One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." (Job 1:6-7)
What precisely is going on here? Wasn't Satan cast down from Heaven for eternity, or to await judgement day in hell, or something? Yet in Job, he seems to just be able to tag along with a bunch of anonymous angels and go straight to the throne. Meanwhile, god seems totally cool with it, when you'd think he'd be all like "OMFG, WHICH TARD LET THIS SCHMUCK BACK IN? WHO'S RUNNING SECURITY? SOMEONE'S GONNA GET FIRED FOR THIS..."
Was god thinking of getting the band back together? Did Satan sneak in? Has he still got his keys or something?
Does God miss Satan, and let him back up every now and then for a chat?
Originally posted 2009-05-28 05:02:17.
In Judaism (the religion the book of Job was written for – not Christianity) Satan wasn't cast down anywhere. He is an angel under God fulfilling a specific role. He's not evil, he's not in opposition to God, he's not the ruler of Hell, etc.
He's "The Accuser". He'd act like the prosecution in a court case, which is similar to how he behaved in Job.
In Christianity the book of Job has to be reinterpreted and Satan's role is completely different from what it was believed to be when the book was around in Judaism. That's why it doesn't make sense there… they're coming at it with a different set of beliefs than what the authors had.