When God wanted to stir his people to renew their commitment to his purpose and his mission, what did he do? He sent them preachers and prophets. He raised up two preachers who brought the Word of the Lord with his authority, and that Word was the catalyst for not only renewal, but it was the Word which sustained them in the work. That Word was filled with exhortation, promise, and with what God was going to do in the future. Understand, that is how the prophetic Word works. God reassures you over and over again of what he is going to do for you in the future. And it is that knowledge that motivates you to obey in the present. It is the certainty of what he has promised to do for us in the future, that in a sense is the impetus for us to trust him for today and tomorrow, and to do what he says and to make sure our priorities are aligned, so that we are really living for the kingdom which is going to come.1
Brian Borgman
1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.