Fire coming down from Heaven (e. g. 2 Chron. 7:1) to consume acceptable sacrifices probably refers to the Angels being made a flame of fire (Ps. 104:4) to consume the sacrifice. In 2 Chron. 7:1 this would be by the Angel dwelling in the temple. The same scenario was probably seen in Eden, when the Angel cherubim consumed the sacrifices.
10:3,4- see on 24:2
Asa's faith was rewarded when he faced a massive Ethiopian army; but some years later, God repeated the situation. A huge Israelite army faced him; and instead of trusting in Yahweh, he gave the temple treasures to Syria so that they would come and fight the battle for him. And God wasn't slow to point out how circumstances had repeated, but this time Asa had failed the test: " Were not the Ethiopians and Lubims a huge host...? Yet because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand... herein you have done foolishly: therefore from henceforth you shall have wars" (2 Chron. 16:8.9). The "wars" God brought upon Asa weren't merely punishments; they were yet further opportunities for Asa to face the same situations, and overcome them with faith. And God likewise works in our lives.
18:9-see on 2 Sam. 1:23.
It seems there are two groups of Angels- Angels of evil (Ps. 78:49) and of good. Thus God creates both good and evil- and Isaiah 45:5-7 emphasizes that He makes a distinct creation of both- using these separate groups of Angels. However we stress that the Angels of evil are not sinful Angels. This division is perhaps hinted at in 2 Chron. 18:18, where "all the host of Heaven" are seen standing around the throne of God himself "on His right and on His left". The exact way in which these two groups of Angels work is unclear, and this perhaps explains the difficulty all Bible students face in understanding the undefined "power of darkness", hints of which lurk throughout Scripture (e.g. evil spirits, the forces of evil unleashed at the end of Revelation etc. ), and also in defining the apparently super-human power of righteousness which the Psalms and New Testament especially speak of. At present these topics seem to defy close definition- until we appreciate the Angelic basis behind them?
Joash did right before God whilst the priest Jehoiada was alive, and then apostasized; Uzziah did likewise, with Zechariah the priest (2 Chron. 24:2; 26:5). He didn’t reflect upon the personal implications of Divine history. And we too must appreciate that there are Bible characters whose experiences are framed in terms directly relevant to us- for our learning. Interestingly, straight after Jehoiada died, the princes of the land came to Joash with a request, which he wrongly listened to. This has great similarities with the tragic mistake made by Rehoboam after Solomon died (2 Chron. 10:3,4 cp. 24:17). So Joash was given chance after chance to be directed back to previous examples and be instructed by them- but he went on in his own way.
The Angelic elohim “helped” Uzziah in his battles; and yet within the same context we read that his human armies “helped” him (2 Chron. 26:7,13). The Angelic armies in Heaven are seen reflected in the human armies of Israel upon earth. The human armies are described as helping Uzziah with “mighty power”, a phrase elsewhere used about the mighty power which God alone gives (the same two words occur in this context in Dt. 8:18; Zech. 4:6). And David learnt all this in practice, when he reflected how human armies alone lack this ‘mighty power’- all human strength is not strength at all unless it’s operating in tandem with God’s Angelic strength: “There is no king saved by the multitude of a host: A mighty man is not delivered by great strength” (Ps. 33:16).
2 Chron. 31:2 [Heb.] speaks of Jerusalem and especially the temple as the city of the hosts of the Lord- as if the Angelic hosts were especially present in the temple. See on Ps. 78:60
The historical account emphasises that Rabshakeh continually reminded them of the strength of the hand of the Assyrians; the phrase occurs six times in 2 Chron. 32:13-15 alone. The hand of the Lord is an Angelic title; as if he was really mocking the Angel of Israel. There are also many references in Isaiah to the arm of the Lord delivering Israel at this time, which is again an Angelic title. Similarly, the latter day Assyrian will be destroyed by the arm of the Lord, as manifest in Christ and the Angels with Him.
In the practical business of being stimulated to see how the Angels work in our lives, it is interesting to think of how our guardian Angel may ask other Angels to help Him in giving us the help He sees we need. Thus when the "Angel of the Lord went forth in the camp of the Assyrians" or "the Lord sent forth an Angel which cut off all the mighty men of valour in the camp of the king of Assyria" (2 Chron. 32:21) we infer that this was Michael, the Angel Prince who stands for God's people Israel ,going into action. Whilst the action is rightly attributed to Him, there seems no doubt that He brought this about by the use and control of other Angels, activated (as in many of the visions of Angelic judgement in Revelation) by a loud cry from the Angel which brought other Angels into action- "through the voice of the Lord (singular) shall the Assyrian be beaten down" (Is. 30:31). But the language used elsewhere in Isaiah to describe the destruction of the Assyrians is reminiscent of the cherubim, implying multitudes of Angels at work to bring about God's purpose in this.
God forsook Hezekiah, to reveal perhaps to Hezekiah himself what was in his heart- for God already knew, surely, without any experimentation (2 Chron. 32:31). Unless this refers to Angels ‘experimenting’ to understand Hezekiah better? Perhaps this means that the Angel physically left him, which would imply that the contents of our heart tends to be conditioned by our sense of the presence of the Angel, or of God's near presence, and God wants to see what our heart is really like without our sensing of His presence being immediately close to us. This may have been why the Angel left Jesus on the cross, so that His spiritual mind would be fully manifested to God and the Angels.
33:12,13 There is no lack of evidence that later Bible characters found inspiration in Samson, especially in their weakness. Manasseh is an example (2 Chron. 33:12,13 = Jud. 16:19,28)
We sometimes tend to excuse ourselves on the basis of only being products of our background. But eight year old Jehoiachin reigned a mere three months and ten days: and God's comment was that " he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Chron. 36:9). we could, of course, make the excuse that his surroundings, his immediate family, his peers...were all idolatrous. But Yahweh evidently didn't see this as any real excuse: he, at sweet eight years old, " did that which was evil" and was punished accordingly. Not only does this give an unusual insight into God's view of responsibility; but it shows that God expects even a child to break away from background influences when they are evil.
It would seem from 2 Chron. 36:21 that the law concerning the land resting every Sabbath year was hardly ever kept, even by the righteous kings. We can imagine how the thinking developed: father didn't do it. grandfather didn't, none of the faithful old kings seemed that interested in it...therefore every time that passage was considered in their study of the Law, it was mentally bypassed. We are all absolutely expert at this kind of bypass.