Revelation 9:1: And the fifth angel sounded. . . and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

The key of the bottomless pit controls the amount of power¹ that the Dragon (Satan), the Beast (Cain), and the False Prophet (Judas) have on earth.² This key has controlled Satan's power on earth since he was cast out of heaven at the time of the physical creation.³ It has also controlled the power of Cain and Judas on earth since the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the restoration of the church, respectively.⁴ This key symbolizes⁵ God's power and authority over all aspects of Satan's kingdom.⁶ Like other keys of the priesthood,⁷ the key of the bottomless pit (abyss)⁸ operates in the spirit world as on earth.⁹ Keys maintain order¹⁰ in all kingdoms, including the kingdom of God.¹¹ Through the keys of the priesthood, the power of Satan and his agents on earth have been restricted by God.¹² Satan can do only what he has specific permission from God to do.¹³

The First Woe begins when the fifth angel of the seventh seal sounds his trumpet.¹⁴ At that future day, the key of the bottomless pit is given to the fifth trumpet angel in John's vision‒not to Satan.¹⁵ Jesus Christ holds the keys of death and hell, which he delivers to the fifth angel.¹⁶ The fifth angel could be Michael,¹⁷ who stands next to Christ in priesthood authority.¹⁸ Theoretically, Joseph Smith could be the fifth angel since the First Woe will occur during the dispensation of the fulness of times¹⁹ and Joseph stands at the head of this dispensation.²⁰

When the key of the bottomless pit is turned at the start of the First Woe,²¹ three groups of spirits will emerge²² with more power of darkness and evil on earth than ever before.²³ These three groups will be led by Satan (the Dragon), Cain (the Beast) and Judas Iscariot (the False Prophet). Since whatever goes up, must also come down, the same three groups of evil spirits that rise from the bottomless pit during the First Woe must also be cast down and eliminated from the earth during the Third Woe at the Second Coming.²⁴ John identifies the three groups of evil spirits by the symbolic names of the spirits that stand at their head. They are identified by name in Revelation 16:13 as the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet.²⁵ The Dragon (Satan) stands at the head of all unembodied spirit sons of perdition that rebelled with Lucifer in the premortal existence and have had their evil influence on earth since the earth's physical creation.²⁶ The Beast (Cain) stands at the head of all disembodied spirit sons of perdition that lived and died before Christ's resurrection and have had their evil influence on earth since the resurrection of Christ.²⁷ The False Prophet is the disembodied spirit of Judas Iscariot.²⁸ He is the ultimate apostate who stands at the head of all disembodied spirit sons of perdition that apostatize from the church of Jesus Christ in mortality. He and his apostate followers have had their evil influence on earth since the restoration of the gospel in 1830.²⁹

The earth must be cleansed at the Second Coming‒both physically and spiritually‒to prepare the earth for the millennium.³⁰ The Earth's spiritual cleansing will not be complete without the removal of the Dragon, the Beast and the False Prophet and all the evil spirit sons of perdition that follow them.