Was He the First?

There is a thin, very useful sefer written by M.K. Shlomo Benizri, called SEDER HADOROT HAKATZAR, the brief “Order of the Generations”. It has many interesting charts and lists about people and events in Jewish History. 
In presenting the ten generations from Adam to No’ach, he indicates who our sources identify as a TZADIK. They are ADAM, his son SHEIT, skip three generations, YERED, CHANOCH, M’TUSHELACH, skip one, and NO’ACH. Six out of ten of those first generations were lead by TZADIKIM. (FYI, the book says that M’TUSHELACH overlapped ADAM’s lifetime by 243 years, and that ADAM taught M’TUSHELACH and LEMECH, NO’ACH’s father about Creation and the greatness of G-d’s deeds. These lessons were passed down to NO’ACH and from NO’ACH to AVRAHAM AVINU.)

Of the ten generations from NO’ACH to AVRAHAM (by the way, the 10 from Adam to No’ach include both Adam and No’ach; the ten to Avraham begin with SHEIM, NO’ACH’s son) include the TZADIKIM: SHEIM, skip two generations, EIVER, skip four, and TERACH, who did T’SHUVA in his later years, and then AVRAHAM.

Rambam, in the first chapter of Hilchot Avoda Zara (the Laws of Idolatry), gives an introduction to the topic of idolatry (very atypical for Rambam in Mishna Torah), explaining its relatively benign origins in the generation of ENOSH and its accelerated deterioration through the subsequent generations until Avraham went through the process of a personal discovery of the One True G-d.

The Kesef Mishna questions why the “credit” for putting the world “back on the monotheistic track” goes to Avraham, when he was preceded by the likes of Sheim and Eiver (and the other righteous individuals mentioned above). 

His answer is that Sheim and Eiver (and presumably No’ach as well) taught belief in One G-d to those who sought them out, to the rare individuals who went to the Yeshiva (so to speak). Avraham, on the other hand, took his teaching and preaching to the streets. He went from city to city and from kingdom to kingdom, teaching and challenging the people, answering their questions with patience and on their own levels. He took action too, smashing idols and explaining to the people the errors of their way. 
Sheim and Eiver were the Roshei Yeshiva of their (long) time. Avraham was involved in KIRUV. The Kesef Mishna says that Avraham was greater than them.

And how Avraham was helped in his tireless efforts by Sarah! Imagine the Shabbatonim that they ran. Rambam says that they convinced tens of thousands of people to believe in G-d, at a time when polytheism was quite in vogue. Yes, they was the first!