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What does the phrase "time, times and half of time" represent in Revelation?


When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 12:13-17
The “time” phrase spoken of here is found in Daniel.
"He gave me this explanation: 'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time." 'But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.'  Daniel 7:23-27
The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, "It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed."  Daniel 12:7
People want to make “time, times and half a time” into three and half years, or 1,260 days, then claim that one day = one year, changing it into 1,260 years.  Then they say Jesus died around 28 or 30 AD (no one knows) and claim Jesus is returning 1290 AD?  Unfortunately, he didn’t.  So more dates and arbitrary impositions are used to make prophecies come alive.  THEY DON’T WORK!  We can't get into the numbers game.
Time, times and half a time safely means…a long time.  It could mean a Three Act structure of life, so John is saying this is the final act that began at the time of Daniel.  Or it could be for time (persecution under Rome), times (persecution for centuries) and a half of time (final, future persecution before God decides to end it all before we know it).  We just can't apply hard numbers to this.  It wasn't meant to be read that way.
Satan attacks the saints for a long time.  It’s still going on.