The Value of the Imperfect in Understanding Satan’s Fall (Luke 10:18)

My friend is wondering when Satan’s powers were limited. Creation? The cross? The Millennium? What prompted the discussion was that a friend of his thinks that Satan is not limited at all right now, and therefore all limiting has to be during the Millennium.

First of all, I think that attitude is naive and dangerous. Of course Satan is limited now. We see bits and pieces of what it would be like if Satan had full sway. We call it the Holocaust. Or we call it Rwanda; 3 million human beings slaughtered at the hands of their neighbors.

I am not sure of the extent of Paul’s promise, that “now you know what is holding him in check, so that he may be revealed at his proper time” (2 Thess 2:6), but there are certainly limits being placed on Satan right now. Whether the scenario in Job is normative or not I do not know.

The key verse in all this is Luke 10:18. The 72 disciples have returned from their ministry and are telling Jesus of their victory; “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” Jesus responds that as they were preaching the gospel and exorcizing demons, he was watching Satan fall.

Several translations miss the force of the imperfect and simply say “saw” (ESV, NIV, NET, NLT). “I saw (ἐθεώρουν) Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” But ἐθεώρουν is imperfect. The NASB (also CSB, NRSV ) uses “watched” to carry the sense of the imperfect. ““I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.” Satan was falling as they went from town to town preaching and healing.

More and more as I study Greek, I am realizing (note the imperfect) that the aorist is the default tense. Just because a verb is aorist doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot (although it can). But when a speaker wants to add a specific nuance, they shift to other tenses. So when you have a non-aorist verb, ask why.

As the apostles and all who come after proclaim the word of God in the power of the Spirit, they force Satan to retreat, at least to some extent. He does not go away and he will return for at least one more terrible assault on the church, but his powers are limited when God’s children do what their father calls them to do.