Monotheism is the belief in one God this means that Monotheists are of the belief that only one God exits. The Hebrew religion is monotheistic. However, scholars believe that monotheism was not always with the Hebrews rather it evolved because Israel was surrounded by countries that were polytheistic and the descendants of Adam and Eve followed polytheism. Thus, there was need to restore monotheism. The early Hebrew belief was monolatry- the belief in a particular God although not the only one in the universe- according to some biblical scholars. Thus, many studies have been done to explain the origins and evolution of Hebrew monotheism.
The origin of Hebrew monotheism can be traced back to 6th century BC. Monotheism began when God called Abraham from his land in Ur, Babylon as narrated in the book of Genesis. Abraham submitted to this God and left his motherland to serve the will of God. However, there was still the worship of other gods in Israel and this was often referred to as idol worship. Gods such as Asherah, Baal are mentioned clearly supporting the fact that early Hebrew was polytheistic. When God called Abraham, he was supposed to worship one God only. Abraham started worshiping one God and this characteristic stood out among his neighbors who practiced polytheism. He spread the word about worshiping one God and thus he set the pace for Hebrew monotheism evolution.
Later Moses appeared and he took monotheism to a higher level. In the book of Exodus, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God and one of the commandments was to worship one God only. He also learnt the name of this God first. The name was Yahweh and he told Moses that he was the same God that had appeared to Isaac, Abraham and Isaac as El Shaddai. He was the true God to be served as he clearly told his servants that they should not worship any other God beside Yahweh because he is a jealous God who does not share his praise and worship with other gods.
The concept of monotheism continued to evolve in Hebrew long after Moses had left the scene through the prophets. Prophet Ezra together with Prophet Nehemiah urged the people to observe Torah or the law of God and thus many people who still had some residual of polytheism were convinced to honor only one God. The Torah had a code that the Hebrew people were supposed to live by and it clearly defined acceptable and forbidden behaviors. The codes involved all aspects of life ranging from secular laws to spiritual character. The Torah spelt out monotheism as only one God was to be worshiped thus people were in close relationship with this one God as he featured in every aspect of their earthly lives.
Finally, the notion of monotheism has spread across religions and it is embraced in religions such as Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Today many people in the world believe in the existence of one God who is all-powerful and controls the universe. The teachings in monotheism contained in the Torah are universal and can bind all human beings. This perspective continues to influence people to date and the belief in the exclusivity of one God is considered as the true way of worship. Therefore, the concept of monotheism that started many centuries ago lives on and is stronger now than it was then.