Two Barriers

refers to this event in the following verse: “Pharaoh said to Moses, ‘I am your supreme Lord’” (79:24). For the kings, it was politically advantageous to keep the belief in polytheism alive. Consequently, under their patronage, the entire system of life revolved around polytheism, from places of worship to birth and death rituals. This polytheistic system existed worldwide for thousands of years in ancient times. Under the kings’ patronage, it became so powerful that it consistently posed a significant barrier against the message of the prophets. As a result, in ancient times, the prophets’ movement remained limited to conveying their message and couldn’t reach the stage of a widespread practical revolution. The second obstacle in this chain was what can be described as the age of superstition. In ancient times, modern scientific discoveries had not yet been made, and people could not comprehend the true nature of natural phenomena. They observed various astonishing things in the world, such as the sun, moon, stars, mountains, seas, the earth, the sky, trees, and animals. Witnessing the diversity of these manifestations, human beings developed the misconception that there were multiple creators or that these diverse manifestations represented different gods.