In answer to the OP's question, my guess is that they are gradually demoting Rutherford, making it easier to move past some of his crackpot ideas.
That could be more true than we think. There are at least two instances of the "as they understood" excuse for being WRONG in this mornings WT! And the local conductor mentioned it several other times, emphasizing the "as they understood" excuse. They call it clarification, when in reality it is change. There is one helluva difference.
I did bring out the Isaiah quote with the reference to one attender this morning. They got red-faced mad when I read it to them.