Just a quick thought that might help in reading the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, God blesses his people Israel by dwelling among them - in the pillar of cloud and fire in the wilderness, in the tabernacle and temple, and in the ark of the covenant when Israel went to war with the surrounding nations. God's presence went with the people. This is the normative nature in which God interacted with his people. It was only on special exceptions in which God would actually indwell a person, and even then, only for a temporary period for a specific purpose. Think of Balaam and Saul (David's predecessor).
This changes with the coming of Christ in the NT. God becomes flesh and pitches his tent among men (literally, "tabernacled" - John 1:14). He comes to fulfill the Scripture, to slay death and sin, and to ransom a people. But he also brings his Spirit with him as a guarantee of the inheritance they will receive. Now, Jesus says that his Spirit "dwells with you and will be in you" (John 14:27). Paul would later expand on the longevity of his abiding in us in his letter to the Ephesians. He says that when we believe upon the Lord Jesus, we are "sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it" (Ephesians 1:13-14). There is now nothing temporal about God's indwelling presence within those who believe upon the Lord Jesus.
No longer does the Spirit abide in a constructed temple external to his people, where even the high priest could enter but once a year - now he dwells within the temple of human hearts, within the innermost being of his saints. He who was external and unapproachable has now become internal, personal, and the source of all joy and comfort.
SDG
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