> He basically causes Job to suffer on a whim. Not out of some kind of theological necessity, but simply as a cruel experiment.

This isn't technically true. What God does is choose to not prevent Satan from testing Job. I'm not making a judgement about whether this would be considered cruel or not, I just want the facts stated clearly.

And, Job himself said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in him" (Job 13:15).