If Satan needs God's permission to act, how about we consider that Satan making an attempt to lead nations into rebelling against God is actually a means of testing their metal. Their devotion to God. As with Job.
What if Satan is the catalyst to faith? The testing of it or the cause for coming into it?
My personal take on this is that Satan and his fallen angels do not play fair and will fight dirty if given the opportunity. Because of this reality, God will have to act as referee, especially because Christians are commanded to actually play by the rules, even if the outcome is stacked against us.
However, your theory is indeed something to think about in my future Bible studies. Thank you for your take on this.
I admit, I have not sat down and actually read the Book of Job yet. Judging from the summaries I have read so far, it sounds like an early criticism of the Just-World Hypothesis.
I know in Genesis 50, Joseph said to his brothers, "...you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." This is a testament about how much of a chess-master God is, no matter what we throw at Him. In today's jargon, we call that, "Taking lemons and making lemonade." We have thrown so many lemons at God, He now has a lemonade empire that makes the Coca-Cola company look like a lemonade stand.
I also have a theory about the path God has chosen for this world is the best possible one. Time travel and alternate history fiction presents numerous speculations of unforeseen consequences, so what would happen if Satan was taken out of the picture too soon? God is the omniscient One, I trust His decision over our limited understanding of the situation. It would be incredibly foolish of me to challenge my family doctor competence because I did a couple hours worth of research on the internet.