My wife and I just finished watching the four-part Netflix series, Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, and to be honest, it really broke my heart. The docuseries traced Epstein’s rise to power, and how he managed to manoeuvre himself into the circles of the political and economic elite. Creating a pyramid scheme of sexual exploits through blackmail and manipulation, Epstein sexually abused some of the most vulnerable and underprivileged girls in America and abroad.
Whatever you think of the series, it is clear that injustice is the dominant theme. Firstly, the clearest injustice is in Epstein’s actions towards underaged girls who were powerless to fight back. Epstein lured these girls and stripped them of their purity and dignity, subjecting them to experiences no human should ever be put through.
Secondly, the negligent and corrupt behaviour of the FBI and the New York Police Department is ruthlessly exposed. In particular, the series revealed how the FBI took nearly ten years to respond to a 1996 report of child sexual abuse — a horrendous act of injustice and dereliction. Thirdly, there is the fact that Epstein never actually attended his trial, because he ‘committed suicide’ in August 2019. Now there are questions as to whether his death was actually a suicide or not, but what is for sure is that he is not currently in prison — he is dead — and so it seems to victims that he has again evaded justice.
One victim of Epstein — Shawna Rivera — encapsulated all of this in one harrowing sentence: “There is no justice in this. There is just so much more to be said that will never be said.”
Being someone who has a younger sister, I can only imagine the grief and pain that the victims and their family members are going through. However, while I was shattered to hear the stories of the countless victims, what was equally saddening to my soul was witnessing their frustration and agony at the prospect that Epstein will never receive justice for his wicked deeds. A profound sense of emptiness filled all the victims, as they considered the reality that the man who had attempted to destroy their lives never even faced his trial.
As unsettling as it sounds, if there isn’t a God, it’s a hopeless situation, because let’s face it — in the end, Epstein got let off the hook. If there is no ultimate justice, then the greatest judgment Epstein will ever receive is an earthly punishment dealt out by imperfect judges. He spent his whole life deceiving, manipulating, molesting, and destroying the lives of young girls, and he evaded justice through the escape-hatch of death.
But here’s the thing — though many of Epstein’s victims have scars that will remain with them for the rest of their lives, there is a God, He is just, and He will hold all people to account for the way they have lived their lives — including Epstein. And this is comforting because God’s judgments are never unjust because His knowledge, wisdom, and judgment is absolute and perfect. In Revelation 20:11-12, God gives us a glimpse into the final scene of world history when God will judge the living and the dead:
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Though Epstein lived as if he were in control of his universe, and while he thought he could escape judgment through death, Epstein will be held to account for his actions on the Judgment Day that God has decreed. From our knowledge of his unrepentant life of sin, Epstein will spend an eternity in hell for the evil deeds he committed against image-bearers of God, and therefore God Himself.
It’s common for people to ask: ‘How could a loving God send people to Hell?’
After being faced with Epstein, the only question we are left asking is: ‘If God is loving, how could He not send evil people like Epstein to Hell?’
