In order to understand these plagues we need to understand that they were
directed against the gods and goddesses of Egypt and were intended to
show the superiority of the God of Israel to the Egyptian gods. There were
about eighty major deities in Egypt, all clustered about the three great
natural forces of Egyptian life: the Nile river, the land, and the sky. It does
not surprise us, therefore, that the plagues God sent against Egypt in this
historic battle follow this three-force pattern. The first two plagues were
against the gods of the Nile. The next four were against the land gods.
The final four plagues were against the gods of the sky, culminating in the
death of the firstborn.
-James Boice
