We tend to think that Satan has formidable power in our present world. This passage assures us that that is not the case. Satan has no freedom unless the Lord gives him a measure of freedom (recall Job 1:1 – 2:13). Before his ascension, Christ declared that all authority in heaven and on earth was given to him (Matthew 28:19), a theme worked out wonderfully throughout the Revelation Christ showed John. The necessary consequence of Christ’s sovereignty is that his archenemy is defeated, a prisoner, locked in his abyss. While the angel (Christ’s servant!) has the key that Satan needs to escape the pit, the church (= woman) has the keys that extend the kingdom of heaven on earth (Matthew 16:18). The church has more power on this earth than Satan!

Satan’s bondage does not mean that he can exercise no influence on Earth. His bondage lies in his inability to deceive the nations in the manner he did in the Old Testament. This is why Paul says that Christians wrestle…against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places and so need to take up the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:12–13). Yet even in that struggle we are to know our opponent is defeated.