The Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet in Revelation 16:13¹ symbolize a presidency of three evil spirits.² Their unholy trinity³ may correspond to the 6-6-6 in the name of the Second Beast from Revelation 13:18.⁴ Each of the three is the actual spirit of a man.⁵ This must be true because, during the seventh and final Vial Plague,⁶ the Beast and the False Prophet will both be cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone in Revelation 19:20.⁷ To be cast alive into the bottomless pit and survive means they are the spirits of men that cannot die. During the seventh Vial Plague, the Dragon will be bound separately in the bottomless pit for the 1000-year period of the millennium.⁸ After the millennium, the Dragon will also be cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone in Revelation 20:10 to join the Beast and the False Prophet.⁹ The manner of endless torment for all three in the lake of fire¹⁰ indicates that the Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet are all individual spirits and they are all perdition.¹¹ The scriptures identify only three men who bear the name and title of perdition.¹² They include Satan,¹³ Cain,¹⁴ and Judas Iscariot.¹⁵

The Dragon in Revelation 16:13 is the symbolic name for the unembodied spirit of Satan who fell from his high standing in premortality and was cast down to earth as an unembodied spirit when Jehovah (Christ) created this physical earth.¹⁶ The frog that comes out from the mouth of the Dragon in Revelation 16:13 symbolizes the entire group of unembodied spirit sons of perdition that were cast down to earth with Satan.¹⁷ Satan and these unembodied spirits will be given great power on earth during the First Woe when they are loosed from the bottomless pit like a swarm of locusts.¹⁸ However, all their powers on earth will be taken from them during the sixth Vial Plague when they come out of the mouth of the Dragon in the symbolic image of a frog.¹⁹

The Beast in Revelation 16:13 symbolizes the disembodied spirit of Cain, who rules over the kingdom of the First Beast identified in Revelation 13:1.²⁰ After Cain committed an unpardonable sin in mortality and then died as perdition, his disembodied spirit was present with other disembodied sons of perdition²¹ in the postmortal spirit world²² beyond the veil of death.²³ He and all other disembodied spirit sons of perdition from the Old Testament were prisoners in the spirit world until Christ's resurrection pierced the veil of death.²⁴ When Christ was resurrected, the disembodied spirits of many exaltation-worthy saints passed back through the veil of death from celestial paradise.²⁵ They returned to this physical earth as they rose from their graves with resurrected bodies in the likeness of Jesus Christ.²⁶ This outpouring of good was accompanied by an equal and opposite outpouring of evil.²⁷ That is, the disembodied spirits of many sons of perdition also passed back through the veil of death from the bottomless pit in the postmortal spirit prison to this physical earth in their unresurrected condition.²⁸ They accompanied Cain, who rose from the sea (abyss) in Revelation 13:1.²⁹ Cain and these disembodied spirit sons of perdition will be given added power on earth during the First Woe in the company of Satan's unembodied sons of perdition, as recorded in Revelation 9:1-2.³⁰ However, their power on earth will also be taken from them during the sixth Vial Plague when they come out of the mouth of the Beast in the symbolic image of a frog in Revelation 16:13.³¹

The False Prophet is mentioned by John for the first time in Revelation 16:13 without any explanation.³² However, the False Prophet must symbolize the disembodied spirit of Judas Iscariot.³³ Just as Cain stands at the head of the kingdom of the First Beast identified in Revelation 13:1-10, Judas stands at the head of the latter-day kingdom of the Second Beast identified in Revelation 13:11-18.³⁴ John described the Second Beast of the latter days as a lamb that speaks like a dragon.³⁵ This perfectly describes Judas, who was an apostle of the Lamb³⁶ and yet he spoke the words of betrayal against the Savior like a deadly dragon.³⁷ He was a deceptive false prophet,³⁸ a wolf in sheep's clothing,³⁹ and a feigned friend⁴⁰ who betrayed the Savior with a kiss.⁴¹

Judas killed himself after his betrayal of the Savior.⁴² His disembodied spirit then entered the postmortal spirit world as a son of perdition⁴³ to await the time when he would be loosed and empowered to spread his apostate influence on earth in the latter-days.⁴⁴ As the leading apostate from the ancient church, the disembodied spirit of Judas was destined to become the False Prophet and spiritual head for all latter-day apostates⁴⁵ in the latter-day kingdom of the Second Beast.⁴⁶ To this end, Judas was apparently given power on earth in 1829. In that year, Joseph Smith received apostolic power and authority⁴⁷ from Peter, James, and John,⁴⁸ the earthly companions of Judas during Christ's mortal ministry.⁴⁹ Judas, the False Prophet, is the latter-day opposite of Joseph Smith,⁵⁰ who became an apostle⁵¹ and the "true prophet" of the latter days.⁵² Today, apostate members of the church act in the image and spirit of Judas,⁵³ which means he is their prototype.⁵⁴ With the spirit of Judas as their spiritual head and their guide, latter-day apostates⁵⁵ are increasingly open and hostile toward Christ's true church⁵⁶ in the world today.⁵⁷

The frog that comes out from the mouth of the False Prophet in Revelation 16:13 represents all disembodied spirit sons of perdition who live traitorous lives after the image of Judas Iscariot.⁵⁸ They undoubtedly include apostates from Christ's primitive church in the meridian of time⁵⁹ as well as apostates from the latter-day restored church of Jesus Christ.⁶⁰ The evil spirits of all such apostates were loosed on earth with Judas by the time the gospel was restored in 1830.⁶¹ These same apostate spirits will be loosed from the bottomless pit with much greater power on earth during the future First Woe.⁶² Ultimately, however, the disembodied spirit of Judas and his apostate followers will have their earthly power taken from them during the sixth Vial Plague after Judas comes out of the mouth of the symbolic frog as recorded in Revelation 16:13.⁶³

Some scholars mistakenly believe that the False Prophet is the Second Beast from Revelation 13:11-18⁶⁴ or merely a symbol for false religion and worldly institutions generally.⁶⁵ The False Prophet is not a symbolic synonym for the Second Beast, nor is the False Prophet a representation of worldly institutions that include the great and abominable church of the latter days.⁶⁶ The False Prophet (Judas) is one of three spirits that make up an evil trinity or presidency of three⁶⁷ that stands at the head of all sons of perdition‒both mortals and spirits. Judas is head of mortal sons of perdition who become such by apostatizing from the true church of Jesus Christ in the latter days and who actively seek to advance the cause of the Second Beast, which is also called the great and abominable church of the latter days.⁶⁸

As individual spirits, the Dragon (Satan), the Beast (Cain), and the False Prophet (Judas) are distinct from the earthly institutions that are influenced by their evil.⁶⁹ They are also distinct from the mortal men and women that support their evil cause from within these worldly institutions.⁷⁰

In Revelation 16:13, the three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouths of the Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet to symbolize the literal gathering of evil spirits to the place called Armageddon,⁷¹ where the spiritual battle of Armageddon will occur.⁷² This is a battle of very short duration when all the hosts of hell will lose their earthly powers.⁷³ After their defeat during Spiritual Armageddon, the earth will be fully cleansed of all spirit sons of perdition represented by their spiritual heads called the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet.⁷⁴