In the first sample video of the CLAM meeting (Christian Life And Ministry) at about 5 minutes, 50 seconds in, a brother (Steven Phillips) is assigned the first segment of the new meeting, "Treasures from God's Word." ( http://tv.jw.org/#video/VODStudio/pub-jwbrd_201510_5_VIDEO )
He shows just how sloppy the WTS still is at trying to explain the deeper meanings of scriptures. He quotes:
(2 Chronicles 29:27) 27 Then Hez·e·kiʹah said to offer up the burnt sacrifice on the altar; and at the time that the burnt offering started, the song of Jehovah started and also the trumpets, following the direction of the instruments of David the king of Israel.
Then he says:
According to the Insight book this seems to indicate that the trumpeters played in such a manner as to complement the other instruments rather than overshadow them. What an example for hard-working Christians. We work hard, but not in such a way as to draw undue attention to ourselves.
I have a couple problems with this. It's probably a good reminder considering some of the highly egotistical, overbearing elders that some congregations have to put up with. But this theme of self-negation is a very popular one among JWs lately, and it's been tied to giving up higher education and not keeping humble and quiet even if you have education in a certain area and might believe that a decision is the wrong one. A very recent Gilead Graduation talk on tv.jw.org also speaks of the new graduates downplaying their talents. This type of anti-intellectual self-negation can actually be dangerous in that it inadvertently creates even more overbearing, egotistical elders who are thus not to be contradicted even by someone who might know better than them due to education or professional experience.
The other thing is that it's just a pure guess about what might be going on in the context of the verse. The brother doesn't read the context of course, but this is how the following verse reads in the pre-2013 NWT:
(2 Chronicles 29:28) 28 And all the congregation were bowing down while the song was resounding and the trumpets were blaring—all this until the burnt offering was finished.
Granted, the Revised NWT tones down the verse by removing the word "blaring" and replacing it with "sounding" even though the old NWT was perfectly valid. And we all know the nature of blaring trumpets. Yet, evidently this seemed like a good verse for someone to use to make a point about how each Witness should tone it down when it comes to doing anything that might get some attention. No one should get the idea that it was ok to "blow your own trumpet" as the expression goes.
Tying it to the idea that is "problematic" if we work hard or do something exceptional in such a way that it brings attention to ourselves is actually not even a scriptural idea at all:
Prov 22:29 Have you seen a man skillful at his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before common men.
It might seem like a minor point, but it's common to high control groups to try to emphasize that the members are "sheep" even to the point of "sheepishness" when it comes to speaking out against wrong or bad decisions.
