Were the Jews mostly obedient to God when Jesus was born?
No. At Christ's first advent, only a small remnant remained true believers—such as Zacharias, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Mary. The majority were cloaked in a dead religion with no spiritual life, which is why Jesus called them whited sepulchers. They were not mostly obedient.
Les explains that people often assume the Jews at Christ's first advent were mostly an obedient people, but they were not. Only a few were left as true believers: the parents of John the Baptist, Zacharias and Elizabeth, and Joseph and Mary. These were the little few still true to the God of Abraham. The rest had only a dead religion with no spiritual life, which is why Jesus called them whited sepulchers. This mirrors Elijah's day, when God preserved only 7,000 out of a few million who had not bowed to Baal—always just a small remnant.