How did Israel alone come to have knowledge of the one true God in Old Testament times while the other nations had pagan gods?
God called Abraham, and with that call Abraham had knowledge of Jehovah. That knowledge of the one true God was passed down through Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve tribes. Thus Israel alone, during the period of the ancients, possessed knowledge of the one true God, while all other nations had only pagan gods and mythology.
Les explains that before Abraham’s call, the nations knew every god except the true God. When God called Abraham, Abraham came to have a knowledge of Jehovah, and that knowledge was passed on through Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve tribes. So Israel alone, during the period of the ancients, had a knowledge of the one true God. All the rest had nothing but their pagan gods, usually female goddesses, gods of mythology, frogs, animals, the sun, or the moon. In Daniel’s setting, Daniel likewise tells the pagan king that there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets.