These are words from the Old Testament–words of hope from a prophet that, at the end of time, “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to that point, and mankind continues to find new ways to kill each other…of turning plowshares into swords.

It is sad, but true, that when new technologies have been developed, humans have found a way to turn them against each other. I would expect that back in the Bronze Age, spears were developed to hunt for meat or as protection against wild animals. However, it wasn’t long before they were being used in warfare between opposing tribes.

World War I is another example of how new technology was applied in war-making. Soon after the internal combustion engine was invented, nations found a way to mechanize warfare.

By putting tracks and a gun on a steel reinforced platform, you could make a tank. Tanks were introduced to supplement the machine guns and artillery used in the trench lines and killing fields of eastern France during the conflict. (You will find cemeteries here with graves of thousands of Americans who died in that war.)

Perhaps the biggest “advance” in warfare at that time, was the introduction of the airplane. Balloons had been used during war, at least as far back as America’s Civil War. But, airplanes brought a whole new technology to fighting. Not only could planes fight each other, they could drop bombs from the sky behind the lines.

Recently, in Ukraine, we have seen the development of another new technology in fighting — drones. Drones, we thought, would be delivering packages to our homes. Now, they have been adapted for war. With a drone, you don’t need to endanger a pilot who could be shot down. Computers, GPS’s, and remote radio-control — guide drones that deliver bombs and destruction against the enemy.

This new, and somewhat strange way of fighting, will again change things in the world of warfare. It is apparent that ships are no longer safe. On several occasions, Ukrainian drones, both by air and sea, have sunk Russian warships. It now appears that Russia’s advantage in having a large Black Sea Fleet has been greatly compromised. Russia also has drones, many made in Iran, which have been used against Ukraine.

What does this mean for the future of warfare? Will an aircraft carrier carry drones instead of man-piloted aircraft? Will the aircraft carrier itself now become outmoded because of its vulnerability to drones? How do you defend against drones? Apparently, they can be shot down but also, many get through to their targets.

In the midst of this new development, old threats still prevail — especially, the threat of nuclear war. If there is one thing we know about human history, it has been a history of war.

All of this, to my mind, makes the work of our local native, Robert H. Jackson, even more relevant. At Nuremburg he led the way in establishing new definitions like “aggressive war” and “crimes against humanity.” In his words, as quoted in bronze at the Center carrying his name, an achievable goal should be to “root out of men’s thinking that all wars are legal,– [then] at last, we will have mobilized the forces of law on the side of peace.”

In the meantime, we need to keep yearning and hoping for those days promised by the prophet, when “swords will be turned into plowshares… and they shall learn war no more.”

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident and a Vietnam War Navy veteran.