What was the spiritual condition of the world when God called Abraham?
When God called Abraham, the world was wholly pagan. No more knowledge of God was left on the earth; the entire population had gone under pagan influence. God turned His back on all other nations to deal uniquely with Abraham and the nation that would come from him.
Les teaches that by the time God called Abraham out, the human race had sunk into paganism. The context says Abraham was called up out of a whole population of pagan people, with no more knowledge of God left on the earth. It seemed everyone had gone under the pagan influence that began at that time. Because of this, God turned His back on all the other nations and chose to deal with the one little nation that would come from Abraham. This was a distinct change, just as circumstances changed after Noah came out of the Ark, when God established human government and permitted mankind to eat meat. About 500 years later, God would give that nation yet another set of circumstances: the Law.