EXOD506 A moral condemnation of war was inherent in the prohibition of the use of metal tools in the construction of the sanctuary's altar [this verse]. The use of a chisel, an implement of war, would profane the altar, a symbol of peace and reconciliation. King David was not authorized to build a temple in Jerusalem because "thou hast shed blood abundantly and hast waged great wars" (I Chronicles 22:8). An idealized picture of an era of lasting peace, millennia ahead of its time, was drawn by prophets of the eighth century B.C.E. in poetic terminology which has not lost its force with the passage of time. "And he [God] shall judge between nations and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning forks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore" (Isaiah 2:4). The cessation of war will come when the discordant elements of mankind learn to live in unity and peace. This vision was expressed by Isaiah in the following allegory, "And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lay down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them" (Isaiah 11:6). Isaiah's prophecy was echoed in almost identical words by his younger contemporary, the prophet Micah (Micah 4:3–4). The dream of a messianic age emerged in the sixth century B.C.E. The prophet Zechariah envisioned it as an era of discernment and peace when nations will be governed by law and not by the sword. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6). "And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle-bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace unto the nations" (Zechariah 9:10). In the view of Maimonides (12th cent.) the messianic era will not usher in a change in the order of nature, except that there will be neither famine nor war, nor rivalry nor contention (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 12:5). Needless to say, even in the messianic era there will be a great need for the quality of compassion. Its value, then as now, will depend on whether it is used to promote justice or to defeat it.