignment, but we see two scribes being "supernaturally assigned by the prophet" for the task. You see, the ACT OF RECORDING is a part of the documentation process. As I teach in my book, Writing & the Prophetic, writing and recording are two separate functions identified in the scriptures.
When a prophetic scribe writes it indicates that they are writing for comprehension and for others to understand or gain a particular view of something. However, when a person records -- they are literally "capturing facts, making lists or in some way counting something." But what they are NOT doing is "writing for comprehension." The records they produce are merely documents that are up for interpretation in context with what is written.
From this understanding, we can define PROPHETIC DOCUMENTING as a "supernatural burden to record" by the evidence and activities of recorders in the Bible. Prophetic documenting is more than just the act of recording. It is also the responsibilities that come with documenting - like preserving, protecting, and caring for the records.
While I only included two scriptures here, the Bible is filled with clear examples of the supernatural burden to record and archive records for varying kinds for remembrance. And every single time, it is something that the Lord himself wanted to be done for himself, the people and their generations to remember.
Some examples include God's first record with man "the creation of the rainbow." He documented his promises with this artifact for all of humanity - to remember. We have the recorded genealogies, the memorial stones, the Ark of the Covenant, the stories of the patriarchs of the faith, the history of the nation of Israel, the Covenants of the Lord, the Feasts, references to the Book of Life, the preserved scriptures, the Gospels, etc. And 2 Timothy reminds us that all Scripture is God-breathed.
God-breathed Scripture is PROPHETIC and it is DOCUMENTATION.
Your assignment is as follows: Review your scribal project if you have one. Make a list of the types of information or the kind of resources you plan to use to research your project. For example, I plan to take pictures of _____. I plan to get copies of _______. I plan to interview the following person: ________. I am collecting the following files: _______. I am making lists of ________.
Now that we have set the foundation for this course -- let's get into learning the ins and outs of documenting from a journalistic perspective.
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