Exodus 25:21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
In the ancient sanctuary system, the mercy seat was located above the law, because God takes delight in mercy. But the law was located below to catch what mercy failed to accomplish, and thus, the Hebrews knew, and witnessed the goodness and the severity of God, so that in their minds, the right balance was struck, which balance some seem to be unaware of in our day.
Several passages of scripture, both in the Old and in the New Testaments firmly establish, and project this balanced view, so that the inhabitants of earth today would not be deceived into believing that we would get off scotch free with any and every type of wickedness that is practiced.
In the days of the Antediluvians, God in His mercy sent Noah to preach the people for 120 years and during that time He supplied the entire world with all that was needed for life and well-being. The Lord provided food in abundance, and the people back then always had more than enough, and to spare.
Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!