The concept of a final, divine reckoning is often imagined as a glorious moment of salvation and triumph. Yet, this comforting vision is sharply overturned by a stark warning: a day of ultimate divine revelation will be catastrophic for those who are spiritually unprepared. The prophet addresses those who actively desire and wait for this moment, asking them to consider what they are truly wishing for [מצודת ציון].
The primary approach among commentators is that these individuals were not genuinely hopeful, but rather deeply cynical. They mocked the prophetic warnings of impending destruction. Because they lacked faith in these messages, they sarcastically challenged God to hurry and bring about the disasters the prophets warned them about. They wanted to see if there was any truth to the warnings and if God was truly capable of acting. For these skeptics, the arrival of this time will indeed be a harsh reality, a moment when God will punish them for their sins and their arrogance [רש״י, אבן עזרא, רד״ק, מצודת דוד].
In contrast, another perspective suggests that these people genuinely yearned for God's intervention, believing it would usher in global redemption [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. However, their understanding of reality was fundamentally flawed. While a time of divine salvation is indeed destined for the righteous, it demands a state of moral purity. For the wicked, God's appearance will not bring relief, but rather a terrifying period of distress and judgment. Any light and salvation that emerges will be exclusively for the righteous, leaving the wicked entirely in the dark [מלבי״ם]. The absurdity of corrupt people eagerly awaiting divine light is compared to a bat and a rooster both waiting for the sunrise. While the rooster, a creature of the day, rejoices in the dawn, the bat, a creature of the night, finds no use or comfort in the light [רש״י].
A completely different understanding shifts the focus away from mocked prophecies or misguided hopes for redemption, framing the issue instead around deep-seated hatred between brothers [אברבנאל]. According to this view, the rebuke is aimed specifically at the people of the Kingdom of Judah, who harbored intense hostility toward the neighboring Kingdom of Israel. They eagerly counted down the days until God would punish their brothers and bring about their ruin. The prophet confronts them, questioning what they could possibly gain from Israel's collapse. He warns that the destruction of their brothers will not lead to their own prosperity. Instead, it will trigger a devastating chain of exiles and continuous hardships at the hands of foreign empires, plunging Judah into darkness as well. God has no desire for people to anticipate the downfall of others, and He completely rejects the hypocritical worship and sacrifices of those who find joy in their brothers' suffering.