What is the context?
The account tells us at the outset that God is testing Abraham. That matters because Abraham has already been told that the promised family will continue through Isaac. Ishmael is also his son, but Isaac is the son through whom this particular promise must be fulfilled. The command seems to put the promise itself in danger.
The Hebrew verb נָסָה, nāsâ (nah-SAH), means to test or put to the proof. Brown–Driver–Briggs specifically includes God's testing of Abraham in this verse. The story is about a trust being tested, rather than God tempting Abraham into wrongdoing.
Abraham sets out promptly, reaches the place on the third day, and tells the servants that he and Isaac will return. Isaac carries the wood while Abraham carries the fire and knife. When Isaac asks about the missing animal, Abraham expresses confidence in God's provision. Yet the tension continues: he builds the altar, binds Isaac, and reaches for the knife.
This passage ends before the resolution. In the next verses God stops Abraham, forbids him to harm Isaac, and provides a ram instead. The whole account must be read together. It does not establish a pattern of offering children to God; Deuteronomy 12:31 explicitly condemns that practice.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly understand this as a test of Abraham's trust in God, with obedience making that trust visible. The Catholic Catechism, paragraph 2572, and Wesley's notes on Genesis 22 both connect the test with Abraham's confidence that God could keep His promise even in the face of death.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Hebrews 11:17–19 directly explains Abraham's reasoning: God had promised descendants through Isaac, so Abraham trusted that God could even raise the dead. His confidence was in the God who had spoken. Hebrews describes receiving Isaac back as, in a sense, receiving him from death.
There is also a long-recognized parallel between Isaac carrying the wood and Jesus carrying His cross in John 19:17, noted in Wesley's explanation of Genesis 22:6. Both scenes place a beloved son on a journey toward sacrifice. That is a comparison between the accounts; John does not explicitly identify Isaac's wood as a prediction. The coming rescue of Isaac also marks a crucial difference: Isaac is spared, while Christ gives His life.
What is our position?
Our study What Does Worship Actually Mean? uses Genesis 22:5 to explain worship as humble trust expressed in obedience. Abraham calls the journey worship before he knows how the crisis will be resolved. The study draws attention to the surrender involved, rather than reducing worship to music or a meeting.