Is God not omniscient to know that Job was righteous without allowing Satan to smite Job?

Those sentences which are colored in orange are from Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati book Satyarth Prakash (The Light of Truth) and those which are colored in black are Jerry Thomas’s response

"Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said unto Satan, from whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his lif. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went forth from the presence of the Lord, an smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his feet unto his crown." (2:1 – 7.)

C. Now behold! How great is the might of the God of the Christians! Satan smites His devotee in His very presence and yet He neither punishes him, nor protects His votaries, nor can any one of His (so any) angels face him. One Satan has stricken them with fear. It also seems that the Christian God is not omniscient, otherwise why should He have tested Job through Satan?

Answer: One can only pity the comprehension level of this Maharishi. If one were to read the text of the Holy Scripture without imposing his own biased meaning into it, the meaning that we receive is just the opposite that what Maharishi had understood.

Let us read the entire context which begins from the chapter 1.

Job 1:7-12 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.  And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."  Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!"  And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has [is] in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

In this passage, we understand the following things:

(a) God knew that Job was an upright man and that there was no other man like him.

(b)  Satan argued that this was because of the material blessings and not really a devotion to the LORD God. In other words, Satan challenged the omniscience of LORD God and asked for an extreme test to prove it.

(c) However, Satan had to take the permission of the Holy God without which he cannot touch the believers of one True God, Yahweh.

After LORD God granted the permission, Satan went and destroyed the children and material wealth of Job.

However, following was the response of Job.

Job 1:20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

So the conclusion is: God is omniscient and He knew the heart of Job when He commended about Job. And Satan was dead wrong in citing wrong intentions.

It is at this point the second conversation, which Maharishi quotes comes. Let us read that also.

Job 2:3-6 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that [there is] none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause."  So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!"  And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life."

The points and the conclusions that we could reach are:

(a) Satan can do nothing more, not even an inch, than what the LORD God permitted.

(b) Satan asks one more time to disprove the omniscience of God Almighty.

By reading these texts, if Maharishi could arrive at the conclusion that the Holy God of the Bible is neither omniscient nor omnipotent, then there are only two possibilities about Maharishi:

(a) Maharishi was not reading Job 2 in its context.

(b) Worst still, Maharishi did read but was totally unable to grasp the plain meaning of the text either due to low IQ level or due to unstable mind.

Further, let us see what happened after all these trials.

Job 42:7-10 And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.  Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has."  So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD commanded them; for the LORD had accepted Job. And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” 

Conclusions:

(a) Job was still righteous. In other words, God knew the heart of Job when He commended about Job.

(b) Satan was dead wrong in contradicting God.

(c) God was omnipotent to restore twice as Job had.

Now, Job’s friends are also said to be in error. What was their error?

I will show with an example. Here is what one of Job’s friend said:

Job 11:11-18 “For He knows deceitful men; He sees wickedness also.

Will He not then consider it?  For an empty-headed man will be wise, when a wild donkey's colt is born a man.  "If you would prepare your heart, and stretch out your hands toward Him; If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away, And would not let wickedness dwell in your tents. Then surely you could lift up your face without spot; Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear; because you would forget [your] misery, and remember it as waters [that have] passed away, and your life would be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark, you would be like the morning. And you would be secure, because there is hope; Yes, you would dig [around you, and] take your rest in safety.”

In other words, they continued to argue in different ways that Job’s miseries were caused by his bad works. Or whatever happens in this life is either due to the effects good works or bad works which is a variation of what Maharishi and his followers may also believe. Through the story of Job, we not only know that God is omniscient, omnipotent, and sovereign over heaven and earth, we also know that Satan was wrong in contradicting God and those who say that every thing that we face is this life, good or bad, is the result of good or bad actions are also dead wrong.