Justin Houtz

Hi. I’m Justin. I write code and things but enough about that…

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  • Daily Bible Study

    Judges 13-16; 2 Corinthians 2

    DateVersionReading Plan
    April 2, 2026ESV (2016)ESV Life Journal Plan – 2026

    Judges 13-16

    Observation & Interpretation

    Judges 14:1-2 (ESV) Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.”

    Judges 16:1 (ESV) Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.

    Judges 16:4 (ESV) After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

    There were three women with which we know Samson was involved according the account in Scripture. Only the third, Deliliah, was referenced with a proper name. What is particularly worthy of note is that some manner of conflict accompanied Samson’s interaction with each of these women. With the first, the Philistine wife, the woman’s father gave her to his companion, perceiving that Samson had rejected her. This led to Samson to take personal revenge in lighting torches between the tails of three hundred foxes and letting them loose in the grain fields. When the Philistines came to know who did this, they burned the Philistine woman and her father with fire.

    In the next encounter, when Samson came to Gaza, he saw a prostitute and went into her. When the Gazites were told that Samson was in their midst and thought they had trapped their enemy, they surrounded Samson’s place and set an ambush for him. Samson escaped by laying until midnight, at which time he arose and pulled up doors of the gate and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.

    Finally, with Deliliah we have a host of occasions in which Samson engages with the Philistines. Deliliah challenges Samson multiple times in betrayal to his Philistine enemies. The final chapter of Samson’s life ends with his death along with about 3,000 Philistine men when Samson bowed his head in strength and the house fell upon the lords and the people who were in it.

    Application

    It is important to see God’s work being done through Samson’s dealings with these women. Samson certainly had reached a level of unbridled lust toward the end of his rule, but God used these interactions to bring about His perfect plan. We are not to see this a permission to conduct ourselves in an unrighteous manner, knowing that God’s grace will abound, but it demonstrates for us that God is sovereign and capable of magnifying His glory through broken people.

    2 Corinthians 2

    Observation & Interpretation

    2 Corinthians 2:14-15 (ESV) But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,

    The BBC explains well the aroma of which Paul speaks:

    In the triumphal processions to which Paul refers, the fragrance of the incense meant glorious victory to the conquerors, but it spoke of doom for the captives. Thus the apostle notes that the preaching of the gospel has a twofold effect. It signifies one thing among those who are being saved, and something altogether different among those who are perishing. To those who accept it, it is a pledge of a glorious future; to others it is an omen of doom. But God is glorified in either case, for to Him it is the fragrance of grace in the one case and of justice in the other.

    Application

    For believers, it should bring great joy that the Lord by His Spirit enables us to see and appreciate the gospel of Jesus Christ. This we could never do of ourselves, being children of wrath and with no capability to savor the truth of what He has done. Praise God that by the outpouring of His love and grace He has provided such a glorious future. Let us then live in response to this glorious truth in faith and worship of the One in whom we belong.

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