What does that even mean?
"Yes, the preacher goes before the Lord, who then follows after to quicken the Word that has been planted."
The Word is ALREADY quick (Heb 4:12) and is not "followed by God".
God has already given a quickened word and the Preacher proclaims it.
Yes, it is in fact planted, but not as a doctrinal necessity by a man that is followed by God.
Pope's explanation says a preacher should be careful of pride but also says the preacher precedes God ... and THAT negates;
"In the beginning, God ... "
I always looked at it as meaning that everyone has a job to do and it’s different for everyone and each part is important to the overall result.
I garden a lot and each part of the growing part is necessary. NO plants without someone planting them. Someone has to care for them to grow and reach maturity, and then someone has the of of harvesting if you are going to reap the benefit of the fruit.
But ultimately, even though we do the physical labor, without God giving it life, all that work is for nothing.