Rhetorical: Benjamin repeats his assertion that his catalog of the features of his reign is not meant to boast. This repetition allows him to shift the focus back to God, rather than possibly dwell on the “accusation” that isn’t an accusation. If there were any such feelings in the gathered people, Benjamin has moved beyond them, and uses this repetition to refocus on himself and his regnal relationship to God. Once again, Benjamin asserts that his efforts in their behalf have not come from desire for personal gain, but rather from God.
It is in the second clause that he extends this relationship with God to his people. He is laying an important foundation for the rest of his sermon, because he will be requiring his people to rename themselves as part of a newly renewed covenant with God. To prepare for that, Benjamin establishes their ability to enter into a personal relationship with God, just as Benjamin has, just as they have with Benjamin.
In an ancient society that was culturally primed to accept either the king as deity, or at the very least a special relationship between king and deity, Benjamin removes the exclusivity from that relationship. Where the gathered people might have been culturally primed to believe that lineage and rank were the things that created the relationship, Benjamin assures them that the special relationship may be based upon actions available to all.
It is for this reason that he tells them that he is teaching them “wisdom.” Here is something that is important, but perhaps not clearly understood. Once again in contrast to the surrounding kings, Benjamin teaches that the true relationship to deity comes in the one’s efforts on behalf of others. Here is something that is available to all, regardless of lineage or rank, regardless of poverty or wealth. Benjamin has, through the use of his personal example, created a tangible way in which the assumed exclusive relationship of king and deity may be expanded to all, and may be easily enjoyed by all.
Scriptural: How is it that “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God”? First, we must make certain that we understand that the implication here is one of a relationship – a relationship between servant and master. In such a relationship there are benefits that accrue to each party in the relationship. While the servant is certainly subject to the will of the master, the servant yet has the right and responsibility for goods and actions that might otherwise be unavailable to him. It is the responsibility of the master to provide appropriately for the servant, and the responsibility of the servant to fulfil the will of the master.
In the divine relationship, we are servants of the Lord when we enter into his service. With the Lord as our master we also have access to abilities and possibilities otherwise beyond our reach. We willingly exchange our complete freedom for the greater possibilities available through the master. In our modern world that places such an emphasis on freedom we can easily miss this part of the meaning. For us, it is similar to someone who works for a great firm. The employee willingly exchanges his “freedom” to be elsewhere for the compensations of the firm. In accomplishing the goals of the firm, the employee may also gain experience and increase talents in ways not previously available. While the analogy certainly has problems in the case of poor employers, just as it would with a wicked master, when the relationship is built with the eternal Master, the master/servant relationship is one of great benefit.
Therefore, Benjamin is inviting all of his people to enter into a personal servant/master relationship with God, just as Benjamin has. He indicates that the key action needed to accomplish this is to act as a servant – and in this case, Benjamin asserts that a servant of God would serve his fellow beings. This interesting formulation is echoed in two different concepts that Jesus taught during his ministry. First, Jesus also condensed the essential relationship to God into a single concept – that of Love: “Matt. 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Secondly, the command to serve one’s fellow beings is also a theme from Jesus’ earthly ministry: “Matt. 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
If God-like love is understood, it can be the entire basis for one’s relationship to God (the purpose of the Law and the prophets) because such a love will govern ones actions as though it were God. Service falls out of such a love. For Benjamin’s people who have been schooled in the law of Moses (Mosiah 2:3), Benjamin is refocusing them much as Jesus did – away from the particulars of the law and into the heart of it.