A question about Job/My answer

Someone asked me this question about the book of Job "Why does it look like God brought Job to Satan’s attention?"

Here was my answer:

I have looked up Job chapter one in several different translations.  And verse 8 in many of them does look as though God is pointing out Job to Satan, and I will get to my thoughts on that in a minute.  But first I want to go over another passage that I think pertains to the situation occurring here.

In 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NLT) it says, “Stay alert!  Watch out for your enemy the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (9) Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith.  Remember that your Christian brothers all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.”  A little further down in the next verse (verse 10) it says, “…So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.” 

This passage always makes me think of Job, what he went through, and that God restored everything to him in the end.  God didn’t only restore what Job lost, but He gave him back double what Satan stole.  (Job 42:10).

But what I want you to see in this passage is that it is Satan’s nature to roam the earth and seek out people to devour.  I believe that’s what was taking place in the book of Job.  I believe Satan was roaming the earth, and he had his eye on Job.

Job 1:7 (KJV) says, “And the LORD said unto Satan.  Whence comest thou?  Then Satan answered the LORD and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down it.”

In the Young’s Literal Translation, Job 1:8 is worded “…Hast thou set thy heart against my servant Job,because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God, and turning aside from evil?'…”

I know it is worded differently in other translations.

In the King James Version is says, “Have you considered my servant Job…” 

The word "consider" means to ponder, to study, to examine, to deliberate, or to focus your attention upon.

The NLT words it, “…Have you noticed my servant Job…” 

So I believe what God was saying is, “Is Job the one you are seeking to devour?”  Is Job the one you set your attention on or considered?  Is Job the one you set your heart against? Is Job the one that got your attention and you noticed?

If you refer back to 1 Peter 5:8-9 it points out that it is people of faith that Satan has his eye on.

Again, 1 Peter 5:9 says, “…Stand firm in your faith….”  Or in other words, when Satan has his eye on you, and he’s seeking to devour you, stand firm in your faith.  Then it goes on to say, “Remember that your Christian brothers all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.”  So it tells us what kind of people Satan seeks to devour.  And in context it makes sense to me that the suffering referenced here, is people being attacked by Satan to test their faith.  

Anyway, my point is that I believe when you compare the passage in First Peter 5 with Job chapter 1, there are a lot of similarities.  First Peter 5 points out that Satan comes against people that are upright and serving God.  I believe Satan had his eye on Job and he wanted to test him because as God pointed out in verse 8, “He is the finest man in all the earth.  He is blameless—a man of complete integrity.  He fears God and stays away from evil.”

If you keep reading in chapter 2, the scenario repeats itself, and if you look carefully at Job 2:3.  No matter what translation you read it in, you can see that God says the same thing in all of them:

“…even though you urged me to harm him without cause.” (NLT)

“…although thou movest me against him to destroy him without cause.”  (KJV)

“…and thou dost move Me against him to swallow him up for nought!” (YLT)

“…though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” (NIV)

To me, this says it pretty clearly that it was Satan had his eye on Job, and he came to heavenly courts for the purpose of asking God or urging Him to remove the hedge, it wasn’t God’s idea. 

So what I am saying is, that I don’t believe God was pointing out Job to Satan, I believe God was asking Satan if Job was the one he has his heart set against.  Again, It made clear several times in the book of Job that Satan was patrolling the earth, and 1 Peter 5 tells us the reason Satan patrols the earth, he’s searching for someone to attack and devour, and then he ends up in the heavenly court.  

The question that I have is: 

If Satan wasn’t going there to ask God to remove the hedge, then why did he go to the heavenly court after patrolling the earth?