Did the stories in the Old Testament really happen?

This is a pretty fascinating list put together by Norman Geisler. It lists 32 stories from the Old Testament, and the citation from the New Testament where Jesus or one His early followers confirms that they believed that these incidents actually happened. To say it another way, they took it for granted that the accounts in the Old Testament were historical, and could be referred to in order to make theological or spiritual points. And we should remember that, in the case of Jesus, He was God speaking about His own word, and in the case of the New Testament writers, they were writing under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit.

As Paul said: “Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4) 

1. Creation of the universe (Gen. 1)  John 1:3; Col. 1:16
2. Creation of Adam and Eve (Gen. 1-2)  1 Tim. 2:13-14
3. Marriage of Adam and Eve (Gen. 1-2)  1 Tim. 2:13
4. Temptation of the woman (Gen. 3)  1 Tim. 2:14
5. Disobedience and sin of Adam (Gen. 3)  Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:22
6. Sacrifices of Abel and Cain (Gen. 4)  Heb. 11:4
7. Murder of Abel by Cain (Gen. 4)  1 John 3:12
8. Birth of Seth (Gen. 4)  Luke 3:38
9. Translation of Enoch (Gen. 5)  Heb. 11:5
10. Marriage before the flood (Gen. 6)  Luke 17:27
11. The flood and destruction of man (Gen. 7)  Matt. 24:39
12. Preservation of Noah and his family (Gen. 8-9)  2 Peter 2:5
13. Genealogy of Shem (Gen. 10)  Luke 3:35-36
14. Birth of Abraham (Gen. 11)  Luke 3:34
15. Call of Abraham (Gen. 12-13)  Heb. 11:8
16. Tithes to Melchizedek (Gen. 14)  Heb. 7:1-3
17. Justification of Abraham (Gen. 15)  Rom. 4:3
18. Ishmael (Gen. 16)  Gal. 4:21-24
19. Promise of Isaac (Gen. 17)  Heb. 11:18
20. Lot and Sodom (Gen. 18-19)  Luke 17:29
21. Birth of Isaac (Gen. 21)  Acts 7:9-10
22. Offering of Isaac (Gen. 22)  Heb. 11:17
23. The burning bush (Ex. 3:6)  Luke 20:32
24. Exodus through the Red Sea (Ex. 14:22)  1 Cor. 10:1-2
25. Provision of water and manna (Ex. 16:4; 17:6)  1 Cor. 10:3-5
26. Lifting up serpent in wilderness (Num. 21:9)  John 3:14
27. Fall of Jericho (Joshua 6:22-25)  Heb. 11:30
28. Miracles of Elijah (1 Kings 17:1; 18:1)  Jas.    5:17
29. Jonah in the great fish (Jonah 2)  Matt. 12:40
30. Three Hebrew youths in furnace (Dan. 3)  Heb. 11:34
31. Daniel in lion’s den (Dan. 6)  Heb. 11:33
32. Slaying of Zechariah (2 Chron. 24:20-22)  Matt. 23:35

“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come…”